Is that a concern considering how many innings he's pitched?

I would say so.

Um, you know, there was some discussion before today where the Blue Jays were considering pushing Dylan Cease to Satur- bringing him up to Saturday and having Soriano pitch Sunday to allow both guys to appear in this series.

But the fact that Dylan Cease had his lowest fastball velocity, both with the four-seamer and the sinker, in his last outing showed that he needed the extra day.

And I think, you know, we, we've seen the fastball velo be down for Dylan over the last, you know, month or so.

Um, and, you know, I, I'd say the Blue Jays have been pretty hush-hush when it comes to whether or not he's been pitching through any sort of injury or something like that, or just, you know, feeling fatigued given that it's this late in the year.

Um, you know, he's been pitching deeper into games than he ever has in his career.

Um, looking at the, uh, um, the, the rest of the pitching staff, what, what, what are you hearing on Bieber and Yusmeiro Petit?

And

that's exactly what we've seen from him on top of the elite defense that he's provided in center field.

And, you know, when you compare the subtraction of Dalton Varshow versus the addition of Brett Bateman, it's been a clear upgrade on multiple facets for the Blue Jays.

And that's not something I don't think anyone could have anticipated coming out.

of the trade deadline where center field looked like a major hole for this group.

It was really uncertain in terms of how they were going to fill that void without Dalton Varshow, even though he wasn't having a good season.

Under the hood, a lot of the metrics were on the decline for Varshow, and so it seemed like it was going to have to be a tandem of Myles Straw and Nathan Lucas in center field, which, you know, certainly leaves you thin in the outfield elsewhere.

What have you made of his season, and do you think this guy is here to stay? Is he one of the top players in Major League Baseball now?

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when the Kevin Gosman trade initially happened.

And he's somebody who I think was acquired at the perfect time for the Blue Jays, where for the first five months, I would say, of the season, the Blue Jays were really focused on trying to find some power, some slug in their offense.

And it just wasn't working, that type of philosophy.

And so... you know, around, I want to say, shortly after the trade deadline, the Blue Jays said, okay, to hell with that.

We're going to just go back to the basics and try and focus on what we do well or what we have been doing well, and that's putting balls on play, hitting for contact, getting on base via walks.

And, like, that's exactly the type of profile that Brett Bateman possesses.

No. It's crazy.

What, where are we at in this?

Yeah, it's tough.

I mean, Schneider was asked this on Wednesday about, you know, what, what's the answer here? Like, why, is it worth even trying something? And he listed a few reasons as to why we haven't seen it yet, and one of them is the fact that there's nobody really pushing Vladi down right now.

Like, if Addison Barger was healthy and had, like, 25 home runs here, then sure, like, bump Vladi down.

But Barger isn't gonna come back this year, there's no Anthony Santander probably for all this season.

Um, Alejandro Kirk has been the Blue Jays best hitter for over a month now, but he's not a power guy.

So, you know, I don't know if flip-flopping those two guys would have any sort of impact.

When you look at other players, 'cause I know you have your eye around the Blue Jays organization, whether it be Jojo Parker, even looking at Sean Keyes, is there somebody that even could come in as a little distraction that is doing something great, not, with the Blue Jays currently at this moment?

For somebody whose kid goes to UC and you're worried about them being assaulted or worse, this may cause parents to go, you know what, maybe not such a bad idea.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I think, you know, the premise of this, this idea, I, I, I go back to when I was in my first term in the legislature, uh, now in my third, you know, running for our fourth, um, this whole idea kind of, it's, it's not the same token.

So let me be very clear with you listeners.

I'm not trying to compare this to what I'm getting ready to say, but in the same, uh, you know, reality, when we talked about constitutional carry years ago and people were like, Oh, you know, it's going to cause mayhem.

It's going to cause all these crazy things to happen that honestly never really matured.

um i guess that's part of the learning experience because you know you're an 18 year old um you can possess many of these items off campus and somehow when you get on campus you take those rights away that seems more paternalistic but would this apply for a young anyone on campus or do you have to be at least 18

Yes.

I would love to see it because Major League Baseball has had a lot of success giving back to the Little League World Series.

And, you know, for the Blue Jays, like very rarely do they get to play on that type of spotlight.

You know, they were previously set to be showcased on Sunday Night Baseball in a couple of weeks when they're in Kansas City.

But, you know, a few weeks ago they got flexed out of that spot just because.

Yeah.

Like it's, you know, it's never a great feeling, especially because I think when you're Canada's only team, you're always dealing with the odds against you in that department when it comes to Sunday Night Baseball.

What say you, Thomas?

Uh, why did this make sense or why does it not make sense in your opinion?

So I believe Dana Brown is in the final year of his contract, and owner Jim Crane clearly wasn't pleased with the job that he has done over the past few seasons.

And, you know, it's, it's fair to say that the Astros haven't had, um, a season that would meet expectations considering they're now out of the, the lead for the division and are a game under .500.

Of course, they've had a lot of injuries.

Um, a, a similar sentiment that the Blue Jays can certainly, uh, say about their season too.

But, um, yeah, it, it's certainly interesting to see that, you know, uh, almost a month after the trade deadline, the Astros, after being buyers, would let go of their general manager, and it seems like they extended that opportunity to Joe Espada, their manager, too, saying, "Hey, if you want to, um, get a, a head start on where your next job is gonna be, then by all means, um, you know, we'll, we'll part ways here." But he, uh, he decided not to and, and give it, you know, an opportunity for the team to hopefully get in, whether it's through the wild card or, uh, the division.

But, um, it's always, you know, it's always puzzling just because, you know, the Astros are a team where Jim Crane often, you know, becomes very involved in these types of situations.

True

But on the field, what do you think the biggest driver behind this change really has been?

I would say the pitching staff, right? Because you look at the offense and in the month of August, they're still towards the bottom in home runs, OPS, runs scored.

Like, It's funny, you look at the Blue Jays and the Mariners and both those teams are kind of just battling out to see who's going to finish the year ranked 30th and run scored per game.

So, but it's definitely been adding Jose Soriano to this rotation and swapping Kevin Gosman's production out for Soriano.

And, you know, through three starts here, like it's been a huge improvement for the rotation and you know the way Dylan Cease has been able to take this jump and go toe-to-toe start for start with Cam Slitler here for the AL Cy Young race like those two guys are are the horses for this rotation and you know even you have Max Scherzer pitching the way he has been over his last three four starts like that to me has been one of the more bigger surprises of this recent stretch like there was a time, you know, even a month ago where I thought, okay, like the wheels have fallen off here for Max.

Like this, this isn't going to go, this isn't going to end well for him.

Right.

But I kind of wanted to dive in a little bit more on Bateman in particular just because of how much of a spark that he has seemingly given and kind of your conversation with him and kind of what your biggest takeaways were from that and maybe kind of what you see his role and impact being the rest of the way this year and maybe even in 2027.

Yeah

...

they, they improved the pitching staff, both from a ceiling standpoint and a, and a depth.

Um, but you're right.

The offense, where it is right now, it's, it's the same pretty much as it was pre-deadline.

Um, and so, you know, unfortunately, a lot of it moving forward is going to revolve around can Vladimir Guerrero Jr. recapture, you know, the type of hitter he was in previous seasons outside of this one? And, you know, if we look at the track record, history would tell us that, yeah, he should be better in 2027 and that Naturally will improve the Blue Jays offense just through him alone.

And I think through having Alejandro Kirk hopefully healthy for an entire season in twenty-seven, that should make this team better.

Maybe it was a comfort there." What do you think about that, Thomas?

How, how deep do you think they go as a seller? It-- Like, more than three players? What do you think?

Yeah, I think the market will, will dictate how big of a sell-off the Jays ultimately have here.

Uh, I do think we'll probably see a, a small handful of moves, um, hear from the Jays.

Like, I would, I would assume that most of their pending free agents will be, um, the biggest, uh, appetite that they'll have to, to be sellers, uh, this time next week.

But, um, I'm not exactly sure how much bigger the sell-off will be beyond those pieces, beyond a Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, uh, George Springer, Daulton Varsho, Max Scherzer, depending on how he looks tonight against Washington maybe.

Um, but there are other pieces, uh, on this roster that, uh, in what will be an extreme seller's market, uh, around Major League Baseball this year that, you know, could somebody like Jeff Hoffman, who signed for one more season, be a coveted target, even though, you know, he's had a, a weird, you know, h- extreme to the extreme type of season.

Um, but he's still somebody that, you know, under the hood, the numbers are really good.

Because if you look at the overall numbers, they're actually pretty good, but there's select games, like when he's bad, it's really bad, even though it's only minimal time.

Now, obviously, it's very different this year, and I'm not talking about teams being lost at the Major League Baseball level, but is there a dark cloud in your mind hanging over this season, considering we know it might be the last for even a couple years?

Yeah, I would say so.

You try and not focus on that too, too much.

You try and... be in the present right now and, and focus on, you know, the baseball that we currently have in front of us here.

Um, or at least that's what people tell me too.

Um, but yeah, I think, you know, it's, It's going to be really interesting, I think, with the trade deadline coming up to see how organizations operate, how aggressive they try to be because there's a lockout very much looming to the point where I don't even think you can even be optimistic about there not being a lockout.

Come December, the players will be locked out.

Abrams in Washington? Who intrigues you?

Yeah

... not, you know, continuing to ride this, this, uh, rough stretch here.

So yeah, I think right now this is a point in the time where we're gonna learn a lot about who the 2026 Blue Jays are.

Are they a team that are just gonna continue to ride in this muddy middle that is the American League, or are they going to turn this around and try and capitalize on the fact that they're playing a, a San Francisco Giants team that is well out of the playoff picture? They're going to be sellers in a month's time.

Then you have the San Diego Padres who, you know, are a good team, but, um, you know, they're not the Dodgers or anything.

Um, so, you know, it's, it's an opportunity for the Blue Jays to, you know, maybe win three of these five last games and, and try and go into that break with some momentum and, and feel like, you know, you can have a really hot stretch or at least a good stretch, uh, coming out of the break and, and, you know, put yourself in a better position inching closer to that, that 500 mark.

So, um, because big picture here, you, these players have to prove to the front office how aggressive they can be at that August 3rd trade deadline.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Not, you know, continuing to ride this, this, uh, rough stretch here.

So yeah, I think right now this is a point in the time where we're gonna learn a lot about who the 2026 Blue Jays are.

Are they a team that are just gonna continue to ride in this muddy middle that is the American League, or are they going to turn this around and try and capitalize on the fact that they're playing a, a San Francisco Giants team that is well out of the playoff picture? They're going to be sellers in a month's time.

Then you have the San Diego Padres who, you know, are a, a good team, but, um, you know, they're not the Dodgers or anything.

Um, so, you know, it's, it's an opportunity for the Blue Jays to, you know, maybe win three of these five last games and, and try and go into that break with some momentum and, and feel like, you know, you can have a really hot stretch or at least a good stretch, uh, coming out of the break and, and, you know, put yourself in a better position inching closer to that, that .500 mark.

So, um, because big picture here, you-- these players have to prove to the front office how aggressive they can be at that August 3rd trade deadline.

Yeah.

For somebody whose kid goes to UC and you're worried about them being assaulted or worse, this may cause parents to go, you know what, maybe not such a bad idea.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I think, you know, the premise of this, this idea, I, I, I go back to when I was in my first term in the legislature, uh, now in my third, you know, running for our fourth, um, this whole idea kind of, it's, it's not the same token.

So let me be very clear with you listeners.

I'm not trying to compare this to what I'm getting ready to say, but in the same, uh, you know, reality, when we talked about constitutional carry years ago and people were like, Oh, you know, it's going to cause mayhem.

It's going to cause all these crazy things to happen that honestly never really matured.

But would this apply for anyone on campus or do you have to be at least 18?

There's some guys who are going, but for the most part, the big you boys are not right now.

They do.

You look up and down the lineup, it's tough to find a lot of guys clicking right now.

It's not a lot of the regulars, right? Like Vladi's going through his struggles, like you mentioned.

George Springer as well, while also playing through a broken toe.

Getting Alejandro Kirk's back in the mix, I think, is something that the Blue Jays are really excited about.

And it is something that they've missed a lot thus far.

What did you make of Cease's outing?

Is that the reality?

So are you saying, Scott, that we can't believe everything we read on Facebook? Correct.

So I will give you and your listeners, I brought some information from me, from our caucus that we've had meetings on this probably the last two, three months or so.

Currently, there is around 232 data centers in Ohio now.

Wow.

I believe that number is data centers that are in progress, data centers that have committed to Ohio.

And what we've done in the legislature, to share with your listeners, is in January 14th of 2026, introduced this bill to create this commission for the Data Center Study Commission.

What's the timeline getting this thing done, at least in the House side of the Senate's different?

But, but based on usage, deployment, and talent, is it?

Um, I wouldn't say it would necessarily be that much of a surprise.

I think, you know, John Schneider spoke about this the other day, where he was saying that, you know, the conversation around the Blue Jays outfield moving forward with Nathan Lukes coming back today, and Addison Barger shouldn't be too far along, far behind him either.

Um, you know, I think it's really changed compared to a few weeks ago when the Blue Jays did option down Piñango.

It was only for a short period of time, butUm, you know, it's something that, um, the way that Piñango has been playing recently and giving the Blue Jays a shot in the arm offensively, he's really forced the envelope, uh, on this team.

And to the point now that, um, with David Schneider being optioned down, the numbers certainly were not anywhere where he was expecting them to be to begin the year.

He, you know, really wasn't doing anything at the plate other than getting his walks.

Are we seeing kind of a morphing of Major League Baseball with the Jays and their style at least a year ago, and then with a guy like Chandler Simpson? Are we, are we coming back a little bit to the olden days?

Uh, Schneider being sent out is, you know, for, for the average fan with, with Sanchez, uh, as well there, um, kind of feels like a surprise, but, but based on usage, deployment and talent, is it?

Um, I don't say it would necessarily be that much of a surprise.

I think, you know, John Schneider spoke about this the other day, where he was saying that, you know, the conversation around the Blue Jays outfield moving forward with Nathan Lukes coming back today and Addison Barger shouldn't be too far along, far behind him either.

Um, you know, I think it's really changed compared to a few weeks ago when the Blue Jays did option down Piñango.

It was only for a short period of time, but, um, you know, it's something that, um, the way that Piñango has been playing recently and giving the Blue Jays a shot in the arm offensively, he's really forced the envelope, uh, on this team.

And to the point now that, um, with Davis Schneider being optioned down, the numbers certainly were not anywhere where he was expecting them to be to begin the year.

He, you know, really wasn't doing anything at the plate other than getting his walks.

Are we seeing kind of a morphing of Major League Baseball with the Jays and their style, at least a year ago, and then with a guy like Chandler Simpson? Are we, are we coming back a little bit to the olden days?

Like, he's had a lot of what I call really easy outs for the defense.

He has, yeah.

Uh, he's had a lot of worm burners, for sure.

Um, and, and even the hard contact has gone down this month for Vladi.

He, uh, you know, on top of the mechanical, um, adjustments that he's been working to make behind the scenes, um, he's gotten admittedly away from being the guy who, you know, openly accepts passing the baton to the guys behind him in the lineup.

Um, he has, you know, as, as we've seen from him numerous times in the past, um, Vladi is struggling right now with having multiple guys out of the lineup, knowing that the offense is struggling and trying to be, um, you know, the franchise player who drags this team out of the mud and, and gets them going.

And, um, the result that we've been seeing from that is Vladi making very poor swing decisions.

Any reason why it's not just one guy, but multiple?

Mm-hmm

... um, who's arguably been like right up there with Mason Miller as the most dominant relievers in baseball to start this season.

Um, I think it's allowed these pieces to settle in, um, at least of late, much better than they did, say, for much of April.

Um, but I think at the end of the day too, like in this modern baseball era, you can't just have just, you know, one traditional ninth inning guy.

I think you need multiple capable relievers to be able to f- step in and, and provide, um, you know, quality in, in those safe situations.

And I think for the Blue Jays, getting Jeff Hoffman right again and, and having him work, earn his way back into that type of role is something that can set them up for more long-term success moving forward.

But I think right now things are in a, a, probably the best spot they've been all year.

And what have you thought about Trey Savage, uh, in his two starts since coming back, and how do you think they handle him here moving forward, being, ah, you know, cautious and careful here?