Blue Jays play spoiler in walkoff win over Orioles

Richard Urena mobbed after walkoff pushes Jays past O's

The season has long been over for the Toronto Blue Jays, as far as their own contending status. But for a second straight night the Jays played the role of spoiler perfectly.

On Tuesday night at Rogers Centre, the host Blue Jays rallied against Baltimore closer Zach Britton. Toronto scored twice in the bottom of the ninth inning to walkoff the Orioles by a 3-2 score.

It marked the second straight night that Toronto registered a one-run victory over Baltimore. the loss also extended Baltimore’s recent untimely swoon to six consecutive defeats. As a result, the O’s are now 4.5 games out in the race for the final American League Wildcard playoff berth.

Just as importantly, there are five teams now sitting between Baltimore and Minnesota. The Twins currently hold possession of that final postseason slot.

Tim Beckham‘s 21st home run of the season, a solo shot, had put Baltimore in front by 2-1 in the top of the 8th inning. That blast somewhat spoiled an impressive outing by Jays’ starting pitcher Joe Biagini. The righty allowed just two runs on six hits across eight innings.

Biagini had been matched by O’s starter Dylan Bundy, who lasted just six frames, but struck out eight and surrendered just one run on five hits.

Rick Porcello turnaround could help Bosox pull away

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Rick Porcello helping the Bosox take charge in AL East

As late as June 2, the Boston Red Sox were just four games over the .500 mark. At that point, the team sat in third place in the AL East race, three games behind the arch-rival New York Yankees.

Flash forward a little more than seven weeks, and the Bosox have taken charge. They went 26-19 to flip the standings position, now leading the Yanks by 3.5 after the games of Saturday, July 22.

For the second straight season, Boston has an AL Cy Young Award front-runner. This time around, that top starting pitcher is lefty Chris Sale.

But last season’s top starter has struggled for much of the 2017 season. Rick Porcello won the 2016 AL Cy Young Award following the best season by far of his then eight-year big league career.

Porcello went 22-4 a year ago with a 3.15 ERA and 1.009 WHIP. He allowed just 193 hits over 223 innings with a 189/32 K:BB ratio.

Flash forward to this season, and Porcello’s numbers are nowhere near that level. The 28-year old righty has gone 4-12 with a 4.60 ERA and 1.436 WHIP. He has allowed 156 hits over 125.1 innings with a 115/24 K:BB mark.

Porcello has regressed to the type of pitcher he had been in his first seven seasons. That would be a nice, reliable, mid-rotation innings eater as opposed to a top of the rotation ace-caliber starter.

However, his recent starts have begun to signal what could be a turnaround towards numbers closer in line to last season.

Blue Jays in last place, but still a contending team

Gibbons (leaning on dugout rail) has Jays contending again

In each of the last two seasons, the Toronto Blue Jays have played deep into October. The Jays lost in the ALCS both years, defeated in five games a year ago, and in six games by the Kansas City Royals in 2015.

After three consecutive winning campaigns, Toronto is currently struggling along in last place in the AL East Division standings. The Jays 35-36 record has them tied for that distinction with the Baltimore Orioles, five games behind the division-leading New York Yankees.

Despite that last place standing nearly three full months into the season, the Blue Jays are far from out of things. They are just two games off the pace in an extremely crowded race for an AL Wildcard playoff berth.

There are a number of reasons that manager John Gibbons and his team should feel confident. First of all is that recent track record of success. This is a mostly veteran team that knows how to win. If they can stay reasonably healthy, that experience should pay off over the second half of the season.

Toronto has been playing much better in recent weeks. The team fell to a season-worst 11 games below the .500 mark in late April. As recently as May 20 they were still eight games below that break-even mark.

Since that point, the Blue Jays have gone 17-10. The club entered play on Thursday afternoon having won three of their last four games.

Starlin Castro reaching his full potential in the Bronx

To the surprise of some, the New York Yankees are on top of the American League East Division standings. 

The Yankees current 24-13 record has the club 1.5 games up on the second place Baltimore Orioles.

One of the biggest keys to the surge by the latest incarnation of the Bronx Bombers to the top of the standings has been the play of second baseman Starlin Castro.

Castro was dealt by the Chicago Cubs at the 2015 Winter Meetings to the Yankees. In exchange, New York received pitcher Adam Warren and a player to  be named later. That PTBNL turned out to be infielder Brendan Ryan.

Castro was always seen as having dynamic offensive potential. The Cubs hierarchy simply believed that he had reached the peek of his skills, and that they had better in-house options.

At the time of the trade, the Cubs had both Javier Baez and Addison Russell ready for full big league opportunities. In fact, Russell broke into the starting lineup on the North Side as a second baseman in 2015, as Castro had been established as the Cubs starting shortstop.

Castro was signed out of his native Dominican Republic, and in 2010 made his big league debut. He finished fifth in the NL Rookie of the Year voting that season after hitting .300 with 31 doubles, 10 steals, and 41 RBI over 503 plate appearances.

The following year of 2011, Castro led all of Major League Baseball with 207 hits. And in three of the four years between 2011-14, Castro was a National League All-Star.

Tim Beckham Making Most of Latest Opportunity

Former top MLB draft pick Tim Beckham finally producing in Tampa

The Tampa Bay Rays won the American League pennant in 2008, reaching the World Series for the only time in their history.

The excitement of that 2008 Fall Classic came just one year after the Rays had finished with the worst overall record in Major League Baseball.

As a result of that poor 2007 finish, Tampa Bay held the rights to the top overall pick in the MLB Amateur Draft in June of 2008. With that selection, the Rays chose shortstop Tim Beckham out of Griffin High School in Georgia.

Also selected in that first round included first baseman Eric Hosmer at third overall by the Kansas City Royals. The San Francisco Giants chose catcher Buster Posey with the fifth overall pick.

It was a third consecutive year in which the Rays were selecting within the top three overall picks of the draft. The previous year, the club chose pitcher David Price with the top overall pick. In 2006, the Rays took third baseman Evan Longoria at third overall.

Rays of Hope During Hot Spring in Tampa Bay

To say that the 2016 season was rough for the Tampa Bay Rays and their fans would be an understatement. The club’s 68-94 last place finish in the AL East was their worst in nearly a decade.

From 2008, the year that a talented, young Rays club won the franchise lone American League pennant, through 2013, Tampa Bay won 90 or more games in five of six seasons.

But it has now been three straight losing campaigns in west-central Florida. And most prognosticators had the team again finishing at the bottom of the standings.

But the Rays are off to an encouraging 9-9 start here in the early weeks of the 2017 season. It hasn’t been any one particular thing either.

Under third year manager Kevin Cash, there has been real improvement across all facets of the game. Those improvements added up to a winning record after the Rays swept the Detroit Tigers earlier this week for the first time since 2010. A loss last night to Houston dropped the club back to the .500 mark.

C.C. Sabathia On His Last Legs in the Bronx

At 7:10pm on Tuesday night at Tropicana Field, the New York Yankees will send their veteran 36-year old left-hander to the mound.

CC Sabathia will be trying to help the club to its first victory of the nascent 2017 season. The host Tampa Bay Rays ripped the Yanks by a 7-3 final in Sunday’s season opener. For Sabathia, this will be his 17th season in Major League Baseball.

The first-round pick at 20th overall in the 1998 MLB Amateur Draft by the Cleveland Indians, he spent most of his first eight seasons with the Tribe. He was a three-time AL All-Star with Cleveland. In his final full season there, Sabathia won the AL Cy Young Award.

Sabathia was dealt to the Milwaukee Brewers at the 2008 trade deadline and helped the Brew Crew to an NL Wild Card berth.

Following that ’08 season, Sabathia signed a huge nine-year, $202 million free agent contract with the Yankees. His first season in the Big Apple resulted in the Yankees winning the World Series. Sabathia finished fourth in the Cy Young voting.

In each of the subsequent two seasons, Sabathia again finished within the top four of the AL Cy Young race. He was an AL All-Star each year from 2010-12.

Phillies Acquire Clay Buchholz in Trade With Red Sox

According to general manager Matt Klentak, it is the mission of the Philadephia Phillies to have as much starting pitching as possible, and so the club swung a deal today with the Boston Red Sox with that end in mind.

The trade brings in 32-year-old right-hander Clay Buchholz. He was the Red Sox first round pick at 42nd overall in the 2005 MLB Amateur Draft out of McNeese State University. In exchange, the Phillies sent minor league second baseman Josh Tobias to Boston.

Buchholz throws a four-seam fastball that sits in the low 90s, but has reached the upper 90s in the past, and also has a cutter, curve, and changeup in his arsenal.

Over parts of 10 seasons with the Red Sox, Buchholz has gone 76-57 with a 3.97 ERA. He has allowed 1,039 hits over 1,094.1 innings in 184 games, 177 of those as starts. He has a career 850/392 K:BB ratio.

2016 Winter Meetings: Tampa Bay Rays

When newly named Tampa Bay Rays GM and senior VP of baseball operations Erik Neander arrives at the Winter Meetings, he is likely to be a popular fellow.

The Rays have what is generally considered to be a top ten farm system. They finished the 2016 season at 68-94 in fifth place in the always tough AL East Division.

Now might be the perfect time for Neander and Matthew Silverman, the club’s President for Baseball Operations, to begin looking at building a contender for a few years down the road.

To that end, the Rays would have two of the most attractive assets as the Winter Meetings open. 

Those would be starting pitcher Chris Archer and veteran third baseman Evan Longoria.

Red Sox 2016 POY: Mookie Betts

The Boston Red Sox finished 93-69, recovering from back-to-back last place finishes to win the American League East Division crown.

The BoSox were quickly swept out of the American League Division Series in three straight games by the eventual pennant-winning Cleveland Indians, with two of the three decided by a single run. 

While manager John Farrell and his team were disappointed in the postseason ending, this was a big year for a number of young players who are paving the way for future Boston success.

Red Sox 2016 Statistical Leaders

One of those youngsters was 23-year-old shortstop Xander Bogaerts. He hit .294 with a .356 on-base percentage, producing 21 homers, 89 RBI, and 115 runs scored.

26-year-old center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. is one of the best defenders in the game today. This year he stepped up his offensive contributions with 26 home runs, 87 RBI, and 94 runs scored.

26-year-old third baseman Travis Shawchipped in with 16 homers and 71 RBI. Outfielder Andrew Benintendi is just 21 years old. He hit .295 with a .359 on-base percentage, roping 11 doubles while producing 14 RBI and 16 runs scored in just 118 plate appearances. He retains rookie eligibility for the 2017 season.

A trio of veterans produced big numbers for Boston this season. Hanley Ramirez and Dustin Pedroia manned the right side of the field, while David Ortiz wound down his possible Hall of Famer career with a final big year.

Ramirez hit .286/.361/.505 with 30 homers, 28 doubles, 111 RBI, and 81 runs scored. Pedroia hit .318 with a .376 on-base percentage. He cracked 15 homers and 36 doubles with 74 RBI and 105 runs scored.

Big Papi hit for a .315 average and led the club with a .401 on-base percentage, .620 slugging percentage, 38 home runs, 127 RBI, 48 doubles, and a 1.021 OPS.

Orioles 2016 POY: Manny Machado

The Baltimore Orioles went 89-73 this season, finishing in a second place tie with the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East Division.

The O’s then battled the Jays in the AL Wildcard Game in Toronto before losing on a walkoff home run in the bottom of the 11th inning.

Despite that frustrating postseason ending to their year, manager Buck Showalter‘s squad enjoyed a fifth straight season among the top three in the always tough AL East.

Orioles Statistical Leaders

On the mound, the loss of 28-year old righty Chris Tillman may have been a difference-maker, at least in deciding home field advantage for that Wildcard Game.

Tillman went 16-6 with a 3.77 ERA, allowing 155 hits over 172 innings, striking out 140 batters. He was driven to the disabled list from the crucial period at the end of August through mid-September, missing at least 3-4 starting outings.

23-year old Dylan Bundy started the year in the bullpen, but was finally stretched out to the rotation after the All-Star break. He won 10 games, allowing 109 hits over 109.2 innings with 104 strikeouts.

Yankees 2016 POY: Masahiro Tanaka

The New York Yankees are the most storied franchise in the history of Major League Baseball, but the 2016 season was certainly not one of their best.

Joe Girardi‘s club went 84-78, finishing in fourth place in the American League East Division standings. This was the club’s lowest finish in 24 years. It was one of only three times in that stretch that they did not either win the division or finish in second place.

During and immediately following the season the Yanks said goodbye to a number of key players. Alex Rodriguez retired towards the end of the year, and Mark Teixeiradid so when the season wrapped.

As the MLB trade deadline arrived, GM Brian Cashman dealt away a pair of big southpaw bullpen arms in Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller. Each would lead their acquiring teams to the World Series.

Rays 2016 POY: Kevin Kiermaier

The Tampa Bay Rays finished the 2016 season at the bottom of the American League East Division standings with a 68-94 record. 

It was the club’s worst record since the 2007 team went just 66-96. That was also the last time that the Rays finished at the bottom of the division standings.

The club ran off seven consecutive winning campaigns after that 2007 debacle, including a pair of division crowns and their lone American League pennant in 2008. Despite the poor season for the team as a whole, there were some fine individual performances turned in by the Rays’ players.

Rays Statistical Leaders

26-year-old Jake Odorizzi went 10-6 with a 3.69 ERA and 1.194 WHIP. He allowed 170 hits in 187.2 innings with a 166/54 K:BB ratio.

In the bullpen, 27-year-old Alex Colomeemerged as the closer, registering 37 saves over 57 games. He allowed 43 hits over 56.2 innings with a 71/15 K:BB ratio.

Offensively, 30-year-old veteran third baseman Evan Longoria led the regulars with a .273 average, .521 slugging percentage, and an .840 OPS mark. He banged 36 homers and 41 doubles, drove in 98 runs, and scored 81 times.

Blue Jays 2016 POY: Josh Donaldson

The Toronto Blue Jays finished in a tie for second place with the Baltimore Orioles this season in the American League East Division. The club put together an 89-73 record, just four games behind the division-winning Boston Red Sox.

The Jays then topped the O’s in dramatic fashion in the AL Wild Card Game, winning on a walk-off three-run home run by Edwin Encarnacion in the bottom of the 11th inning at Rogers Centre.

Toronto then swept past the Texas Rangers in the NLDS before losing a five-game American League Championship Series to the Cleveland Indians.

Blue Jays Statistical Leaders

Encarnacion, the club’s DH, was an AL All-Star and one of their offensive leaders. He bashed 42 homers and 34 doubles to go along with 127 RBI, 99 runs scored, and a .529 slugging percentage.

The high-powered Jays offense had four other players each hit 20 or more homers: Troy Tulowitzki (24), Michael Saunders (24), Jose Bautista (22), and Russell Martin(20).

Second baseman Devon Travis led the club with a .300 batting average, smacking 28 doubles and knocking in 50 runs.

On the mound, starters J.A. Happ, Aaron Sanchez, and Marco Estrada all had outstanding seasons. Trade acquisition Francisco Liriano also produced solidly after arriving on August 1 from the Pittsburgh Pirates. Closer Roberto Osuna paces the bullpen.

Donaldson Is the Jays’ 2016 Top Player

But the Blue Jays’ top player this season was their third baseman, Josh Donaldson. He hit for a .284/.404/.549 slash line with 37 homers, 32 doubles, 99 RBI, and 122 runs scored. He recorded a .953 OPS while producing 7.4 WAR.

Yankees Should Keep on Selling

In the run-up to the 2016 Major League Baseball non-waiver trade deadline the New York Yankees dealt away a pair of premier relief pitchers to help replenish their minor league system.

On July 25, New York dealt Aroldis Chapman to the Chicago Cubs for a four-player package that included shortstop prospect Gleyber Torres. Then on July 31, the Yanks dealt away Andrew Miller to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for a four-player package that included prospect pitcher Justus Sheffield and outfielder Clint Frazier.

New York then kept wheeling and dealing. They sent away veterans Carlos Beltran and Ivan Nova to the Texas Rangers and Pittsburgh Pirates in August. Toward the end of September, lefty reliever Phil Coke was dealt away to the Pirates.

A PAIR OF ICONS RETIRE

On August 7, former All-Star third baseman Alex Rodriguez announced that he was retiring, and played his final game less than a week later.

Also retiring was first baseman Mark Teixeira. ‘Tex’ walked away at age 36 after spending the last eight years of his 14-year career in the Bronx.

The Yankees would finish in fourth place in the AL East Division, nine games behind their arch-rivals, the Boston Red Sox. They were also five games behind the division rival Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles for an AL Wild Card berth.

The Yanks are trying to get younger while still contending, always a tough task. But they are doing the right thing, and still have a handful of players who the club would be smart to try to trade while they still have real value.

Orioles Have Wieters Replacement in Minors

The Baltimore Orioles are losing a pivotal player in their longtime catcher, but his replacement is on the way from the minor league system.

The Baltimore Orioles made a decision earlier this week not to extend a qualifying offer to their longtime catcher Matt Wieters.

Wieters thus becomes a free agent, eligible to sign with any team at any time. The 30-year-old former fifth overall pick from the 2007 MLB Amateur Draft is likely to have at least a handful of suitors.

The Orioles are a legitimate contending team in the always tough American League East Division. The club finished in a tie with the Toronto Blue Jays for second place with an 89-73 record this season, just four games behind the division-winning Boston Red Sox.

The O’s then lost a heart-breaking AL Wild Card Game to those Jays by a 5-2 score on a walk-off three-run homer by Edwin Encarnacion in the bottom of the 11th inning at Rogers Centre.

If Buck Showalter‘s gang is going to again challenge for a playoff berth in 2017 they are going to have to find a way to replace Wieters.

Boston Red Sox Just Pitching Away From Domination

The Boston Red Sox have some of the best young position player talent in the game and just need to upgrade their pitching in order to become truly dominant.

The Boston Red Sox finished at the top of the American League East Division standings in 2016. The club finished four games ahead of both the Toronto Blue Jays and the Baltimore Orioles.

In the postseason, the Red Sox were swept out of the ALDS in three straight games by the Cleveland Indians. Two of the three games were decided by a single run.

The BoSox will be losing their longtime leader, David Ortiz, who rides off into the sunset of retirement. He will take 38 homers, 127 RBI, and a .315/.401/.620 slash line at age 40 with him.

While the loss of Big Papi will be a big one in many ways, the Red Sox have young talent that can make up for that loss. Veterans Hanley Ramirez and Dustin Pedroia will return to man the right side of the infield. They will provide the experience while a group of the most exciting and dynamic youngsters in the game continues to develop.

Shortstop Xander Bogaerts, third baseman Yoan Moncada, center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr., and right fielder Mookie Betts are all among the best in the game at their positions. All are in their low-mid 20s.