Blue Jays Happy Hour

The Blue Jays have finally opened up the new look Rogers Centre, returning to Toronto to begin the home portion of their schedule with a series victory over the Detroit Tigers. There was a big win — thanks to a five-run, eighth inning outburst — in the opener on Tuesday, a thrilling walk-off in extras game two on Wednesday, and a grim slog through a Thursday loss that saw the club go 1-for-12 with...

The Toronto Blue Jays had themselves a roller coaster of a first week of the season, but as we looked up on Saturday morning, with their record at 5-3, all seemed just about right with the world. Sort of. Vladdy and Matt Chapman are on fire. Daulton Varsho has come as advertised. The speed and the defence they wanted to add are there. And, uh, now the Jordan Luplow era has begun! Who knows how lon...

Opening day is here! The Blue Jays are about to embark on the 47th season of Major League Baseball in Toronto, and there’s a realistic chance that it could be one of the most exciting we’ve seen here in a long time. To preview the year ahead, on this week’s episode we decided it would be a good idea to make some predictions — yearbook style. Most likely to succeed? Most likely to disappoint? Most...

Opening day is quickly approaching for the Blue Jays. As I write this we are a mere eight days away from the club’s weird season-starting date with the Cardinals in St. Louis. And so, with the number eight looming large in our brains, on this week’s episode of Blue Jays Happy Hour, we decided to take a look at an octet of things for Jays fans to watch during the 2023 season. Things like the Jays’...

Not a whole lot of consequence has happened over the last week of Toronto Blue Jays spring training baseball — which is exactly what you want at this time of year! No major injuries (Vlad’s fine, he doesn’t count). No big controversies (you can talk about Nathan Lukes getting called out on a pitch clock violation all you want; we didn’t). No performances either so sublimely good or disgustingly ba...

Spring storylines are starting to develop around Blue Jays camp down in Dunedin, Florida, among them a possible Yusei Kikuchi redemption tour. Is it time to get excited about last year’s failed fifth starter? What does the addition of former Houston Astros GM James Click mean for the Blue Jays’ front office? Has Ricky Tiedemann already started pushing up his timeline? Plus! We rate and review give...

A lot has happened since Nick Ashbourne and I last talked about the Blue Jays way back in October. The team's outfield defence has been remade, they've signed a couple high-profile injury-prone position players, the walls at the Rogers Centre have been transformed, Danny Jansen got jacked, etc. This week we're talking about all that, plus spring storylines, our attempts at choosing the over-under...

Change can be scary sometimes, but we’ve got what we think is some fun news to share with listeners of Blue Jays Happy Hour — and anyone else who has been thinking of listening, or are interested in what’s next for Nick and I. Today we’re excited to announce that we’re moving the podcast to Callin, the world’s first “social podcasting” platform. What does this mean? Well, a few things. • Firstly,...

In the wake of a spectacular performance from Kevin Gausman, and a big series win at Fenway, comes this week’s edition of Blue Jays Happy Hour! With thoughts on Thursday afternoon’s performance, Jordan Romano’s red flags, the ump shows against Oakland last weekend, Zack Collins, Cavan Biggio, Hyun Jin Ryu, and more! Have a listen! • Apple Podcasts:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/blue-jays-...

The Blue Jays’ season is rolling and, despite a couple of injuries they’ll have difficulty handling, it’s been pretty good so far. Why? Mostly because of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who has a rather prominent place in this week’s edition of Blue Jays Happy Hour! Have a listen! • Apple Podcasts:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/blue-jays-happy-hour/id1564979331 • Spotify:  https://open.spotify.com...

The 2022 Toronto Blue Jays season is nearly upon us! So, naturally, on this week’s episode of Blue Jays Happy Hour we chatted about big picture stuff — what the future holds, what roster moves we’ll eventually see, strengths, potential weaknesses, which prospects will make their debuts, bold predictions, and more. Have a listen! • Apple Podcasts:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/blue-jays-ha...

The Blue Jays’ spring training continues to roll along — though hopefully not at 82 mph in a 45 zone — and this week we talk about a whole whack of goings on, including the nasty piece of business to which I am referring (which happened after we last recorded), but mostly baseball things. Things like Dexter Fowler, the Jays’ depth, the catching situation, the announcement of José Berrí6s as the cl...

The Blue Jays have a new left-handed hitting outfielder, and it’s not Brett Gardner! Better still, they’ve traded Randal Grichuk in order to make it happen. Ramel Tapia may not be the most exciting addition in the world, but they could have done worse! And on this week’s Blue Jays Happy Hour we talked about that, the Bichette/Manoah contract flap, Adrian Pinto, and more! Have a listen! • Apple Pod...

I may have slept through Tuesday morning’s big news about the Blue Jays trading for A’s third baseman Matt Chapman, but I was at least able to get myself up in time for an emergency podcast on the subject! The Blue Jays now employ one of the best defensive third baseman in the world! And all it took was sending RHP Gunnar Hoglund (2021 first round pick/found money), INF Kevin Smith (meh), LHP Zach...

Baseball is back! And while the much-promised frenzy of transactions hasn’t quite materialized as yet, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a whole lot to talk about as the game returns to normal and gears up for a full 162-game season. So, on this week’s episode of Blue Jays Happy Hour we did just that, sharing our impressions of the new CBA deal, rule changes, expanded playoffs, a balanced schedule, th...

We’re back! And while Rob Manfred’s attempt to break MLB’s players union continues unabated, that doesn’t necessarily mean there isn’t anything Blue Jays related to talk about! In this episode of Blue Jays Happy Hour we review where things stand with MLB’s messy lockout situation, and also go through the Jays’ roster for some over/under predictions as the 2022 season (hopefully!) inches closer. Ha...

Though not a whole hell of a lot has happened for the Toronto Blue Jays, or across the major leagues of baseball, over the last month, it has certainly been an eventful 365 days regardless. So with a new year on the horizon, this week we took a look back at all the comings, goings, Hand-ings, Cy-ings, and other-ings that have taken place in Blue Jays land over the past twelve months. Have a listen...

With a lockout looming, transactions throughout MLB have accelerated at a rapid pace here early in the week, including the Jays signing Kevin Gausman to a five-year, $110 million contract. The Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners have scooped up now-former Jays Marcus Semien and Robbie Ray. And there’s a chance for plenty of more activity to come before Thursday’s expected shut-down. On this week’s...

Steven Matz is now a member of the St. Louis Cardinals — a move that created a surprising amount of fallout around the league. For the Jays it means going another route to fill out one of the two holes in their rotation, which could pose a challenge given the way the pitching market has been moving so far. Another challenge the Jays may have in front of them is the fact that the owners of the club...

The Blue Jays made big news this week in several ways, with the club coming to terms on a seven-year, $131 million extension with starter José Berríos, his teammate Robbie Ray taking home the American League Cy Young award, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. finishing a near-unanimous second place behind Shohei Ohtani in the balloting for AL MVP. On this week’s Blue Jays Happy Hour we talked about all that...

MLB’s annual GM meetings took place in Carlsbad, California, this week, and though the Blue Jays didn’t get any deals done, the landscape of available players certainly came into sharper focus. And with that as the backdrop, on this week’s Blue Jays Happy Hour we talked about all kinds of potential acquisitions, both on the free agent and trade market, while also touching on the Jays’ many award w...

Alex Anthopoulos has been crowned a champion, the offseason is underway (for now, at least), and Blue Jays Happy Hour is back from our playoff hiatus! This week we talk about Atlanta’s victory, Gabriel Moreno, a whole lot more — plus we’re joined by the great Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet to revisit the over/under predictions we made back at the start of June to see what we got right and what w...

The Toronto Blue Jays’ season ended on Sunday. It sucked! We talked about it and also about the future. Have a listen! • Apple Podcasts:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/blue-jays-happy-hour/id1564979331 • Spotify:  https://open.spotify.com/show/2lAHpAQtOdHqKKgNVIRqRK • Google Podcasts:  https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hcGkuc3Vic3RhY2suY29tL2ZlZWQvcG9kY2FzdC8xMTM2MjgucnNz • Stitc...

The Blue Jays have been given a lifeline! With Boston’s loss on Thursday night, just one loss by each of the Red Sox and Mariners over the weekend would — provided the Jays sweep the Orioles — would result in a tie for the second American League wild card spot, and Toronto’s hopes for playoff baseball reigniting! Is that likely to happen? Not necessarily, but it’s not especially unlikely either. A...

For all intents and purposes the playoffs are already underway for the Toronto Blue Jays, and that’s not great news considering the way they’re going as this weekend begins. Two straight defeats for the first time in nearly a month. Back-to-back seven-run debacles. An injury to Lourdes Gurriel Jr. A suspension for Ryan Borucki. A Rays team licking their chops for a crack at the Jays if they do mak...