Blue Jays Talk

The Athletic's Kaitlyn McGrath joins Blake Murphy to discuss the Blue Jays' plan to manage George Springer's elbow injury, the amount of solid centerfielders around the league, if Matt Gage has earned a spot in the bullpen after Tim Mayza's injury, and if Vlad Jr. is starting to near his MVP-level of hitting (20:50). FanGraphs' David Laurila weighs in on Whit Merrifield's close play at home plate Sunday, Teoscar Hernandez' underrated season so far and why he thinks Justin Verlander will win the Cy Young Award, before revisiting his pre-season predictions on the Jays winning the World Series and Alek Manoah taking home the Cy Young (51:20). Later on, sideline reporter and play-by-play voice for the Baltimore Orioles Melanie Newman jumps on to chat about Trey Mancini outgrowing his time with the organization, the team's trajectory post-trade deadline, and how Adley Rutschman has performed since his call up this season (01:10:06). 

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Jeff Blair and Kevin Barker break down the Blue Jays' 3-2 win over the Twins in extra innings at Target Field! They take your calls and texts, and they get right to the overturned play at the plate involving Whit Merrifield to score in extras. They discuss the reordering of the bullpen without Tim Mayza, the impact of George Springer also heading to the IL, and how much more Merrifield will be relied upon going forward.

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Blake Murphy and Julia Kreuz break down the Blue Jays' 7-3 loss to the Twins at Target Field. They take your texts, and react to the dislocated shoulder of Tim Mayza, how it might force the bullpen to be reordered, and who could be called up from the minors to potentially fill in. Plus, they discuss the bat of Bo Bichette who drove in all three runs in Minnesota, and chat about Mitch White in his first appearance for Toronto.

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Sho Alli breaks down the Blue Jays' 6-5 loss in extras to the Twins at Target Field. He takes your calls and texts, and discusses Bo Bichette's struggle at the plate in the tenth inning, and the error from Cavan Biggio late in the game. He gets to another strange outing from José Berríos and the home/road splits for him, and discusses his sinker just not breaking as much on the road as it does at home. Plus, a chat on the bullpen holding it down for much of the game, including the reliability of Yimi Garcia and the debut of Canada's own Zach Pop.

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

MLB.com's Mike Petriello joins Blake Murphy to chat about the improvements in the Blue Jays' infield defence, some theories on what he's seen in their development, if it has any relations to less shifting, Vlad Jr.'s strongest year at first base, his thoughts on the acquisitions at the trade deadline and a new bat tracking technology (23:03). FanGraphs' Paul Sporer breaks down lefty Ricky Tiedemann's development in the Jays' system, how he sees Mitch White being used, if it'll be similar to Ross Stripling's usage, how White can polish up on his fastball, and if Whit Merrifield will bring the speed to the bases again (50:24). Then, NBC Los Angeles' Michael Duarte jumps on to discuss his relationship with former Dodger Mitch White, the forecast on his slider, and the L.A. Dodgers playing their first game at home since the passing of longtime broadcaster Vin Scully (01:12:32). 

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Jeff Blair and Kevin Barker break down the Blue Jays' 9-3 win over the Twins to kick off the four-game set at Target Field! They take your calls and texts, and get to the season debut of deadline acquisition Whit Merrifield, who showed off his speed on the base paths and knocked in a run a well. They discuss the outing from Alek Manoah, who gutted through six innings of work for the win (and got hit by another comebacker), and break down the stellar defence from Matt Chapman. Plus, a chat on Bo Bichette being moved down the lineup to bat fifth and whether or not he'll stay there.

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Blake Murphy is joined by The Athletic's Kaitlyn McGrath to discuss Whit Merrifield's ideal defensive position, how it will impact Santiago Espinal's playing time at second base, when she expects the team to utilize Zach Pop out of the bullpen, and scans the Jays' prospect pool to find a pitcher deserving of a call-up (04:51). FanGraphs' Dan Szymborksi gives his thoughts on if the Twins will be the only team with a playoff berth in the AL Central, the difficulties of projecting the playoff picture, if Merrifield fits well in the centre field, and how the Jays and Mariners' rosters compare post-trade deadline (25:49). Later on, The Athletic's Eno Sarris shares why he is intrigued about the Jays' acquisition of Pop and Anthony Bass from the Marlins, the type of slider both relievers provide, if Mitch White has a path to becoming an effective back-end starter, and how he would use Yusei Kikuchi for the rest of the year (50:29). Afterward, Access Twins' Brandon Warne gives his perspective on the upcoming Twins-Jays series, why Minnesota fans love Luis Arráez, and how confident he is that this roster can push for a deep playoff run (01:17:27). 

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

A day after the trade deadline, Blake Murphy dives into the Jays' acquisitions including right-handed pitcher Mitch White from the Dodgers, if the team will continue to explore pushing Bo Bichette down in the batting lineup, how can former Royal Whit Merrifield could fit on the team, Yusei Kikuchi's short outing against the Rays, and what indicates a starting pitcher should be moved to the bullpen (01:01). Afterward, Blake continues the mailbag hour reading more of fan's texts and tweets on teams spending more through the luxury tax, and trading top prospects vs. developing them for the future (27:45). 

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Blake Murphy breaks down the Blue Jays' 3-2 loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field. He takes your calls and texts, gets to the performance of Yusei Kikuchi, and also takes a look back at the trade deadline. He's also joined by Jays Talk regular Sho Alli, and the pair chat about the incoming additions of Zach Pop and Anthony Bass, the post-All-Star Break play of Kikuchi as a whole (despite getting squeezed today), and whether or not Bo Bichette should be moved down further in the batting order. Plus, we hear post-game comments from John Schneider and Teoscar Hernandez.

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Jeff Blair and Kevin Barker break down the Blue Jays' 3-1 win over the Rays at Tropicana Field. They take your calls and texts, get into the eight innings of work from Kevin Gausman, and the two-run insurance single from Danny Jansen. They discuss the trade deadline, and chat about whether it was exactly what the team needed at this stage, or if it was underwhelming. Where will Whit Merrifield play, and does that imply an IL stint for George Springer? Do the additions of Zach Pop and Anthony Bass re-order the bullpen enough? Blair and Barker discuss on Jays Talk.

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.