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A Blue Jays source has informed me that it is just a matter of time before the Jays shift Sanchez to the pen. It is clearly a tough call. The fact the bullpen has struggled likely makes the decision easier since there is a real need. If the bullpen was pitching well as a unit, the relocation could negatively impact the flow and rhythm of the staff. Sanchez will be a welcome addition to the pen. As it stands.  

Drew Hutchison is the obvious internal option to replace Sanchez in the rotation, but organizational sources have indicated that the Jays are looking outside of the organization for starting pitching help. An American League GM confirmed what an NL GM told me; that the Jays are making calls everywhere looking for pitching help. Both GMs believed it was unlikely the Jays would add an outfielder as has been rumoured.

If and when Sanchez is moved to the bullpen it will put more pressure on the rest of the rotation to maintain their great first half performances. The good news is that it appears that Marcus Stroman has gotten himself back on track.

Stroman rebounded from a tough start to the second half of the season with a dominant performance against the Arizona Diamondbacks. His last two pre-All-Star Game starts were both good and this one makes three of his last four outings.
 
The mechanical adjustments that Stroman made from the stretch has made him much more effective with runners on base. He has found his power sinker again and is pounding the bottom of the strike zone. His command of the fastball puts him in a much better position to throw his slider and expand the zone.  

I actually like that within the last four starts Stroman had a bad outing. His bounce-back performance against Arizona showed he is under control and has bought into the mechanical changes. He looks mentally strong and emotionally able to pitch with his normal controlled madness.  

 

Return of Joey Bats

The Blue Jays are very hopeful that Jose Bautista will be able to play in the field when he returns from the DL. Sources within the organization said that John Gibbons would reinsert Bautista in the leadoff spot in the lineup. This will put him in front of Josh Donaldson and Edwin Encarnacion, who are as hot as any tandem in baseball.  Bautista’s toe had better be ready, because with his excellent on base percentage, he will be doing a lot of running on the bases.  

Bautista will play right field, but a source said he would also get at-bats in the DH role to protect him. This may explain all of the speculation surrounding the Jays regarding interest in outfielders as the deadline approaches.  
 
Blue Jays fans are waiting for the final verdict regarding Aaron Sanchez’s role. It seemed that coming out of spring training, the organization had a plan set in stone that the young righty would transition back to the bullpen to limit his workload for the year, but recent comments from Mark Shapiro have made me wonder. When Shapiro was asked about Sanchez just before the All-Star break and the likelihood of his role change, the club president responded that, “they didn’t have to deal in absolutes regarding the issue.” That sure sounded like there had been a change of thinking.

 

Miami on the Move

Of the teams contending in the National League, perhaps the most surprising are the Miami Marlins. If the season were to end today, the Marlins would be the second wild card team. The most amazing part of their story is that they are where they are, despite Giancarlo Stanton’s tough first half.  

The Marlins are 11th in runs scored and seventh in team ERA. Their bullpen is actually the fourth best in the NL. They added Fernando Rodney to the pen, which has helped Don Mattingly shorten the game. It is the rotation that could use some help.  

Jose Fernandez is one of the top five pitchers in baseball. He has the stuff and personality to lead a staff. In the off-season, Miami added Wei-Yin Chen by way of free agency. The expectation was that the change from the AL to the NL would allow him to easily become the number two starter in the rotation. It hasn’t gone that way, as he is 5-4 with a 4.99 ERA. Young rookie starter Adam Conley has been their second-most effective starter as he is 6-5 with a 3.61 ERA. Tom Kohler (6-8, 4.68 ERA) has been mediocre.

The Marlins need to upgrade their starting pitching. Their owner, Jeffery Loria, has always been aggressive when they have been close. I expect they will make a push for just about every starter that will be available. They have been tied to Andrew Cashner of the Padres, but I don’t think that is nearly good enough. Jeremy Hellickson of the Phillies and Sonny Gray and Rich Hill of the A’s would all be big upgrades. If they get one of them they may get to play in October.

Remember, they will be getting Dee Gordon back soon from his PED suspension in August. He will add the speed element back to the lineup and may get Christian Yelich, Marcell Ozuna, and Giancarlos Stanton more fastballs to crush.  

I expect Stanton to have an epic second half. The home run derby showed us how locked in he is at the plate. Bring your gloves to the ballpark if you are sitting in the outfield.


A New Idea

Commissioner Rob Manfred mentioned this week that MLB is looking at the possibility of limiting the use of relief pitchers in games. Citing the fact that pitching changes slow the game down and that the relievers are dominant, he confirmed that the subject has been talked about internally.

I am in favour of changes which can improve the pace of the game. But I am not in favour of tying the hands of a manager when he is trying to win the game. He should be able to use whatever personnel he has available in any way he desires.

There are all kinds of opinions out there as to how to improve the pace of play: limiting pitching changes, make pitchers face multiple batters, limit mound visits, shorten the game to seven innings, etc.

I have a plan which solves multiple problems that currently exist in the game today. My plan, hereby known as The Phillips Plan, will speed the pace of play, lead to fewer pitching changes and keep pitchers healthier while still playing a full nine innings.

It is a simple plan that changes only one main aspect of the game: instead of playing with four balls earning a walk and three strikes leading to a strikeout, the new plan will allow three balls for a walk and two strikes for a strikeout. Effectively, that starts every at-bat like the hitter has 1-1 count based upon the current rules.  
 
Did you know that so far this year, 39.5 per cent of all plate appearances reach a 1-1 count? So effectively for 40 per cent of the plate appearances we would be eliminating the time taken for the first two pitches of the at-bat.  

The remaining 60.5 per cent of plate appearances either end before a 1-1 count (on the first or second pitch of the at-bat) or the count reaches 0-2 or 2-0 on the way to the outcome of the battle between the hitter and pitcher.

Remember pace of game doesn’t necessarily mean the time of the game. It means how much time there is between the action on the field. By changing the balls-strikes from 4-3 to 3-2 it will reduce the time between the results of every at-bat.

Based upon my calculations the new count system (3-2) will lead to the same number of walks and strikeouts as we currently have but we will get there more quickly.  

In addition to increasing the pace of the game, this Plan would significantly reduce the number of pitches thrown. If a starter were to face 28 batters in a game and the numbers tell us that 40 per cent (11 batters) of those plate appearances would normally reach a 1-1 count before ultimately reaching a result, then it means that on average a pitcher could save two pitches per plate appearances. That could shave 22 pitches off of a pitcher’s total for the game. Multiply that by two for each starter and we could save the time taken to throw 44 pitches with no change in the action on the field.  

So the Plan speeds the pace of play and protects pitchers' arms. It will also reduce the number of pitching changes because starters will be able to go deeper in the game because of the fewer pitches thrown. The decision to remove a pitcher because of fatigue will be pushed deeper in the game. A decision normally made after six innings may not be considered until the 8th now.

I know this sounds radical and the kneejerk reaction is that it is too different. But it solves so many of the problems without changing the results on the field. Whether a club spends $25 million on a starting pitcher or they have a young ace, the value of the asset is undeniable. Why not put the Plan in place, which protects the best players so they stay on the field more predictably?

At the very least, the Plan should be implemented in the lower minor leagues. It would protect young pitcher's arms and allow them more opportunities to learn critical pitches. Plus it could be a testing ground to confirm my belief that it wouldn’t negatively impact the game.  


Spitting Seeds

Clayton Kershaw may now need surgery for the herniated disc in his back. This will crush the Dodgers' playoff chances and should fortify those chasing them in the NL wild card race. There are rumours that the Dodgers are in the market for elite talent but unless something dramatic happens they won’t find that kind of impact pitching available.

Dodgers team president Andrew Friedman has interest in a couple of his former Tampa Bay Rays players: Third baseman Evan Longoria and starting pitcher Chris Archer.  Although Archer leads the AL in strikeouts he has not been nearly as good this season as we saw a year ago. The Dodgers would have to fix him to maximize any deal. Longoria has long been the face and voice of the Rays. They would have to swallow hard to move him, considering they are looking for a new stadium in the Tampa Bay area and need to sell their product.

The vast majority of Yankee fans are rooting for their team to lose.

Yep, you read that correctly. Yankee fans have accepted that they need to rebuild and retool to better compete in the tough AL East. The fear is that this surge in the second half may empower ownership’s position to stand pat or buy as opposed to sell. General manager Brian Cashman believes his club needs to sell and get younger and more athletic. He looks at this trade deadline as an opportunity to dramatically add to the depth of young talent in the organization by at least trading Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller and Carlos Beltran.

So this means that the rest of the AL East should be rooting for the Yankees to win.  
 
The Bronx Bombers don’t have the talent to sustain a playoff run, but a short spurt now may keep them from improving for the future.  

The world may be coming to an end!

 

Mike Piazza and Ken Griffey Jr. will be inducted in the Hall of Fame this weekend. Piazza is the best offensive catcher to ever play the game and Griffey played the game as beautifully as any player ever.
 
I am excited about Piazza, as he was “my guy.” I will never forget the day we acquired him and the excitement I felt announcing it to the New York media and fans. It rocked New York City.

He was the most low-maintenance superstar ever. He showed up to play every day. He was prepared. He was tough. He played hurt. He ate power bars and drank Gatorade after games. I never worried about the 2am phone call with him. He didn’t have an entourage. Every now and then his dad and brother came around and he always had the prettiest girl waiting for him after the game.

He was a rock star. New York fans adored him. He delivered time and again. His game-winning home run in the first game back in New York after 9/11 was the stuff legends are made of. It was the perfect storybook ending.  

I am honoured to have brought him to New York.


The Kansas City Royals visited the White House this week. President Obama greeted them and congratulated them for a job well done. I don’t mean this as a political statement, but doesn’t the president have more critical things to do than entertain sports teams?

Here is a tip as you follow all of the rumours around the trade deadline: If you hear a trade rumour that is somewhat lopsided, it was probably leaked by the team getting the better end of the deal.

Trade rumours are strictly those. They are rumours. I can’t tell you how many times I heard about trades that I was supposedly considering - that had never been discussed.  So don’t digest everything you hear as gospel truth.


Did anybody notice that Stephen Strasburg lost his first game of the season finally? He is 13-1 with a 2.83 ERA. He is the first NL pitcher to start the season with that record since 1912. How can a guy go 13-0 and go unnoticed? I guess when you are on a team with Max Scherzer, who threw two no-hitters last year and struck out 20 in a game this season, people don’t notice you. Maybe it’s being on the same team as Bryce Harper. Daniel Murphy has been the Nationals’ MVP and has certainly gotten his share of attention. I think Strasburg is glad to stay under the radar. I just can’t believe we let him.  


Rumours have it that the White Sox turned down a king’s ransom for Chris Sale. The Sox have been hovering around .500 and have given me no reason to believe they will make a run to the post-season. They are an interesting team in that they have a core of significant stars but they just don’t win. The rest of the roster just isn’t good enough.

There is no way I would trade Sale if I were running the club. The White Sox are paying him $9.15 million this season, which is a bargain. He is under Chicago’s control for three more years at $39.5 million. To give you some perspective, he is worth $30 million per year ($90 million total). As soon as the White Sox would trade him, they would need a guy just like him.  
 
Sorry he is not for (Chris) Sale!

And finally, What in the world is Pokemon Go? And can it help the Blue Jays bullpen?