Game 1 - Jays @ Rays
Slow Start, Big Bombs, Business Baseball
The first three innings of the Blue Jays first game confirmed all the fears I had going into the season and the final six reminded me that baseball is a ride that needs to be enjoyed as much as possible. Playing the Rays in the Trop is always an ick game. Almost worthy of being written off as a loss because weird things happen in that “stadium”. The nine-up-nine-down to start the game felt real bad. The home run given up early in the game felt like the start of another game where the Jays’ pitching staff was playing with a razor thin margin.
Then the Home Runs started…
Springer, Vladdy and Biggio each hit a solo home run and I have to be honest, leading the game was great but as Vladdy rounded the bases I was thinking “would be nice if there were some base runners to go with these home runs.” The baseball gods were listening because the rest of the runs the Jays scored were singles and doubles with runners on base. Not just hits with runners on base, but with two outs and most importantly, the run production looked like high-end, sustainable run production. Small sample size for sure, but I don’t feel like I watched many games last season and came away with the feeling I have after this game.
While this game was fun and this series is off to a great start, this is one page in the Blue Jays’ 2024 season. One game, one series at a time. I will say it makes me kind of sad to see Vladdy at the end of the dugout putting on a fake jacket after his home run. I hate everything about the home run jacket being gone. The suppression of fun never feels good.
As you can see from my other content, I am a fan of the Colorado Avalanche. When they won the cup in ‘22, they played a lot of business hockey. The Jays’ win today was business baseball. Clean, powerful, consistent. We will ignore the nine up nine down, haha. More of this please and the drama of the season can be saved for the drama of the post season.
Season (1-0) Player of the Game: Cavan Biggio (1)
The Rest of the East
Tampa Bay (0-1) - They lost to the Jays and they did not look particularly scary. I know they have an entire pitching staff on the injured list. Having rooted for teams in that sitch before, it’s a real shame, but the games start when they start with the roster you have. I’m just glad we don’t have to hear about the Rays getting off to a 482 game win streak to start the season this year.
Baltimore (1-0) - They look scary. The Angels’ pitching was not great in this game but scoring 11 runs is what you are supposed to do when you’re playing a team like the Angels. Corbin Burns looked amazing on the mound today. This division belongs to the Orioles for the foreseeable future. The Blue Jays’ talent collection has their measuring stick, and it wears Orange and Black.
New York (1-0) - The Yankees get the come from behind victory against a good team on the road. Weird not seeing Cole on the mound on opening day. This team always has the potential to be dangerous. Not just in a series, but for long periods of time. They are in a similar situation where they need to prove how scary they are. The difference to me is, they are not my team, so I default to them being the real deal.
Boston (1-0) - The Red Sox are not afforded the same default setting. They got the win in Seattle and what I saw of the game, they looked like they were playing well. Not sure where in their rebuild/retool they are so my opening vibes will have to wait for a few weeks’ worth of games get played.
