Sunday, June 21, 2015

That Bullpen though...

Live look in at the Blue Jays bullpen.

I know I am risking sounding like a petulant man-baby garbage clown that pollutes the landscape of Toronto Blue Jay fandom, but fuck Brett Cecil, fuck Phil Choke and fuck this bullpen.  I am sick of seeing them fritter away leads time after time.  The offense is incredible, the starting pitching has improved considerably (except with Scott fucking Copeland is shitting out a spot start) this shitty bullpen is holding the Jays back from being a true contender.

Image courtesy of the hilarious @matttomic 

Yeah it sucks losing 2 of 3 to the fucking trash birds, but remember before Brett Cecil's bed-shitting they were down 7-0 and still managed to make a game of it.  They could've easily have swept this series, same thing with the Mets series those two games in New York could've went either way.  It would be absolutely absurd to say that the season is over, like the garbage clowns are suggesting.  This team is only 1 game back from a wild card spot for christs sakes and still only 3 games back of 1st in the AL East.  It must be distressing to the Bautistas and the Martins and the Donaldsons of this team to be having All-Star seasons at the dish only to see the likes of Cecil and his squid mohawk and shitty goggles blow it all.


A trade has to be made and soon.  I know it's way easier said than done, especially with the corporate overlords at Rogers tying AA's hands financially, but fuck everyone in baseball is saying that the Jays are an arm or two away from something special and I believe it.  That pig fucker Jonathan Papelbon (Pictured above) has been rumoured to be heading to Toronto, so has K-Rod from the Brewers.  The player I would like is Johnny Cueto from Cincinnati, apparently him and Aroldis Chapman are being shopped by the Reds.   Getting Cueto an amazing starter and a proven closer in Chapman would be boner inducing.  Yes they'll have to give up prospects, and yes they could become All-Stars years from now but Flags Fly Forever and this is the best Blue Jays team I have watched in ages.

I think Alex Anthopoulos has done a wonderful job as GM, and the notion that his job is at stake if the Jays miss the playoffs is completely absurd.  That said his legacy as a GM can be made in the next few weeks, if he can pull off a move that can stabilize this bullpen and rotation with the offense he has put together, the Jays are instant World Series contenders and he is a GM of the year candidate.

Yeah the 3-4 week sucked, but the games have been entertaining.  The one person I did not want to see involved in any game is umpire CB Bucknor who is this weeks...


Umpire CB Bucknor has been voted among the players as the worst umpire in the Bigs on 3 separate occasions, and after Friday's game it's easy to see why.  In the first inning the Trash Bird Orioles hit Jose Bautista AGAIN.  Bautista has been hit 8 times but the Trash Birds, but this time I'd say it was an accident, but regardless Bucknor issues a warning to both benches.  Gibby, being the best, waddles out and wants an explanation, and ol' short fuse Bucknor immediately ejects Gibby who goes on to get his moneys worth.  Fast forward to the 8th inning runners on the corners and Roberto Osuna hits Adam Jones, which loads the bases and brings the tying run to the plate and HE gets tossed along with temporary manager DeMarco Hale. 

That was fucked.

Even though both benches were warned any inside pitch/hit batter does not warrant an automatic ejection, CB Bucknor pulled an ump show, making everything about himself not about the players.  People don't show up to the ballpark to watch CB Bucknor or any of these other asshole umpires ruin the game with their lunacy.

What gets me is the players and coaches need to own up to the media and make statements when they fuck up, but who holds these umpires accountable when they blow it?  They don't get cameras and microphones shoved in their faces, if they do get reprimanded by MLB it's certainly not talked about.  That needs to change, umpires and referees will always be Squids, but CB Bucknor is the Squid of the Week.

The Week Ahead: @ Tampa Bay (6/22 - 6/24) vs. Texas (6/26 - 6/28)  Ugh... a 3 game series against the Rays in Tampa Bay at repugnant Tropicana Field has got me feeling like...


Fuck me, buds I hate Tampa Bay so much, how are these assholes year in year out always winning?  They are a team of fucking nobodies and it pisses me off.  The Jays can NEVER win in Tampa Bay either, the horrific Trop is the Blue Jays house of horrors.  Even back when they were the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the scum scrapers of Major League Baseball they always gave us a rough go, I don't think they have won a series there since 2007 for christs sakes.  And Chris Archer is pitching too?  Shoot me now.  

That's not to say the Blue Jays can't defy history and win a series in that hell hole, it just doesn't look promising.  Well at least it's only 3 games on the road and they are back in Toronto to beat up on the shitty Walker Texas Rangers.


Well it's summer time and the living's easy there really isn't much happening outside of the baseball world.  The CFL Season starts this week the the Ti-Cats having Grey Cup revenge on their mind Friday at 9 in Calgary.  Truth be told I'll be three sheets to the wind by halftime and will forget most of the game.  The Warriors and Blackhawks won their championships just like I said they would.  The NHL draft is this weekend and that could be interesting for the Leafs, because I can guarantee whoever they end up drafting will be better than that squid Connor McDavid.  Plus trades always seem to happen at the draft, and the Leafs are in trading mode.

Speaking of the NHL, they are the target of this weeks


If there anything more cringe-inducing and embarrassing than the NHL Awards?  What other professional sports league announces their award winners at a gala filled with C-List celebrities who can't pronounce the names of any of the players.  C'Mon Bud, it's the most awkward broadcast ever, these players play hockey first anything else is secondary and that includes public speaking.  These boys can barely string a sentence together at the best of times, but there they are stuffed into a shitty looking tuxedo stammering through a speech like Stuttering Stanley.  But have no fear that nerd Daughtry is performing, that'll bring in the ratings! Anyone who watches this shit should be ashamed of themselves and the NHL just proves themselves to be a clown show operation yet again.

3 comments:

@Shumkoolie said...

Thanks for your thoughts. Let's not forget that the bullpen, during the 11 game winning streak, helped bail out the starters a couple of times (see Drew Hutchison's terrible game at Fenway). They pitched great and allowed the offense to come back and win that game.
Yes, the bullpen hasn't been great all the time, but overall, the pitching has improved, and count me as one who strongly believes that Anthopoulos is working to improve the pitching.
If he can pick up a good starter and a strong back of the bullpen closer, count me as one who thinks the Jays would be a serious contender to get to the World Series.
You make a great point about Kansas City. Their bullpen was just absolutely lights out in getting to the World Series last year, but their offense was neutralized by the 21st Century reincarnation of Christy Mathewson of the Giants (Bumgarner). The Royals' margin for error was thin, but full credit to them for making it to the World Series.
As for Brett Cecil, I think if they put him in lower leverage situations, to allow him to get his confidence back again, would be wise to do because with 3 lefthanded pitchers in the bullpen, that's a luxury few teams enjoy and that may help them down the road.
How about Delabar's resurgence this year? He is pitching like he did the year he made the All-Star team. Now, given that, how many people were bashing him last year like people are to Cecil this year? To me, a lot of people suffer from short-term memory and don't always look at the bigger picture. I think Cecil's an important part of the bullpen, but was thrust into a role where he probably isn't best suited for.
I'm glad you mentioned that Anthopoulos' job being on the line is absurd, because I feel the same way. He has improved this team exponentially since taking over as the GM. Getting rid of Vernon Wells' contract ($86 million for 4 more years) was a MAJOR coup in my opinion. It allowed him to immediately address their biggest needs without being financially hamstrung, and is still evident today, especially with the Russell Martin signing. He has proven to be worth every single penny the Jays are spending on him. That said though, if he can make the necessary moves to put the Jays over the top into the playoffs (at the very least), it will certainly boost his reputation.
The one thing I keep harping on with people is that the Jays need to look at how other successful teams handle their baseball people. Most specifically, the Giants, Yankees, and Cardinals. There's a reason they are successful year after year, and that's because they don't turnover their baseball people every 3-5 years if things don't work out. I think this whole 3-5 "window" concept is absurd, because it takes that long just to get what you really want into place, the rest of the time is filling in smaller holes here and there, to put a team over the top. Now, he's been the GM going onto his 6th full season, and Brian Sabean needed longer than that to get the Giants to their first World Series. Plus, we know how that story has worked out, so looking at that model, that's what Rogers needs to do.
I think the Jays are going to Tampa at a good time, in that they are, despite losing 2 of 3 to Baltimore, are still playing with a great deal of confidence and a series win in Tampa is not out of the question.
Thanks again for your thoughts, and I look forward to conversing with you here and on Twitter.

Unknown said...

Hi there,

Thank you for reading and leaving a comment! I definitely agree with you on the bullpen, they really haven't been that bad recently, and especially during the win streak. It's just when they blow it, it's such an adventure, and they seem to blow it in monumental fashion. You're right about Cecil getting into lower leverage LOOGY situations, I think Delabar should get a chance to close, or just do a closer by committee, just have the best guy in the situation to get 3 outs... that is until they get Papelbon or Ardolis Chapman!

Anonymous said...

The Rays are MacGyver. They have no players, no fans, no money, terrible stadium, but they're like "we have a shoestring, a thumb tack, and a piece of gum and we're gonna fuckin turn that into 93 wins every year"