Very quietly, the Blue Jays have been playing winning ball, since April 30, sabotaged far too often by inexplicable bullpen failures blowing leads in the 8th and 9th innings. In this week’s Exit Philosophy, Mal and Griff discuss those woes that have left the Jays playing pickleball with.500. On Tuesday Commissioner Rob Manfred announced that all-time hits leader Pete Rose has had his ban lifted and he is no longer ineligible for the Hall-of-Fame. Why did baseball do this out of the blue and what does it do to Griff’s respect and perception of MLB and the Hall. How much of this lifting of the ban was due to influence from the White House? The boys discuss the Rafael Devers situation and whether he is a proud superstar or bad teammate and could all this drama have been avoided. A Jays back-end of the rotation review, an update on the Niagara Ironbacks and more. Hit the subscribe button, like and leave a review wherever you listen!

 INDEX:

0:00 Intro   

0:38 Blue Jays bullpen steps up vs Rays  

3:30 Leafs Playoff talk 

6:32 Jays since April 30 could be far better 

10:50 Up and down bullpen over 13 games 

14:48 Back end of Jays rotation forecast 

28:24 Jays injury update and Clement-Barger fill-in   

30:49 Jays who’s hot and who’s not    

33:51 Mal’s Niagara Ironbacks update home opener June 7 

37:44 Pete Rose eligibility restored. What about politics?   

49:11 Red Sox and Rafael Devers position change. Who screwed up? 

61:38 Remaining homestand doesn’t get any easier 

 ----

Get the video version of "Exit Philosophy" and "Conversations with Griff" on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/@ExitPhilosophy

----

For the full catalogue of Richard Griffin's work, including weekly Blue Jays/MLB columns, a weekly MLB Power Rankings column, exclusive conversations with some of the game's greats, past and present, and the Exit Philosophy podcast, visit https://www.griffsthepitch.com/