Andrew Stoeten (The Batflip, formerly the Athletic, National Post, Blue Jays Nation, Drunk Jays Fans) and Nick Ashbourne (Sportsnet and Yahoo Sports) team up every week to discuss all things Toronto Blue Jays! AD-FREE AND WEEKLY BONUS EPISODES AVAILABLE AT patreon.com/BJHH
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This is a short preview of our latest Patreon-exclusive bonus show, in which we take a look back at the starting rotations the Blue Jays have gone into the playoffs with since 2015 and rank them, along with the group that the playoff-bound 2025 Jays will be bringing to the dance. FULL EPISODE AVAILABLE AT patreon.com/BJHH Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The vibes around the Blue Jays continue to be good, despite some losses to a pair of the NL's best. And they're set to get even better, as George Springer has passed MLB's concussion protocol and is getting back into game action, with a brief rehab assignment in Buffalo expected before a likely return this weekend. That's what kicks us off this week, before we get into roster stuff, difficult pitching decisions ahead, Shane Bieber, Mark Shapiro, Trey Yesavage, and more! FOR AN AD-FREE VERSION OF...
This is a short preview of latest Patreon-exclusive bonus show, in which we remember some cries, discussing Jays players who for a time looked like they had "it," but then lost it—and which members of this high-flying roster may ultimately suffer the same fate. FULL EPISODE AVAILABLE AT patreon.com/BJHH Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Jays had a record-breaking series in Colorado this week, hopefully setting the tone for some big tests against the Dodgers and Cubs—and making some upcoming roster decisions even more difficult. FOR AN AD-FREE VERSION OF THIS EPISODE AND WEEKLY BONUS SHOWS, SUPPORT US AT patreon.com/BJHH Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This is a short preview of latest Patreon-exclusive bonus show, in which we discuss the trade deadline moves made by the other American League contenders and assess whether the Blue Jays' moves hold up. FULL EPISODE AVAILABLE AT patreon.com/BJHH Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Jays added a potential ace, two elite bullpen arms, and a right-handed bench bat at the deadline—exactly everything they seemed to need. But did they do enough? In this trade deadline reaction episode we assess the moves the team made and discuss whether they've done enough. FOR AN AD-FREE VERSION OF THIS EPISODE AND WEEKLY BONUS SHOWS, SUPPORT US AT patreon.com/BJHH Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This is a preview of our second ever Patreon-exclusive bonus show, in which we discuss our levels of confidence in Ross Atkins and Mark Shapiro's ability to pull off a needle-moving trade deadline. Then Nick brings you a long-awaited review of the Rogers Centre's most disturbing stunt food of the season: cotton candy fries. FULL EPISODE AVAILABLE AT patreon.com/BJHH Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Blue Jays won another series with the New York Yankees this week, and we can't avoid getting into a check of the immaculate vibes to kick off the show. But that's not what we're here for. The Jays are in the driver's seat in the American League East somehow, with their sights set on possibly even being a top seed in the league and getting a bye past the dreaded Wild Card Series. But they're in need of reinforcements, and with a week to go to the trade deadline, we preview some of the names t...
This week, in our first ever bonus episode, we take a look at the current Blue Jays roster—and, it turns out, farm system—and discuss which players, aside from Vladimir Guerrero Jr.—have the best shot at one day ascending to the Level of Excellence. PATREON EXCLUSIVE EPISODE - https://www.patreon.com/posts/134360093 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Blue Jays are headed out of the All-Star Break and toward the trade deadline in first place in the American League East. They're incredibly well-positioned to hit the gas pedal and strengthen their roster before the end of the month—and that's without even talking about some big names due to return from injury—even if we maybe don't quite fully understand how, exactly, any of this has happened. This week we take a look at everything that's brought us here, where we expect to see regression, ...
We here at Blue Jays Happy Hour have decided to take the leap into the mid-2010s and will now be hosting ad-free episodes and a weekly bonus show exclusively for paid members at patreon.com/BJHH. In this brief episode we explain what this all means, our motivation for doing it, what you can expect if you sign up to support us (or if you don't—HINT: nothing will change!), and, of course, where you can find us. Have a listen! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
The Jays’ 10-game win streak is over, following a game that brought all sorts of grumbling about Vladimir Guerrero Jr. much too easily back to the fore. But it has changed the trajectory of the club’s season immeasurably, as they now head into their final series before the All-Star Break with an 88% chance of making the playoffs, according to FanGraphs—up from just 42% at the start of the season, and 40% at the end of May. Churn at the bottom of the roster matters deeply now, trade deadline thou...
The Blue Jays sit atop the AL East in the month of July for the first time since 2016 and therefore, I’d venture to guess, likely for just the second time since 1993. Yankees fans can cry and cry all they want about that not being reason to celebrate, not a single Jays fan could possibly care. Which is to say: things are pretty good with the Blue Jays right now! And this week we talked all about, starting with an extended vibe check, before moving on into all sorts of good stuff like Friday’s ga...
This week Nick is mildly distracted by some drilling going on somewhere in his building—don't worry, it was very infrequent and barely noticeable when it did happen—as we rather coincidentally spend much of the episode talking about drilling of the baseball variety. As in: we discussed how Kevin Gausman pitched a gem to lead the Jays to a series win in Cleveland on Thursday, despite having intentionally put himself in trouble by throwing at Guardians star José Ramírez to lead off the bottom of t...
The Blue Jays have continued to roll over the last week, finally managing to reel in the New York Yankees a little bit, and have kept on doing so with contributions from unexpected places. And they’ve made it so they’ll need to keep on relying on those for a while yet, thanks to a number of transactions made in recent days, the most notable of which saw a pair of expected contributors—Bowden Francis and Erik Swanson— banished to the injured list and designated for assignment respectively. That t...
After what's seemed like years of waiting for their offence to arrive, over the last month the Blue Jays seem to have figured out how to hit and score runs. They're flying high, playing like one of the absolute best teams in baseball despite a rotation in shambles beyond the front three. This week we look at how internal improvements have powered their offensive outburst, and where improvements still need to be made in order to fix the pitching staff and weather the storms that surely lie ahead....
It's been a good week for the Blue Jays, with some actually encouraging signs showing up in their offence. Addison Barger might be for real, Alan Roden and Davis Schneider are back after successful spells in Triple-A, but more important than that is the fact that lately we've been seeing the best of guys like Bo Bichette, Alejandro Kirk, and George Springer—some of the very guys the team had futilely pinned their hopes for "internal improvement" on over the last two or three years. Plus, we look...
The Blue Jays won a series in Texas by scoring just four runs, and while normally that would be cause to celebrate some extraordinary pitching performances, that certainly doesn't feel like what we just witnessed. The Jays and Rangers were abysmal offensively over the three games, with Toronto batters going a staggering 2-for-31 with runners in scoring position. Ugly stuff! But RISP numbers are so dependent on luck that, even though they greatly help to tell the story of individual games, they'r...
The Blue Jays are not a team without problems, as we've been seeing all season. But after (eventually) picking up a much-needed and well-deserved sweep of the San Diego Padres—and potentially finding some solutions to some of their run-scoring problems in Addison Barger, Nathan Lukes, and a Daulton Varsho suddenly leaning in on his power—they now find themselves over .500 for the first time in more than a month. And just like that things feel about as good as they have all season. Hosted on Acas...
After an episode last week that felt about as grim as any show we've recorded in-season for this podcast, the Jays brought us—and themselves—back to life. They've won five of six since we last spoke, and if not for three ugly bullpen blow-ups could be on an eight-game winning streak. Alejandro Kirk and Daulton Varsho have been especially aggressive at the plate, and it's paying dividends as the club has averaged 6.5 runs per game over that span. But can the good times keep rolling? Hosted on Aca...
The vibes around the Blue Jays would certainly feel a whole lot better if not for two stomach-churning late-inning losses in Anaheim this week. But they did lose those games. And though the immediate fault lies with the bullpen for failing to close out leads, the relievers would be in much better shape if the offence could build a lead bigger than one or two runs every once in a while, or if the back-end of the rotation wasn't down to relying on guys pulled off the street. Will Jonatan Clase and...
It's been an awful couple of weeks for the Blue Jays, who looked like they were about to suffer their ninth defeat in ten games on Wednesday before embarking on a massive, home-run-powered, six-run comeback that reminded all of us what they ought to be capable of. And that entirely changed the tone of the conversation around the team—at least for a day. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Blue Jays have lost five straight, their power output has somehow been worse than expected, and they don't have a lot of levers to pull. The vibes? They're bad. And this week we talk about our confidence levels of the big three at the top of the lineup turning things around, where solutions beyond their best four starters and relievers will come from, and a whole lot more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Blue Jays couldn't afford to dig themselves an early hole this season, and they've managed to avoid doing exactly that. Chris Bassitt, Jeff Hoffman, and Yimi Garcia pitching like the best starter, closer, and setup man in baseball will certainly help in that regard. But whether their success will prove durable—whether enough offence will come, whether the rotation will hold, and whether the bullpen can continue to live up to an impossibly high standard while being relied-upon heavily—remains...
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is now under contract with the Toronto Blue Jays for the next 15 years, and all it took to make it happen was a mere half-a-billion dollars. Everybody gets what they want except the pocketbook of a rich weirdo who couldn't spend all his money in a thousand lifetimes anyway. That's a win-win-win in my book! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Blue Jays split a four-gamer with the Orioles to start the 2025 season, and then swept the Nationals at home. Max Scherzer may be out, but with performances like we've been seeing from the likes of Andrés Giménez, George Springer, and Easton Lucas, his absence has barely been felt so far. And so for this week's episode, knowing precisely what the answer would be, we went for a quasi-traditional Vibe Check. And folks, the vibes are good. (For now.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for m...
The 2025 MLB season is nearly upon us, and the Blue Jays have a fighting chance in an ultra-tight American League in which every team still has the same record. But merely meeting their projections won't be good enough, and succeeding will rely on some good stories from a group of position player prospects older than Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and health from a starting rotation with an average age of 34. This week we talk about what it will take for the Jays to have a successful season and how an un...
We start this one off with an obligatory check-in on the Vladdy circus—and circle back on it at the end because of Mark Shapiro's surprising admission of optimism on still getting an extension done—and some of the goings-on in Dunedin, before heading full on into Food Talk. That's right, it's our annual review of the Jays' newly announced ballpark food offerings! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
New reporting suggests that the contract talks between the Blue Jays and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. stalled out with a gap of just $50 million over 14 years. Does that change how we feel? Is anybody being reasonable here? Can they still perhaps salvage this now that both sides can be credibly seen as ridiculous? This week we focus on the biggest story of the Jays' season—so much for not being a distraction!—plus some injury updates, bullpen talk, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for m...
We mostly take Nick's advice this week and "focus on the season." Though big picture concerns about the franchise aren't going away anytime soon, the Jays have a talented group in camp, are already seeing some positive stories, and potentially have the makings of a fun and relevant team. It may not work out that way, of course. But if you can't get hopeful in March you've got real problems. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
