Two dingers from Danny Jansen, seven shutout innings from José Berríos lead Blue Jays to 7-0 spanking of White Sox

There were good vibes all around tonight, as a dominant outing from Jose Berrios complemented a career night at the plate for Danny Jansen in a 7-0 Blue Jays win over the White Sox.

Blue Jays Nation’s Player of the Game: Danny Jansen
Jansen was a popular pick to have a breakout season in 2023, and he unfortunately hadn’t tapped into that potential through the first 20 games or so. He hit his first home run this past weekend, and with his performance tonight, he might be turning a corner that features his unquestioned power.
Jansen had one of the better nights of his career, going 3-for-4 with two home runs and four RBIs. His first dinger was a 3-run shot in the second inning to open the scoring against Mike Clevinger. That home run marks the second consecutive night that the Blue Jays have gotten a 3-run homer from the 8th spot in their batting order. Jansen homered again in the 6th inning off of Chicago reliever Tanner Banks, this one a solo shot extending Toronto’s lead to 7-0.

Danny Jansen doubles up with his second homer of the game.
He’s suddenly red hot. #BlueJays pic.twitter.com/OaVZEr4Fsr
— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) April 26, 2023

Tonight was Jansen’s 5th career multi-home run game, which ranks him 3rd among Blue Jays catchers all-time behind JP Arencibia and Ernie Whitt. I think I speak for all Blue Jays fans when I say that a Jansen hot streak would …

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Author: Evan Stack / Blue Jays Nation

GDB 9.0: Can the Toronto Blue Jays win their fifth game in a row?

The Toronto Blue Jays have turned around after a tough stretch and are riding a four-game winning streak into Saturday night’s showdown with the LA Angels.

While Chris Bassitt looked shaky to start, he settled down last night nicely and helped lead the Jays to a big victory. Bo Bichette was the hero mashing a three-run homer in the top of the seventh inning that carried the Jays to the win.
While we saw Bassitt’s game settled yesterday, the big question is if Jose Berrios can settle his down tonight. He’s been far from what the club was hoping for when they made the move to acquire him in a July 2021 deal sending prospects Austin Martin and Simeon Woods Richardson.
He’ll be in tough against the top of the Angels’ order, but there are more than enough soft spots towards the bottom of the order.
First pitch: 9:07 p.m. EST
Weather: 19C. 11 MPH W winds. (RotoGrinders)
The teams: 
Toronto Blue Jays: 5-3, 3.0 GB, +0.5 WCGB. -2 DIFF, 4.62 R/G.
LA Angels: 4-4, – GB, – WCGB. +12 DIFF, 5.14 R/G.
Odds via Betano:
Moneyline: TOR +115; KCR -122.
O/U: 9.5 — o9.5 -105; u9.5 -118.
Starting pitchers:
TOR: Jose Berrios RHP — 0-1, 12.71 ERA, 1.941 WHIP, 11.1 K9.
LAA: Tyler Anderson LHP — 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1.0000 WHIP, 6.0 K9.
Lineups: 

GAME DAY PREDICTION: Robbed of a homerun last night, Matt Chapman blasts one over the wall tonight.
Need to bide the time until first pitch?
Tune into the latest edition of Blue Jays Nation Radio …

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Author: Zach Laing / Blue Jays Nation

Why Pontus Holmberg is the depth option the Toronto Maple Leafs should revisit

Right now, a lot of the focus around Leafs land is on bringing Ryan O’Reilly back into the lineup and finding the proper fit for him. While the Leafs are doing that, I’d suggest there is another bottom six centre the Leafs should consider bringing back into their lineup: Pontus Holmberg.
Holmberg has spent most of March and much of February in the AHL. A big part of this decision was driven by the fact that he doesn’t require waivers and as the Leafs attempted to juice their roster at the trade deadline, Holmberg was the easy choice for the demotion. There is also the small matter of Holmberg going pointless in February, and combined with his one game recall in March, he doesn’t have a point in his past five games with the Leafs. Points aren’t the reason you play Holmberg, but still, it doesn’t help his case for bringing him back into the Leafs roster.
The other thing that hasn’t helped Holmberg’s case is his performance with the Marlies. In his 33 games with the Marlies this season, Holmberg has accumulated just 19 points. That isn’t bad, …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

Canadians to Watch Amongst the Top 25 Programs in Division I Baseball this season

As the college baseball season is right around the corner for many teams across the United States, there are tons of Canadians represented across numerous Division I, II, and III programs and in JUCO ball from coast to coast.

Using the D1 Baseball preseason rankings, let’s look at the Canadian players present on the rosters of the Top 25 teams in Division I baseball programs heading into the 2023 season. I utilized the Canadian Baseball Network’s Canadians intent page for assistance in making this list as well as going to each program’s roster. Some players listed below may not be on the official roster at the time of writing but have committed to the program.
Micah Bucknam – Lousiana State University (#2)
Born in New Zealand, Micah Bucknam grew up in Abbotsford, British Columbia and was a Canadian Junior National team member. Those Blue Jays fans who follow the MLB Draft will likely remember Bucknam’s name, as he was drafted by the club in the 16th round of the 2021 MLB Draft but chose not to sign. At the time, he had a commitment to the University of Washington but he reclassified for the 2022 MLB Draft and also committed to LSU, with Bucknam spending the 2022 season in the MLB Draft League.

Micah Bucknam of Abbotsford, BC goes to the @BlueJays in the 16th round, 482nd overall!#MLBD …

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Author: Tyson Shushkewich / Blue Jays Nation

News and Notes: Yankees in the mix for Bryan Reynolds, other MLB owners are mad about Steve Cohen’s spending, and more!

Christmas is right around the corner and things in the baseball world are unsurprisingly slowing down but we’ve still got a few worthwhile notes to go through today…

According to Jon Morosi, the New York Yankees are among the teams who are in the mix for Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds…

Sources: #Yankees among teams in contact with #Pirates on Bryan Reynolds over recent weeks; one obstacle to a trade is that Pittsburgh prefers starting pitchers to headline the return and top end of Yankees’ system is deeper in position players. @MLB @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 22, 2022

The switch-hitting Reynolds has been widely discussed as a fit to fill the Blue Jays’ biggest need right now, which is a big bat that isn’t right-handed. He reportedly requested a trade earlier this off-season and there’s an obvious connection between Toronto and Pittsburgh because Pirates general manager Ben Cherington used to work in the Blue Jays front office.
The interesting part of this note is that it gives us a little bit of a look into what the Pirates might be looking for in return for one of their best players. Morosi said that the Pirates are looking for pitching prospects to headline the return for Reynolds, which isn’t all that surprising considering they only have one pitcher among their top five prospects.
With that in mind, you’d figure that the Pirates would be asking for Rickey Tiedemann, Toronto’s top pitching prospect, in a potential Reynolds deal. Pittsburgh’s top prospect is catcher Henry Davis, so they likely wouldn’t be interested in making a deal that centers around Gabriel Moreno. That said, the Blue Jays could always get a third team involved and move one of their catchers for a pitching prospect that the Pirates like. Who knows.
Elsewhere, the New York Mets are close to finalizing a 12-year, $315 million deal with Carlos Correa, days afte …

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Author: Cam Lewis / Blue Jays Nation

Raptors rumors: Executives bracing for “fireworks” if Toronto keeps losing

Raptors rumors: Executives bracing for “fireworks” if Toronto keeps losing

The Toronto Raptors surprised many around the NBA by winning 48 games last year, but this team hasn’t been as much of a pain to play against during the 2022-23 campaign. Masai Ujiri and his team currently stand at 13-13 with losses to the Magic, Pacers, and Thunder on the ledger. The Raptors have been […]
Raptors rumors: Executives bracing for “fireworks” if Toronto keeps losing – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ

3 biggest worries Raptors fans might have in 2022-23 season

3 biggest worries Raptors fans might have in 2022-23 season

The vibes around the Toronto Raptors are generally great at this point in time. The team basically brought back the entire rotation after winning 48 games last season. All-Star point guard Fred VanVleet promises to form another unstoppable tandem with All-NBA forward Pascal Siakam. The Raptors have built themselves into one of the most difficult […]
3 biggest worries Raptors fans might have in 2022-23 season – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ

3 reasons Raptors are still better than Cavs after Mitchell trade

3 reasons Raptors are still better than Cavs after Mitchell trade

The Toronto Raptors, like many around the league, were knocked to the floor in disbelief after the Utah Jazz traded Donovan Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers for a package headlined by Collin Sexton and multiple unprotected first-round draft selections. The East just got even more challenging. Already boasting one of the best frontcourts in the […]
3 reasons Raptors are still better than Cavs after Mitchell trade – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ

The Blue Jays Fired Charlie Montoyo. Now What?

If turning around a struggling baseball team was as easy as firing your manager, there would be a constant cycle of middle-aged baseball dudes getting laid off weekly. But it rarely is that easy, and thus despite the Blue Jays firing Charlie Montoyo yesterday, a lot of work remains to be done in order to turn this team into one that not only will make the playoffs, but will be built to go on a deep run in October.

It is impossible to tell if replacing Montoyo with John Schneider will have any impact on how the players perform, but it became clear yesterday just how important of a first step it was to getting this team on the right track. From the first reports that were trickling out of the US, to this excellent piece from The Athletic’s Kaitlyn McGrath, Montoyo had clearly lost the confidence of his team, and once that happens, a move needs to be made. (Ironically, all arguments I saw and contributed to pre-firing assumed Montoyo was well-liked by the team. Once that assumption was thrown out the window, the argument for making a change became much simpler).
Now, after taking responsibility for where the club is in the standings at this point in the season yesterday, the task Ross Atkins has ahead of him is to identify the faults in this team and address them. It’s a tricky situation to navigate because if you’ve been watching the Blue Jays closely this year, you might identify many issues plaguing this team. In reality, though, I believe the issues are actually pretty simple. 
Despite what many might think, the Blue Jays’ offense is more or less fine. They’ve been the fifth-best team in baseball according to wRC+ this season in the aggregate. Their issues offensively have more to do with being inconsistent – which I don’t think is something you can ever avoid in baseball – and an inability to hit in high leverage spots.
That last point has been a thorn in their side since the beginning of 2021, and there have been many theories floating out there, from a lack of “clutch” – which would …

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Author: Gideon Turk / Blue Jays Nation