Sunday, July 26, 2020

Game 3. The Vladdening. Jays (1-1) @ Rays (1-1) | House of Horrors, Florida | June 26, 2020 1:10PM EST

HATCH?! vs. Snell :( 


Pre-amble?

This is it, this is the day we find out if Vlad is a stud or bust. At 21 years old and about 500 major league bats under his belt there are no excuses. If he hits a HR today he will be crowned a hero, if he grounds out all 5 times he will be labeled a bust. Take us to the promise land, or the 2021 first overall pick.

On the pitching side of things, Montoyo opted to go with....Thomas Hatch?!? as their game 3 starter....odd, strange, peculiar. 





As far as i can tell this is his MLB debut? If you wondering who he is, this was the return of the David Phelps deal at the deadline last year. He is 25, has never pitched above AA, and his minor league numbers arent that impressive at first glance. In 2 AA seasons he is 30-35 with a 4.00ERA and a 1.28 WHIP. To say I am terrified is an understatement. But the real question is, why are they using an unproven AA pitcher instead of one of the plethora of actual starters on the roster? Where is big FA signing Tanner Roark? Ryan Borucki, Trent Thornton, Shun Yamaguchi, and so on and so forth. After I wrote this they tweeted the next 2 starters. Still makes no sense though.

I am really starting to worry about Montoyo's ability to manage the roster in game. We have Vlad DHing second game of the season, I feel he left Sammy G, Dolis, Ryu, ect. in longer than they should have been in, he is starting Thomas Hatch game 3 of a 60 game season when there are much better options on the roster. This is all just within 2 games! I hope to be proven wrong about him as he seems like a great guy and I think the players like him.

Discuss! Also, can we talk about how amazing Biggio is?


LINEUPS!

Some lineup tidbits of note. 


Drury is back and is playing 3rd!


Gourde is mysteriously out again after playing 1 game