0:03

Hello everybody and

0:05

welcome to Deep

0:08

Left Field for

0:10

Toronto Stars Baseball

0:13

podcast. I'm Mike

0:15

Wilner. It is

0:18

episode 251 and

0:20

it drops on

0:22

an off day for

0:25

the Blue Jays where

0:27

they're coming off just

0:29

an horrific showing.

0:32

In Houston, it feels as though

0:34

Houston has become their

0:36

house of horrors more than

0:38

Tropicana Field ever was. More on

0:41

that in a minute, but first

0:43

of all, just to let you

0:45

know, we do have a wonderful

0:47

show for you, even though the

0:49

Blue Jays have been tear your

0:51

hair out frustrating over the better

0:53

part of this last Deep Left

0:55

Field week. We will hear from

0:58

George Springer, who returned to Houston

1:00

and was one of the few

1:02

Jays. but actually had a decent

1:04

series, relatively, anyway, it's all

1:06

relative when the team only

1:09

gets nine hits over three

1:11

games. But George Springer, the

1:14

former Astro, also off to

1:16

a phenomenal start that nobody

1:19

saw coming this year, and

1:21

I might dare say not

1:23

even himself, but he also

1:25

last week hosted an event

1:28

for say, which is the

1:30

stuttering association. that he does

1:32

wonderful charity work for.

1:34

The Stuttering Association for the

1:36

Young, he had a bowling

1:38

party to raise money, raise

1:41

awareness. Lots of the Blue Jays

1:43

came. It was a wonderful night

1:45

from all accounts. We talked to

1:47

George about his start and

1:49

about that. Also talked to

1:51

Nathan Lucas, who welcomed a

1:53

baby Blue Jay last week.

1:55

And a little bit about,

1:58

you know, what goes into that?

2:00

more from the personal angle, leaving

2:02

the team going home not being

2:04

there when your child is born,

2:06

not being able to make it

2:09

back and only getting a couple of

2:11

days before you have to get on

2:13

a plane and get back to work.

2:15

Nathan Lucas did use his dad power

2:18

to hit the Blue Jays 13th home

2:20

run of the season. They have

2:22

played 25 games. Lucas now with

2:24

as many home runs as Vladimir

2:27

Guerrero Jr. At this point in

2:29

the season. and more than Bo

2:31

Bochette at this point in the

2:34

season. And we talked

2:36

to Easton Lucas, and I

2:38

thought about not running the

2:40

interview, because after I

2:42

spoke to Easton Lucas, he

2:44

went out, got his ears

2:46

pinned back, good. against the

2:48

Seattle Mariners and then got sent

2:50

down. So he's not on the

2:53

Blue Jays right now. The Jays

2:55

are going to skip that fifth

2:57

spot in the pitching rotation at

2:59

least for the Yankee series. And

3:01

they don't need another fifth, they

3:03

don't need a fifth starter until

3:05

May 3rd. We'll see if they

3:07

go that far or decide to

3:09

give guys that extra day before

3:11

that. But Easton Lucas after two

3:13

incredible starts in which he allowed

3:15

zero runs, then gave up. eight

3:17

and six and got sent out.

3:19

So I thought, maybe we shouldn't

3:21

play it, but I think it's

3:24

important for you to hear. First

3:26

of all, to hear from Easton

3:28

Lucas, who is a wonderful young

3:30

man, but also because this is

3:32

someone. worth getting to know someone

3:35

who had those two incredible starts

3:37

and then the one clunker and

3:39

get in his head about what

3:41

he was thinking going into that

3:43

second start which no one anticipated

3:46

would be as bad as it

3:48

was and got Lucas's ticket punched

3:50

back to Buffalo. So we've got

3:52

George Springer and we've got a

3:54

pair of Lucas's for you here

3:56

on episode 251, but first a

3:58

brief look back. at the week that

4:01

was and we count weeks from

4:03

Thursday to Wednesday here in deep

4:05

left field land because each of

4:07

our new shows drops on a

4:09

Thursday the regular scheduled ones anyway

4:12

you never know when you might

4:14

get a bonus and it started

4:16

awfully well the week started with the

4:18

blue jays third straight win. They beat

4:21

the Seattle Mariners. Three to one in

4:23

the opener of a three game series.

4:25

Bowden Francis was outstanding. You have a

4:27

home run to Rowdy Tiles, which is

4:30

a recurring theme for the weekend. But

4:32

that was it. And the Jays scored a

4:34

first inning run on a

4:36

sac fly by Anthony Santander

4:38

after Bobeshed it singled and

4:40

stolen second. Alan Rodin contributed

4:42

a sacrifice fly. Alejandro Kirk

4:44

with an RBI single. The

4:46

Blue Jays won. But the cracks in

4:49

the armor were showing, right? People were

4:51

talking about, oh, these small ball

4:53

blue jays. They were 12 and

4:55

8 at that point, scoring runs

4:57

with singles and stolen bases and

4:59

moving runners over and sacrifice flies

5:01

and all those wonderful things that

5:03

are just not sustainable. That's just,

5:06

you can't do that in today's

5:08

game. The pitching is too good.

5:10

You need to hit home runs.

5:12

It's really, really difficult to string

5:14

together. Three, three, four hits in

5:17

an inning. And boy have we

5:19

found that out over the next

5:21

five games because that three one

5:23

win over the Mariners last Friday

5:25

is the last time the Blue

5:27

Jays have won a game. Saturday's

5:29

game was pretty exciting. Nice

5:32

little back and forth. The Blue

5:34

Jays were up one nothing down

5:36

to one. They tied it up

5:38

to two with another one of

5:40

those small ball runs and Andre

5:42

C Jimenez single. We'll talk about

5:44

him a little bit later on

5:46

too. Stolen base scores on a

5:48

single by Alejandro Kirk. Then they

5:51

took the lead in the sixth,

5:53

Ernie Clement, an infield single, bunted

5:55

to second, and scores on a

5:57

little looping single by Bo

5:59

Bichette. but the lead did not

6:01

last as Ben Williamson hit his

6:03

first major league home run leading

6:05

off the seventh and knocking Jose

6:08

Barrios out of the game tied

6:10

it up three three and it

6:12

stayed three three all the way

6:14

to the 12th and here again

6:16

is where that small ball fails

6:18

you. The Blue Jays had runners

6:20

at first and second nobody out

6:22

in the bottom of the ninth

6:24

inning and the three four five

6:26

hitters up a single wins the

6:29

game. instead of fly out of

6:31

pop up a ground ball. Yariel

6:33

Rodriguez did a terrific job not

6:35

allowing the Mariners to score in

6:37

the 10th and the 11th. And

6:39

the Blue Jays with a Manford

6:41

man, start the 10th and the

6:43

11th with a runner on second

6:45

and nobody out, a single wins

6:47

the game. They get a ground

6:50

out to the right side from

6:52

Alejandro Kirk to move that runner

6:54

to third. So Alan Rodin is

6:56

up and you don't even need

6:58

a single to win the game.

7:00

He pops up. Ernie Clement flies

7:02

out. Then the bottom of the

7:04

11th, they bumped the man-for-man over

7:06

to third because you've got the

7:09

top of the lineup coming up.

7:11

So Bowflad Santander with a runner

7:13

at third and one out, but

7:15

Bachete strikes out. Now it's Andrez

7:17

Munjo. It's one of the nastiest

7:19

pitchers in the game. Then they

7:21

intentionally walk Laddi to get to

7:23

Santander who grounds out. And in

7:25

the top of the 12th, having

7:27

used up the bullpen, 10 times

7:30

each in the first 20 games

7:32

of the season because the Blue

7:34

Jays can't score enough to give

7:36

anybody any breathing room. They have

7:38

to go to Jacob Burns in

7:40

the 12th and it goes as

7:42

one would expect that it goes,

7:44

capped by a grand slam by

7:46

Rowdy Teles. And the Mariners taken

7:48

eight three lead, they win eight

7:51

four because the bottom of the

7:53

12th and Seattle doesn't care about

7:55

stopping that ghost, or man from

7:57

scoring. Not a ghost runner runner,

7:59

by the way. I don't know

8:01

how that slipped out, but a

8:03

lot of people have called it

8:05

that. A ghost runner is when

8:07

you're a kid and you have

8:10

to go back and hit because

8:12

you're on base. So there's actually

8:14

nobody there. So that free runner,

8:16

automatic runner, Manford man, whatever you

8:18

want to call it, there's somebody

8:20

there, not a ghost runner. Mayors

8:22

didn't care that that runner scored

8:24

in the bottom of the 12th,

8:26

so of course it did. Blue

8:28

Jays lose. And then the East

8:31

and Lucas start. on Sunday in

8:33

which it's three nothing, three batters

8:35

into the game. He gives up

8:37

a lead off Homer to Dylan

8:39

Moore, then a wall ball double

8:41

the Julio Rodriguez on a two

8:43

run home to Cal Raleigh. Three

8:45

more runs in the second and

8:47

he's pulled and then sent down

8:49

after the game. But Paxton Schultz

8:52

followed him and Paxton Schultz tied

8:54

a major league record with eight

8:56

strikeouts out of the bullpen in

8:58

his major league debut. He was

9:00

phenomenal. Four and a third innings

9:02

of two hit shutout with no

9:04

walks and eight strikeouts. Giving the

9:06

Blue Jays a chance to come

9:08

back and they should have, but

9:11

they did it. Luis Castillo started

9:13

that game for Seattle and he

9:15

was begging to get knocked out

9:17

of the game. Begging to give

9:19

up ten runs. The Jays had

9:21

first and second, nobody out in

9:23

the fourth. First and second, nobody

9:25

out in the third. A lead

9:27

off double from Vladi in the

9:29

fourth. They scored. Three runs. Anthony

9:32

Santander and Andrez Jimenez combined in

9:34

those first four innings to leave

9:36

six runners on base each. They

9:38

went over six with three strikeouts

9:40

and a pop-up in those first

9:42

four innings. The rest of the

9:44

team went nine for 14. Chance

9:46

after chance after chance that they

9:48

didn't take advantage of. The Blue

9:50

Jays were five for 21 with

9:53

runners in scoring position in the

9:55

game. Twenty-one chances. with runners in

9:57

scoring position in that game. They

9:59

did manage to get a hit

10:01

with a runner in scoring position

10:03

that did not score a run,

10:05

actually two. Two of their five

10:07

hits with runners in scoring position

10:09

did not score a run. That

10:12

was, tear your hair out frustrating,

10:14

but a hearty, hearty muzzle to

10:16

have to Paxton Schultz. And that

10:18

was just a taste. That was

10:20

frustrating because the Blue Jays had

10:22

all kinds of chances and didn't

10:24

score. And then they went to

10:26

Houston and didn't score because they

10:28

had no chances. They got swept

10:30

by the Astros, seven-nothing, five-one, and

10:33

three-one. In the first game, it

10:35

was a really good pitchers duel

10:37

for the first four and a

10:39

half innings between Kevin Gosman and

10:41

Hunter Brown, but then Gosman blinked

10:43

blinked. And with one out in

10:45

the fifth, the Astros went single,

10:47

single, double, double to build a

10:49

three-nothing lead. There was a hit

10:51

later on after an intentional walk

10:54

to make a four-nothing. That was

10:56

more than they would need. And

10:58

Hunter Brown limited the chase to

11:00

two singles, George Springer and Bo

11:02

Bueshet. Springer stole second and third.

11:04

In the second inning with nobody

11:06

out so Jay's at a runner

11:08

on third with nobody out or

11:10

nothing nothing game But he men

11:12

his strikes out Kirk strikes out

11:15

and Ernie Clement flyed out to

11:17

the warning track with two outs

11:19

stuck in a score the run

11:21

they didn't get another runner past

11:23

first the rest of the day

11:25

and You might want to sit

11:27

down for this but that made

11:29

it four games in a row

11:31

in Houston where the Blue Jays

11:34

had no hits once One hit

11:36

once and two hits once. The

11:38

other game, the fourth game, they

11:40

won, but they were down one-nothing

11:42

with two out in the ninth

11:44

when David Schneider hit a two-run

11:46

Homer off of Josh Hader. They

11:48

won that game two-to-one. That was

11:50

last year. This is what I

11:52

mean by Dyken Park being a

11:55

house of horrors. Minuteman Park until

11:57

this year and run park before

11:59

that. So that seven-nothing loss of

12:01

the Astros meant that the last

12:03

four games in Houston the Blue

12:05

Jays in the Blue Jays had

12:07

been outscore by a combined... 26

12:09

to 2. And now you can

12:11

make it 34 to 4. Because

12:13

Houston got three runs in the

12:16

first inning against Chris Bassett, Nickle

12:18

and dined him to death on

12:20

Tuesday night. And then Nathan Lucas

12:22

hit that home run, the deep

12:24

left field bump, the new dad

12:26

power in the bottom of the

12:28

third. after Ronell Blanco had retired

12:30

the first eight batters he faced.

12:32

Blanco, the guy who threw the

12:35

no hitter against him last year.

12:37

The Jays got one other hit

12:39

in that game. A single by

12:41

Ernie Clement with two out in

12:43

the fifth. They were O for

12:45

O with runners in scoring position.

12:47

Not a single at bat because

12:49

nobody made it past first except

12:51

for Lucas. It was just a

12:53

Clement single in a couple of

12:56

walks. So back to back two

12:58

hitters against the Blue Jays. And

13:00

then Wednesday night they got five

13:02

hits. And they actually had two

13:04

hits in an inning for the

13:06

first time since Sunday. That was

13:08

the fourth when Vladi's single and

13:10

he was doubled home by George

13:12

Springer. But by then the Astros

13:14

were already up by three because

13:17

again a little blip from a

13:19

starting pitcher, Bowden Francis, the only

13:21

time he bent in the game

13:23

starting the second, Homer, triple, single,

13:25

single, single, single, the Astros get

13:27

the three runs and that's all

13:29

they would need, which, you know.

13:31

was all they would get. The

13:33

Blue Jays made it interesting in

13:36

the ninth when Springer walked an

13:38

11-pitch walk. And again, Springer had

13:40

the RBI double earlier in that

13:42

game. He walked on Tuesday. He

13:44

had a single in a walk

13:46

on Monday, the only Blue Jay

13:48

to perform well offensively. Ernie Clement

13:50

then came off the bench for

13:52

Andrez Jimenez and doubled second and

13:54

third in a two-run game with

13:57

one out in the night. That

13:59

makes it interesting. But it's Josh

14:01

Hater, he strikes out Alejandro Kirk,

14:03

he pops up Miles Straw, and

14:05

that's it. Blue Jays lose three

14:07

to one. They are now under

14:09

500, 12 and 13 for the

14:11

first time since the first Sunday

14:13

of the season when they woke

14:15

up one in two. And again,

14:18

in their last, over the last

14:20

two years in Houston, they've been

14:22

outscored 34 to four and somehow

14:24

going one in five. I said

14:26

we were going to talk about

14:28

Andre C. Menas. We're going to

14:30

talk about Andre C. Menas here

14:32

because I wrote a column in

14:34

the Toronto Star on Monday saying

14:37

that the Blue Jays have... to

14:39

shake the lineup up. Wrote it

14:41

before the lineup came out on

14:43

Monday. Andres Jimenez had been batting

14:45

cleanup in all but one of

14:47

his starts this season. And Monday

14:49

he was down to fifth and

14:51

George Springer was hitting fourth. It's

14:53

something, but it's not enough. Tuesday

14:55

was hitting third because Santander got

14:58

the day off. Andres Jimenez, and

15:00

look, and nothing against the guy.

15:02

He's lovely and he's the best

15:04

offensive infielder. in the game, but

15:06

as I said all winter, you

15:08

can't win a game, nothing, nothing.

15:10

Andres Jimenez shouldn't be anywhere near

15:12

the top half of a major

15:14

league batting order. It was a

15:16

great story in the first five

15:19

games of the season when Jimenez

15:21

was the cleanup hitter, a surprise.

15:23

Nobody expected him there. He had

15:25

three homers in the first five

15:27

games, becoming the first player ever

15:29

to do that. in a Blue

15:31

Jays uniform, first player ever with

15:33

three homers in his first five

15:35

games with the Jays. And I

15:37

think we allowed ourselves to think

15:40

and the Blue Jays allowed themselves

15:42

to think that they had unlocked

15:44

him. That this was going to

15:46

be the guy who was the

15:48

all-star in 2022. And he met

15:50

us at a great 2022. He

15:52

had 297. He had 371 home

15:54

runs. 837. He was a... 6th

15:56

and MVP voting. But in 2023

15:59

and 2024, he didn't hit at

16:01

all. His OPS plus over those

16:03

two years was 87. And what

16:05

that is, is a measure of

16:07

your OPS relative to the league

16:09

average. I'm sorry, it was 89.

16:11

I wanted to fame him. But

16:13

average is 100. So he was

16:15

11 points less than an average

16:17

major league hitter. And the Blue

16:20

Jays put him in the cleanup

16:22

spot. Whatever, it worked for the

16:24

first five games. But since that

16:26

fifth game, Andre C. Menes has

16:28

hit 160 with three doubles, no

16:30

home runs. He's driven in four.

16:32

runs, batting third, fourth or fifth,

16:34

behind Bo Bochette and Vladimir Giroux

16:36

Jr. who are actually hitting. He's

16:38

driven in four runs in 20

16:41

games, batting 160. I can't wrap

16:43

my head around why he remains

16:45

in a run-scoring spot in a

16:47

significant place in the batting or

16:49

when they traded for Andres Jimenez,

16:51

I thought, all right. Fantastic love,

16:53

he's got to be hitting in

16:55

the bottom third of the order.

16:57

I thought George Springer had to

17:00

be hitting in the bottom third

17:02

of the order too, and Dalton

17:04

Varsjo, once he comes back. And

17:06

then you need a top six.

17:08

We've talked about this a lot

17:10

on the program over the winter.

17:12

Somehow, whoever is collaborating with John

17:14

Schneider to make the lineup has

17:16

deluded themselves into thinking that this

17:18

is the 2022 Andres Jimenez Jimenez.

17:21

that this is a guy who

17:23

is an offensive force and a

17:25

helpful bat near the top of

17:27

the lineup despite all the evidence

17:29

from the entire month of April

17:31

where he's hit 160 with no

17:33

home runs. Dalton Varsjo might be

17:35

coming back Friday and Dalton Varsjo

17:37

when he comes back might get

17:39

put in that fifth spot in

17:42

the lineup where Andrez Jimenez is.

17:44

But Dalton Varsjo doesn't belong there

17:46

either. until Varshow shows that he

17:48

can be the hitter that he

17:50

was in 2022, when he had

17:52

27 home runs for the Arizona

17:54

Diamondbacks. But we haven't seen that

17:56

Dalton Varshow here in Toronto. And

17:58

it's two seasons with the JZ

18:01

at 2017 with a 686 OPS.

18:03

That OPS plus? 90. So he's

18:05

been 10 points worse than an

18:07

average hitter. I've seen people saying,

18:09

well, maybe they're just keeping the

18:11

cleanup spot warm for Vars. Varsha

18:13

doesn't belong there either. The problem

18:15

with these Toronto Blue Jays is

18:17

that nobody really seems to belong.

18:19

But Vladimir Boer, the only ones

18:22

who are really hitting and Springer,

18:24

Anthony Santander, has not gotten unlocked

18:26

yet. Santander, in fact, got the

18:28

day off on Tuesday because he'd

18:30

been struggling so hard. And then

18:32

Wednesday, struck out three times. Anthony

18:34

Santander is hitting 189 with a

18:36

559-0PS. Notarious slow starter. You kind

18:38

of could see this coming, which

18:40

doesn't mean you're gonna hit him

18:43

eight for the first month of

18:45

the season because you never know,

18:47

but he'll get on track. Andresi

18:49

Menes might not. He hasn't since

18:51

2022. They're giving Addison Barger a

18:53

shot. Since Addison Barger got called

18:55

up, he's been playing quite a

18:57

bit. He's got one hit and

18:59

17 a bats. Friday he did.

19:02

tie a Blue Jays record with

19:04

three outfield assists, which was phenomenal.

19:06

Steve Bowling and Rick Bassetti with

19:08

the, where the other Blue Jays

19:10

with three outfield assists. But they

19:12

like the power potential because they're

19:14

not hitting any home runs. And

19:16

yet here he is, one for

19:18

17. I was asked on on

19:20

Blue Sky, what can the Blue

19:23

Jays do other than hitting to

19:25

change the momentum around? The answer

19:27

is nothing. The answer is nothing.

19:29

They've got to start hitting. Now,

19:31

they've lost five in a row,

19:33

and the hitting has been deplorable

19:35

over those five games. Either they

19:37

didn't get anything, or they wasted

19:39

a million opportunities. But this is

19:41

something that I've been steadfast about

19:44

for a quarter century. Nobody is

19:46

as bad as they look when

19:48

they're going bad. And this five-game

19:50

losing streak has dropped the Blue

19:52

Jays to just one game. under

19:54

500 through 12 and 13. They

19:56

have had. a really one of

19:58

the toughest schedules in the major

20:00

leagues, if not the toughest, over

20:02

the first month of the season.

20:05

It's not lightning up for another

20:07

couple of weeks. But this is

20:09

kind of what it looks like.

20:11

When we said at the beginning

20:13

of the season, if they can

20:15

just tread water through April, they'll

20:17

be okay. This is what treading

20:19

water looks like. There are three

20:21

and four game win streaks. There

20:24

are five game losing streaks. But

20:26

when you're in the soup, like

20:28

this. Like this. It is not

20:30

a lot of fun to watch.

20:32

George Springer and a pair of

20:34

Lucas is coming up for you

20:36

here on episode 251 of Deep

20:38

Left Field. We will be right

20:40

back. You want the best for

20:42

your child. K-12 can help them

20:45

gain the skills they need to

20:47

reach their full potential while giving

20:49

you the support you need to

20:51

get them there. K-12 powered schools

20:53

are tuition-free, accredited online public schools

20:55

for students in kindergarten through 12th

20:57

grade. Their state-certified teachers make online

20:59

learning interactive and engaging, allowing your

21:01

child to learn at their pace

21:03

from the safety of home. Join

21:06

the more than 3 million families

21:08

who have chosen K-12. Go to

21:10

K-12.com/podcast today to learn more. That's

21:12

K-12.com/podcast. You're

21:16

in deep left field. I'm

21:18

Mike Wilner. Thank you so

21:20

much for joining us the

21:22

most pleasant surprise of the

21:24

early part of the Toronto

21:26

Blue Jays season I think

21:28

has to be George Springer

21:30

35 years old and Given

21:32

up on by the majority

21:34

of Blue Jays observers after

21:36

watching him in 2024 struggle

21:38

to hit 220 with a

21:40

674 OPS he was The

21:42

worst hitter in the Major

21:45

Lees for five out of

21:47

the six months. But he

21:49

started this season on a

21:51

tear. And through the first

21:53

25 games is hitting 33

21:55

with a 420 on base

21:57

with two home runs, which

21:59

is second on the team.

22:01

a 956 OPS and he's

22:03

hitting cleanup because he should

22:05

be hitting cleanup. One of

22:07

the only Blue Jays to

22:09

be okay in their three-game

22:11

sweep in Houston. I talked

22:13

to him before the Blue

22:15

Jays hit the road. George,

22:20

thanks as always for doing this. Last

22:22

April when we talk, things weren't going

22:24

so well for you and you talked

22:26

about how everybody's the same hitter no

22:28

matter what. But it's tough to look

22:31

up at the scoreboard and see numbers

22:33

that aren't terribly flattering. This April you're

22:35

looking up at the scoreboard and seeing

22:37

350s and 370s in the early part

22:39

of the season. Not that it changes

22:41

who you are, but are you a

22:43

little bit lighter when you're off to

22:45

a better start? I mean, no, I'm

22:48

the exact same guy. You know, I

22:50

think it's just good to know that

22:52

kind of the adjustments that we've been

22:54

making, the stuff we've been doing, especially

22:56

during the spring, are kind of starting

22:58

to show. I still think there's a

23:00

lot of work that can be done,

23:02

and there's a lot of work that

23:05

will be done, but, you know, it

23:07

is good to have some, you know,

23:09

positive, you know, results early in the

23:11

area. We talked at the end of

23:13

spring after you hit that first home

23:15

run and you talked about a lot

23:17

of process stuff and a lot of

23:19

things you were trying and figuring out

23:22

what to keep and what not to

23:24

keep. You didn't tell us what they

23:26

were then, I'm sure you're not going

23:28

to tell us what they are now,

23:30

but was it a matter of just

23:32

getting comfortable all spring and tweaking that

23:34

and figuring out what works and what

23:36

doesn't? come out hot out of the

23:38

gates because then you don't know what

23:41

to work on and I think you

23:43

know I was I was able to

23:45

learn a lot was able to kind

23:47

of maneuver some stuff kind of know

23:49

you know what works what I like

23:51

what I don't like yeah obviously you

23:53

still want to get hits and all

23:55

that good good stuff but at the

23:58

end of the day, I think the

24:00

adjustments that were made in the spring

24:02

and the understanding of a lot of

24:04

things have, you know, helped me so

24:06

far. When you got off to that

24:08

rough start last year, we talked about

24:10

George Springer always starts slow. George Springer

24:12

has a bad April, that's George Springer's

24:15

bad April, that's George Springer's deal, right?

24:17

So to be hitting 350 in April,

24:19

it's a different thing for you, and

24:21

I know as much as you don't

24:23

look at it, 11 starts to a

24:25

big league season. I mean, I just

24:27

think there's a lot of work to

24:29

be done. It's still obviously very early,

24:32

but I think, you know, obviously now,

24:34

understanding what I need to do, understanding

24:36

what I want to do, I have

24:38

a very firm grass of what Shnides

24:40

wants from me, so, you know, I

24:42

know what I need to do, and

24:44

it kind of makes it a little

24:46

bit lighter, yeah, to go up there

24:48

knowing what I need to do and

24:51

what I need to do and what's

24:53

expected. do too much. You know, I

24:55

just, yeah, it is great to see

24:57

the ball hit the ground and, you

24:59

know, to obviously stay on base. But

25:01

I just think for me, it's about

25:03

quality of bats and it's about, you

25:05

know, getting the bat into a position

25:08

to get a good swing off and

25:10

know, whatever happens happens. And that's something

25:12

that John Schneider said and that you've,

25:14

you've, uh, confirmed to us that they've

25:16

said they want you to get your

25:18

best swing off at least once in

25:20

a bat so is that a matter

25:22

of getting to that count or getting

25:25

to that attack point or just even

25:27

seeing the first pitch and and and

25:29

putting that swing on that pitch oh

25:31

I mean there's no specific kind of

25:33

thing you know I just think throughout

25:35

the course of an at bat whether

25:37

it's the first pitch the fifth pitch

25:39

the eighth pitch getting something to hit

25:42

and putting my best swing on it

25:44

and obviously you know you're not going

25:46

to get a hit every time you're

25:48

not going to score the ball up

25:50

every time but if I can go

25:52

back and say hey I got my

25:54

best swing off there you know I

25:56

can be happy with that yeah obviously

25:58

you you still want to get the

26:01

job done in certain situations but I

26:03

understand you know it's it's a long

26:05

year it's this game's hard and the

26:07

more off and I can get my

26:09

best swing off, I think, you know,

26:11

the better shot I got. Does that

26:13

have anything, I mean, I never want

26:15

to talk about coaches, I never like

26:18

to say, you know, a coach fixed

26:20

this or a coach does this, because

26:22

ultimately you guys know your swing is

26:24

better than anybody else. But does Pop

26:26

and Lou, do Pop and Lou have

26:28

anything to do with this philosophy or

26:30

with even though the way this team's

26:32

hit through the first 20 games? Oh,

26:35

yeah. I mean, it's an, it's an

26:37

offensive strategy offensive. but mindset as a

26:39

team, I think, you know, I think

26:41

you're seeing a lot of quality swings,

26:43

you're seeing a lot of quality at

26:45

bats, you're seeing guys are, you know,

26:47

obviously swinging hard, but I think you're

26:49

seeing pure contact a lot. And yeah,

26:52

I understand that everybody wants homers and,

26:54

you know, the extra base hits, the

26:56

home runs will come. But I think

26:58

the way this team's been able to

27:00

kind of maneuver a very challenging, you

27:02

know, first 20-something games, especially against... a

27:04

lot of quality arms. I think it's

27:06

been fantastic. You know, Lou Pop and

27:08

Hunter, you know, have done an unbelievable

27:11

job every day with getting guys in

27:13

the positions to hit and, you know,

27:15

going up there with plans and just

27:17

kind of, you know, hitting free from

27:19

there. Well, with George Springer, and for

27:21

you that's been already. three weeks into

27:23

the season there's been a back thing

27:25

there's been a wrist thing but the

27:28

next day you've been out there and

27:30

wreaking havoc on the basis and getting

27:32

big hits again you're bouncing back well

27:34

at 35 is that um I mean

27:36

I'm sure it's comforting is it a

27:38

little bit surprising that as you age

27:40

you're still able to still able to

27:42

do that? I mean I don't really

27:45

think about it I think everybody else

27:47

thinks about age or more than the

27:49

player does I know it's you know,

27:51

if something's bothering me, then I'll go

27:53

fix it. You know, I'm very honest

27:55

with the staff to some degree about,

27:57

you know, how I feel. But, you

27:59

know, my goal is to be out

28:02

there for as many as I can.

28:04

And, you know, obviously, I play the

28:06

game at... pretty much one speed I'm

28:08

gonna run into walls I'm gonna do

28:10

stuff that they probably don't want me

28:12

to do but that's who I am

28:14

so yeah I mean I'm good to

28:16

go you know so I'll be out

28:18

there as much as I can and

28:21

if they give me an off day

28:23

and they ask me you know hey

28:25

can you do this I'll be ready

28:27

when you went into the wall against

28:29

Washington and you came out of the

28:31

game I it stood out to me

28:33

you know having watched every game you've

28:35

played here since since you got here

28:38

for you actually come out of a

28:40

game mid-game something's got to be rough

28:42

I know that you've tried to play

28:44

through everything but I mean that when

28:46

your back tightens up it's like you

28:48

can't fight your way to stay into

28:50

a game but did you did you

28:52

try at any point I mean I

28:55

had a conversation with Jose on the

28:57

field and he pretty much said it's

28:59

your back come on and you know

29:01

a back is kind of controls everything

29:03

so you know you could especially that

29:05

early in the year, you know, if

29:07

it was a different situation, I might

29:09

have tried to, you know, if it's

29:12

September or the playoff game or something

29:14

like that, you know, you obviously have

29:16

to try to fight through it, but

29:18

right there, it's, you know, it's, you

29:20

know, it's, it's about being smart. Yeah,

29:22

it wasn't necessarily ideal to have a

29:24

tight back, but, you know, I was,

29:26

I was able to go a day

29:28

later, yeah. How tough was it? You're

29:31

a Connecticut guy and Alan Rodin was

29:33

telling me before you left out and

29:35

from Wisconsin, this is fine. But for

29:37

a lot of the other guys on

29:39

that team, in New York, in Boston,

29:41

in that terrible weather early in the

29:43

season, what was that like? Cold. That

29:45

was cold. I mean, I don't care

29:48

where you're from, that's not fun. Because

29:50

at the end of the day, cold

29:52

is cold. And I don't care if

29:54

you're from here or you're from... Connecticut,

29:56

Wisconsin, it doesn't matter. If you're cold,

29:58

then it is what it is. So

30:00

yeah, it's obviously gets harder to hit

30:02

there. It's hard to play, just because

30:05

it is goal. But I think the

30:07

good news was that nobody complained, nobody

30:09

said anything about it, just what went

30:11

out there and handled our game the

30:13

way to what we had to do.

30:15

Went and sat under some heaters in

30:17

between innings and won three games of

30:19

Boston in terrible conditions with George Springer

30:22

as we stand here before the game

30:24

on Saturday We're coming off Addison Barger

30:26

setting or tying a Blue Jays record

30:28

with three outfield assists in the same

30:30

game You were right beside him the

30:32

whole time. We know this kid can

30:34

throw like close to a hundred, but

30:36

when it's happening when you're seeing and

30:38

they're still running on him like what's

30:41

what's that like to watch a guy

30:43

do that beyond impressive I mean, I

30:45

know he has a rocket. I think

30:47

the whole team knows he has a

30:49

rocket. And I think what kind of

30:51

goes under appreciated about is how accurate

30:53

he is. And to throw it that

30:55

hard, that far, and essentially just put

30:58

it right on the money three straight

31:00

times is so hard to do. But

31:02

that's why he's here. Yeah, and that's

31:04

the, you know, even right now that

31:06

he's over, those are the contributions that

31:08

he's making and that's outstanding. Two more

31:10

things for you. First of all, the

31:12

Vladi contract. You were in there, you

31:15

had signed the longest free agent contract

31:17

before and the, you know, he obliterated

31:19

your team record with his deal. But

31:21

I mean, to be in there with

31:23

a seven or eight of your teammates

31:25

and to see this happen when, you

31:27

know, you've seen him since he was

31:29

basically as I go. How heartwarming is

31:32

it? How much of a lift does

31:34

it give everybody in here? And how

31:36

happy are you for? Yeah, I mean,

31:38

you know, he obviously deserves it. He's

31:40

been a mainstay here since he was

31:42

16, you know, and I don't even

31:44

really think he's beginning to scratch the

31:46

surface of how good he's good gonna

31:48

be. You know, I'm obviously very happy

31:51

for him individually, but one, you know,

31:53

us as an organization, us as a

31:55

team, but the fans and the country

31:57

gets to see him play in person

31:59

for another. 14 plus years, you know,

32:01

and I think when it's all said

32:03

none, you know, he'll be sitting next

32:05

to Jose Battista up in the rafters.

32:08

You said the players don't talk about

32:10

age, but can you like cast your

32:12

glance ahead and see what like 38,

32:14

40 year old Vladdy would be like?

32:16

I think he's gonna be just. fine

32:18

he's you know he he takes great

32:20

care of him, you know, he takes

32:22

good care of his body, you know,

32:25

he knows what he needs to do.

32:27

I don't, I don't, I don't expect

32:29

anything else out of him besides, you

32:31

know, him being him. I don't even

32:33

mean as a player, I just mean

32:35

like as a 40 year old gray

32:37

beard running around the locker room and

32:39

dumping Gator, like when we see you

32:42

at the end of a game jumping

32:44

around with the other outfielders after a

32:46

win, you've managed to keep that. See

32:48

Vladi changing. I think he's just I

32:50

think he's just gonna get a little

32:52

bit grayer I think he's gonna be

32:54

the same big kid He is now,

32:56

you know, he plays the game because

32:58

he loves it and he plays it

33:01

with joy and he he is a

33:03

he's such a good dude to be

33:05

around all day So I don't I

33:07

don't envision him changing a one bit

33:09

the last thing for George Springer is

33:11

about your bowling tournament. When the Blue

33:13

Jays played a day game this week,

33:15

there was a tournament afterwards for the

33:18

team, for the same organization. It's something

33:20

that you've been out front since you

33:22

got here to help stuttering youth. Tell

33:24

me a little bit about the event

33:26

and about what went down. Were there

33:28

kids there? Was it the team? What

33:30

sort of thing? We didn't get to

33:32

bowl with you, but what happened? Yeah,

33:35

I mean, it's exactly that. It's a

33:37

event for kids who stutter, you know,

33:39

you know, to... just to have a

33:41

chance to come and be themselves and

33:43

to enjoy the day around other kids

33:45

who stutter. Obviously the goal is to

33:47

raise money for the organization, but to

33:49

raise money for kids to go to

33:52

Camp Say and to other events and

33:54

to see that they're essentially not the

33:56

only one out there. And I don't

33:58

really know of a better thing for

34:00

kids to do than go bowling. So,

34:02

you know, that's kind of the main

34:04

idea. And then, yeah, obviously I had

34:06

a lot of support from the guys

34:08

in this room which, you know, you

34:11

know, to them, you know, to be

34:13

able to come out on a rare,

34:15

you know, day game into an off

34:17

day and spend some time with me

34:19

was, you know, obviously means a lot

34:21

to me. How much does it mean

34:23

to those kids? I'm assuming you're standing

34:25

up and talking in front of them

34:28

at one point You're doing this and

34:30

to do things like this To show

34:32

them that hey, this is what you

34:34

can do How much does it mean

34:36

to them? And how much does it

34:38

mean to them? You know an 11

34:40

year old George spring? Yeah, I mean,

34:42

I don't think that they realize that

34:45

they're helping me more than I think

34:47

I'm helping them because I can't spread

34:49

a message if I'm not willing to

34:51

go out their courage I guess and

34:53

the freedom to go be myself and

34:55

to to talk on stages and talk

34:57

in public and if it happens oh

34:59

well but it's it's just been a

35:02

great ride so far and you know

35:04

I'm very very appreciative of of all

35:06

the support. Are you pleased to with

35:08

how well it's translated up here to

35:10

Toronto and the kind of support you've

35:12

gotten here for for the organization? Oh

35:14

yeah I mean I don't you know

35:16

stutterings everywhere it's not just kind of

35:18

specific to one area, you know, so

35:21

there's kids, there's adults, there's stutterers everywhere.

35:23

So, you know, as long as I

35:25

can do it, you know, I will

35:27

and, you know, hopefully help somebody. Yeah,

35:29

I'm sure you've helped a lot of

35:31

people and it's appreciated. And I appreciate

35:33

your time as always. Continue this great

35:35

start. It's been great to watch. Thanks

35:38

a lot, George. Thank you. Many things

35:40

I enjoy more doing these interviews than

35:42

hearing George Springer laugh making George Springer

35:44

laugh He is so happy and carefree

35:46

and quick to laughter and serious about

35:48

what he's doing and doing a wonderful

35:50

job being an incredible Example for stutterers.

35:52

That was a fantastic conversation as has

35:55

been everyone that I've ever had with

35:57

George Springer. We've got a pair of

35:59

Lucas's coming up Easton and Nathan as

36:01

we continue. You want the best for

36:03

your child? K-12 can help them. gain

36:05

the skills they need to reach their

36:07

full potential while giving you the support

36:09

you need to get them there. K-12-powered

36:12

schools are tuition-free, accredited online public schools

36:14

for students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

36:16

Their state-certified teachers make online learning interactive

36:18

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36:20

at their pace from the safety of

36:22

home. Join the more than 3 million

36:24

families who have chosen K-12.com slash Back

36:30

here in Deep Left Field, I'm Mike

36:32

Wilner. Thank you so much for joining

36:34

us on this episode, 251. We're going

36:36

to hear from Easton Lucas and Nathan

36:39

Lucas in a second. No relation, different

36:41

spelling, of course. But first, quick

36:43

reminder to please subscribe to the

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you want to give us a five-star

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rating on Apple podcast, we would appreciate

37:17

that. as well. I got a comment

37:19

on Blue Sky and you can follow

37:21

me on Blue Sky. I know that

37:23

if you read me in the Toronto

37:26

Star on the website on the

37:28

star.com it says follow follow me

37:30

on Twitter but I'm not on Twitter

37:32

anymore I'm on Blue Sky so if

37:34

you want to come to Blue Sky

37:36

you can find me at wilderness dot

37:39

B Sky dot social. but it's a

37:41

much more pleasant place to be and

37:43

I'm a lot more interactive there than

37:45

I ever was on Twitter and I

37:47

got a comment from someone who calls

37:49

themselves LA golfer 112 wants to know

37:51

do I root for the jays or

37:54

do I try to be an objective

37:56

observer? Now there's an old adage

37:58

there's no cheering and... the press

38:00

box. And I certainly don't root

38:03

for the Blue Jays, but I

38:05

do want to see them do

38:07

well. I feel like I'm invested

38:09

in them being successful.

38:11

Obviously, I grew up watching

38:14

this team, listening to

38:16

the ball games. I was deeply

38:18

embedded with the team for

38:20

20 years as part of

38:22

the radio broadcast. And I

38:24

think it's great for the city,

38:27

for the country. when they do

38:29

well, when people have baseball

38:31

to be excited about. It's

38:33

great for baseball. When the

38:35

Blue Jays win, more kids start

38:38

playing baseball in Canada.

38:40

And that's fantastic. And

38:43

the better they are, the more

38:45

attention is paid to them, obviously.

38:47

So the more people are reading

38:50

what I write, the more

38:52

people are listening to this

38:54

podcast. So that's all good. I

38:56

think people who listened to

38:58

this program and who've

39:00

listened to me over the

39:02

years understand that I

39:04

think it's important to see

39:06

these people as human

39:08

beings and not just fantasy

39:11

players or a guy on a

39:13

TV screen or baseball

39:15

playing robots or anything

39:17

like that. So yeah, I want to

39:19

see them do well as people.

39:21

But sitting there rooting for

39:24

the team? No. because that

39:26

can lead to you having

39:28

Blue Jays glasses on

39:30

and not being able to

39:33

be impartial when you see

39:35

things that need to be

39:37

fixed, not holding back

39:40

criticism, but at the

39:42

same time only criticizing

39:45

things that they can

39:47

actually do something about.

39:49

I'm not going to

39:51

criticize someone for... striking

39:54

out in a big spot, or giving

39:57

up a big home run, or making

39:59

an error. But I'm

40:01

going to criticize someone for making a

40:03

mental mistake, throwing the wrong base, for

40:06

making the wrong call on a lineup,

40:08

a pitcher, whatever, a roster move, but

40:10

having been embedded and having been around

40:12

this team for... almost four decades. It's

40:15

important to know who to blame. There

40:17

are a lot of Blue Jays fans

40:19

who think John Schneider is a terrible

40:22

manager. I don't at all. And in

40:24

fact, I think that he's got a

40:26

chance to be a great manager, whatever

40:29

that means anymore. There are no cigar

40:31

chomping autonomous managers who go with their

40:33

gut and turn over tables and all

40:35

that stuff. That just doesn't happen anymore.

40:38

John Schneider doesn't make out the lineup

40:40

every day. It's a collaborative effort. The

40:42

plan before the game on how to

40:45

use pitching and how to use the

40:47

bullpen and what goes where is a

40:49

collaborative effort. That's the way baseball's run

40:51

right now. So, you know, if you're

40:54

tearing your hair out because Andre Cimenez

40:56

is still hitting in the top half

40:58

of the Blue Jays lineup, you'll notice

41:01

when I was talking about that before

41:03

the Springer interview. I didn't mention Schneider's

41:05

name once. I don't know if he

41:07

would have, he meant as hitting there

41:10

if it was up to him. I

41:12

do know it's not up to him.

41:14

So you have to target your ire

41:17

at the right spot. And I have

41:19

been outspoken about how badly I think

41:21

this front office has messed things up

41:24

over the last three years. Again, not

41:26

from a fan's perspective, from the perspective

41:28

of an observer. not completely detached, but

41:30

not emotionally invested like a fan is,

41:33

not seeing things through Blue Jays glasses,

41:35

which can mean that they can do

41:37

no wrong, but it can also mean

41:40

that they can do no right. I

41:42

was a guy on the radio who

41:44

when someone called in in the middle

41:46

of May to say the season's over

41:49

would hang up on them because that's

41:51

just emotion talking. Somebody said to me

41:53

on Blue Sky the other day, this

41:56

team's not a playoff team. And I

41:58

said that last year. And my answer

42:00

was, yeah, and I'm sure you said

42:02

that in April of 2022 and 2023

42:05

as well, because that's what fans do.

42:07

And that's part of the deal. You

42:09

get angry. You get irrational. That's part

42:12

of the joy for a lot of

42:14

people of being a sports fan. That

42:16

is definitely never been me. And no,

42:19

I feel like I cover this team

42:21

wanting the best for them. And I

42:23

feel like that's where the criticism comes

42:25

from because so many things about this

42:28

team could be better. I don't know

42:30

how to segue out of this because

42:32

I was gonna say one thing that

42:35

could be better. Well, yeah, one thing

42:37

that could be better was Easton Lucas

42:39

who again a lovely young man. You're

42:41

gonna meet him in a second and

42:44

his story was something else. Max Scherzer

42:46

goes on the injured list in the

42:48

third game of the season and the

42:51

Blue Jays call up. Easton Lucas, who

42:53

really nobody knew anything about, a guy

42:55

who had had 20 appearances in the

42:57

major leagues prior to this season. Actually,

43:00

no, check that. 14 appearances in the

43:02

major leagues prior to this season had

43:04

compiled an ERA of 982. The Blue

43:07

Jays said they saw something in him.

43:09

They moved their pitching rotation around to

43:11

make sure that his first start was

43:14

going to be against the Washington Nationals.

43:16

not the Boston Red Sox. And he

43:18

dazzled. five shutout innings, one hitter. He

43:20

was tremendous, but it was the Washington

43:23

Nationals. And the next start was against

43:25

the Boston Red Sox. They juggled the

43:27

rotation not to have him miss the

43:30

Red Sox. He pitched against the Nationals

43:32

instead of the Mets. But his next

43:34

start was against the Red Sox, outside,

43:36

in boss and freezing cold. And he

43:39

was brilliant again, five and a third

43:41

innings of three hit shutout. And all

43:43

of a sudden people are thinking, hey,

43:46

maybe we got something here. But the

43:48

next start was against Atlanta, and he

43:50

gave up three loud home runs, eight

43:52

runs in five innings. And then, well,

43:55

let's see, one more start against Seattle.

43:57

And it was three nothing, three batters

43:59

into the into the game. And now

44:02

he's in Buffalo. I talked to him

44:04

before that start, about how well those

44:06

first two starts had gone, what happened

44:09

in that third start against Atlanta, obviously

44:11

not knowing that he was going to

44:13

get blown up the next day. But

44:15

here's that conversation with Easton Lucas. Toronto

44:18

I guess you were here in September

44:20

but only for a little bit and

44:22

you sort of took the team by

44:25

storm when you got here with those

44:27

first two incredible starts against Boston and

44:29

in what against Washington here and then

44:31

in Boston. Tell me a little bit

44:34

first of all before we get into

44:36

all that stuff just about spring and

44:38

about even let's go back farther where

44:41

the Blue Jays picked you up on

44:43

waivers and you're you know you're getting

44:45

a fresh start with a fresh organization

44:47

at the end of September so it's

44:50

tough to sort of walk in and

44:52

you know with like six days left

44:54

in the season what was that like?

44:57

I mean yeah that last year was

44:59

kind of a whirlwind in general you

45:01

know bounced around a lot and kind

45:04

of had to meet a lot of

45:06

new faces so getting to the Jay's

45:08

getting the AAA I think it was

45:10

kind of the end of August and

45:13

getting to know a little bit of

45:15

that coaching staff and the players and

45:17

then coming up here for the last

45:20

week was really fun but yeah again

45:22

it was a whirlwind so yeah it

45:24

was kind of just surreal like being

45:26

here and getting to pitch and then

45:29

I didn't go too great so that

45:31

was you know frustrating but it was

45:33

I kind of just yeah put that

45:36

whole year in the Barry it was

45:38

a tough one, but yeah. But when

45:40

you come out of that, I mean,

45:42

not that specifically the outing, they didn't

45:45

go so great, but at the end

45:47

of the season when they're doing all

45:49

the exit meetings and stuff, and they

45:52

say, look, this is what we want

45:54

from you, what do you go into

45:56

the winter with? I mean, yeah, they

45:59

told me, they really liked me, they

46:01

thought I had a lot of potential,

46:03

you know, had some bad luck in

46:05

those last two outings, and so they

46:08

were like, you know, you know, hold

46:10

that against you really we we like

46:12

you a lot as like a long

46:15

relief for starting pitcher and we'd like

46:17

you to you know train this off

46:19

season like that and yeah I kind

46:21

of said well it's kind of kind

46:24

of work out where I'm gonna be

46:26

in the Tampa area so I'll be

46:28

going into the PDC and working out

46:31

there all off season and they're like

46:33

awesome just work with the guys who

46:35

we got there and so yeah I

46:37

got to get to spend the whole

46:40

off-season training and getting ready for the

46:42

season with the staff that knows me

46:44

and yeah it was it was great

46:47

so when when you've spent a year

46:49

like bouncing around from organization organization and

46:51

then a team tells you we this

46:53

what we like about you and we

46:56

want you to do this Does that

46:58

get you excited or does it like

47:00

make you think okay? Well, we'll see

47:03

what you know We'll see what happens.

47:05

Yeah. There's a little bit of both

47:07

like it was it was really exciting

47:10

But at the same time, you know,

47:12

you kind of temper your expectations because

47:14

that's kind of what everybody has been

47:16

telling you like that's the reason I

47:19

kept getting shots in the big league

47:21

and you know, I I do have

47:23

the potential and a lefty throwing pretty

47:26

hard and it's there and I just

47:28

have to put it together. So, you

47:30

know, when a team tells me that,

47:32

I love it and I appreciate it,

47:35

but at the same time I know

47:37

that I have to perform well in

47:39

order for that to matter, you know,

47:42

because at the end of the day,

47:44

results are the most important thing. Absolutely.

47:46

And then at the end of spring

47:48

training, when they send you to Buffalo

47:51

and they say, but you know, you

47:53

could come back here really quickly, you

47:55

know, do you think, all right, again,

47:58

we'll see, but maybe, and then it

48:00

happens. Yeah, I mean, it was, it

48:02

worked out great for me, obviously, Max

48:05

is having a tough, frustrating time, but

48:07

like, yeah, I was kind of excited,

48:09

like, either way, I had a lot

48:11

of stuff to work on kind of

48:14

through spring training, kind of through spring

48:16

training. was figuring out my cutter and

48:18

slider and just how I needed to

48:21

pitch the mindset I needed to have

48:23

and so I was happy to be

48:25

in Buffalo and working on stuff but

48:27

then it kind of worked out where

48:30

yeah I came up here the day

48:32

before my first start down there and

48:34

I'd had a good last spring training

48:37

outing where I felt like I kind

48:39

of had some things click and sort

48:41

of my mindset was in a good

48:43

spot and so yeah that first outing

48:46

they I've been available the past or

48:48

the first three games or so that

48:50

I was up but didn't pitch and

48:53

so then it lined up where they

48:55

were like yeah actually you're gonna start

48:57

this game and so yeah it went

49:00

well yeah well real well against Washington

49:02

absolutely and when you say working on

49:04

stuff is there I mean do you

49:06

Has your repertoire changed? Do you ditch

49:09

one pitch that wasn't working so well?

49:11

You picked up another that you worked

49:13

on? Yeah, kind of. I had last

49:16

year I was fastball, cutter, sweeper, and

49:18

then change up was kind of like

49:20

any if necessary pitch that I didn't

49:22

have much feel for. So the whole

49:25

off. season I was working on the

49:27

changeup in order to just have something

49:29

that I could use versus righties and

49:32

then I kind of was tinkering with

49:34

I wanted to have the cutter which

49:36

was more of a like it same

49:38

metrics but as a lefty as like

49:41

Chris Bassett's cutter but I had noticed

49:43

last year like it just felt like

49:45

if I didn't locate it perfectly then

49:48

Rides hit it hard in the major

49:50

leagues. The minor leagues, it worked fine,

49:52

but the major leagues is kind of

49:55

a different beast guys. They see good

49:57

pitches all the time. So yeah, I

49:59

noticed the cutter didn't feel like it

50:01

was super effective in the majors. And

50:04

so I was trying to work on

50:06

like a more depthy cutter where I

50:08

didn't get as much carry on it.

50:11

And I was just kind of calling

50:13

them like my depthy cutter and my...

50:15

cutter. But it kind of turned out

50:17

where through spring training, same thing, like

50:20

didn't feel like the cutter was doing

50:22

great. And I had kind of, because

50:24

depthy cutter and cutter wasn't working well

50:27

to, you know, with the pitch calm

50:29

and everything, they were like, I were

50:31

going to call the depthy cutter, the

50:33

slider and the cutter. And so at

50:36

the end of spring training, I was

50:38

kind of like, yeah, like I, the

50:40

last outing of the minor league side

50:43

that I pitched in. I just didn't

50:45

use the cutter at all when all

50:47

sliders and so that worked well and

50:50

then kind of came here and you

50:52

know I'd been talking to the coaching

50:54

staff and they were like yeah you

50:56

know we we like the cutter and

50:59

I was like yeah well you know

51:01

I kind of had success in the

51:03

last one without it and I kind

51:06

of down to focus more on slider

51:08

sweeper and I threw it in that

51:10

game and it went really well so

51:12

the cutters kind of. It's in the

51:15

back pocket, like I can still throw

51:17

it. I play catch and, you know,

51:19

throw it and catch play, but I

51:22

haven't used it in a game in

51:24

a couple weeks and it feels like

51:26

the slider is a better pitch for

51:28

me. Certainly, it's certainly working for you.

51:31

So now let's take you out to

51:33

that game against. Washington, things go so

51:35

well. Your first big league start, and

51:38

we talked to you, or we talked

51:40

to you afterwards about how much more

51:42

that win meant to you than the

51:45

two winning relief pitching chaos win that

51:47

you got in Detroit, and then you

51:49

go out in Boston and get another

51:51

one. What are you thinking after a

51:54

couple of, you know, outstanding major league

51:56

starts, somebody, a friend of mine just

51:58

sort of tongue in cheek, sent me

52:01

a text. after your second start and

52:03

said, George Springer is going to win

52:05

the MVP. And I said, how can

52:07

George Springer win the MVP when he's

52:10

in Luke is going to win the,

52:12

he'll be 30 and oh, and he

52:14

already is zero. But you know, you're

52:17

sitting there after two starts looking, looking

52:19

fantastic. How's that feel? It felt awesome.

52:21

Yeah, I mean, it's just unbelievable like

52:23

kind of feeling where, you know. last

52:26

year was such a tough one and

52:28

then I come out and I know

52:30

I have the stuff and actually performing

52:33

and using it right and executing pitches

52:35

was going great and so yeah sort

52:37

of coming off those was just like

52:40

how do I keep doing it you

52:42

know when things are going good it's

52:44

hard to like I don't know it's

52:46

hard to work on stuff necessarily because

52:49

you're kind of just like well just

52:51

do that again and it's a weird

52:53

dynamic but yeah obviously then the not

52:56

go quite as well so Yeah, it

52:58

was kind of a bad thing, but

53:00

also at the same time it sort

53:02

of reminds me of things that I

53:05

might have been getting away from a

53:07

little bit and gave me some takeaways

53:09

that I hopefully tomorrow will be able

53:12

to take in and execute on and

53:14

do well. So. Yeah, by the time

53:16

people hear this, they'll know how that

53:18

Sunday started against Seattle when. Tyler Heinemann

53:21

was on with us last week and

53:23

he's caught you in all three starts.

53:25

And he said, he thought maybe in

53:28

that Atlantic game you took your foot

53:30

off the gas a couple of times

53:32

and that kind of bit you? Did

53:34

you feel the same way? Yeah, it

53:37

was a weird one. Like, you know,

53:39

baseball is kind of a game of

53:41

inches and millimeters. So, like, I definitely

53:44

didn't. execute on certain pitches where I

53:46

especially versus Austin Riley I mean that

53:48

guy like I got me but yeah

53:51

that that fastball to Austin Riley was

53:53

definitely I kind of had just I

53:55

was groving it in there and he

53:57

jumped on it and then the next

54:00

step that like I think he was

54:02

like he's not throwing me another fastball

54:04

so I'm gonna sit off speed and

54:07

I threw a slider not a bad

54:09

pitch but kind of right into the

54:11

wheelhouse of if he's looking slider, he's

54:13

gonna turn on it. And yeah, so

54:16

just, I think I didn't execute as

54:18

well in the last outing and I

54:20

don't know, there's kind of a, I

54:23

was actually throwing harder and some, for

54:25

some reason when I, when I'm trying

54:27

harder, like I have the adrenaline always,

54:29

so I'm always gonna have, you know,

54:32

nerves and adrenaline, but. when I'm actually

54:34

trying to be too nasty, that's when

54:36

I feel like I get in trouble.

54:39

And so that's kind of what it

54:41

felt like. I was kind of overworking

54:43

in the Braves game because I was

54:46

mad and had some rough hits and

54:48

stuff. So I think I actually need

54:50

to back off a little bit and

54:52

just get back into that smooth, late

54:55

delivery. It's kind of neat to see

54:57

you working through this in real time

54:59

almost in front of us But yeah

55:02

when you when the nerve stop it's

55:04

time to quit and you got a

55:06

long way to go before that But

55:08

the fact that you were able to

55:11

you know for lack of a better

55:13

word sort of get punched in the

55:15

mouth a couple of times in that

55:18

game But go back out there get

55:20

through five the bluesies only use three

55:22

pictures in that game which is a

55:24

great thing for the first game of

55:27

a series and John Schneider was talking

55:29

about how proud he was for you

55:31

getting for you getting through five? yourself.

55:34

Is that something that you take a

55:36

lot of pride in even if you're

55:38

getting hit a bit? Yeah, I feel

55:41

like I'm pretty good about sort of

55:43

staying under control and not losing control

55:45

of my emotions. and yeah getting through

55:47

five you know that's a goal like

55:50

every time I pitch I want to

55:52

go as long as possible I've been

55:54

in the bullpen and yeah those games

55:57

where I mean it pitching like last

55:59

year in the PCL in 2023 like

56:01

you have a lot of rough outings

56:03

and so being in the bullpen and

56:06

seeing the starters struggling in the second

56:08

ending you kind of go oh boy

56:10

here we go everybody's going to be

56:13

sore for two weeks because We're going

56:15

to be throwing 18 innings. And so

56:17

yeah, it's always nice to get that,

56:19

but at the same time, yeah, giving

56:22

up eight is not going to give

56:24

your team much of a chance to

56:26

win. So that's also a frustrating thing

56:29

and you need to do differently next

56:31

time. But two out of three is,

56:33

you know, so it's 108 wind pace

56:36

over a regular season, right? So it's

56:38

going pretty well. Well, with Eastern Lucas,

56:40

you're a California kid. You went to

56:42

school in Malibu, which I imagine Pepperdine

56:45

is just like everybody's on the beach

56:47

and under palm trees all the time.

56:49

You didn't have to pitch in Buffalo.

56:52

but you came up here and it

56:54

was cold and then you pitch in

56:56

Boston where you know for our purposes

56:58

in Canada it was three degrees which

57:01

I can't imagine sat well with you

57:03

and you went out and you shoved

57:05

anyway but what was it like to

57:08

be in those conditions? Yeah Boston was

57:10

cold but yeah kind of had the

57:12

adrenaline going there's a heater in the

57:14

dugout so in between it's the way

57:17

I was... kind of thinking about it

57:19

is, you know, it's way harder for

57:21

the position players to stand out there

57:24

for 5, 10, 15 minutes freezing in

57:26

the field and then come in, grab

57:28

a bat, sit near the heater, like

57:31

try to heat up your hands real

57:33

quick and then jump in the batter's

57:35

box against me and I'm, you know,

57:37

I'm still warm. It cool, you'd cool

57:40

down real quick, but yeah, I had

57:42

pretty quick endings for the most part,

57:44

so. I think I had the advantage

57:47

and that's kind of the way I

57:49

looked at it is I just got

57:51

to attack them and they're not going

57:53

to be comfortable in there and that's

57:56

kind of how it went too. I

57:58

also had my best stuff. and executed

58:00

well so that helps a lot but

58:03

yeah I think it's harder to hit in

58:05

those conditions than it is to pitch

58:07

yeah I kind of it's gotta be

58:09

right but also just for for the

58:11

whole weather shock for you culturally

58:13

you know even you know being here

58:16

it's as we sit here today we're

58:18

finally it's 20 degrees it's a nice

58:20

day in Toronto but it's the first

58:22

one you've had to deal with a

58:24

lot of stuff you're not used to

58:26

dealing with yeah a little bit I

58:29

don't know, I mean I've pitched in

58:31

some cold weather throughout the minor leagues,

58:33

not a ton actually, but yeah, I

58:35

think it's just one of those things

58:37

where you can't think about it too much,

58:39

you just gotta be in the moment

58:42

and when you get out there, you

58:44

know, adrenaline does a lot. It's a,

58:46

you don't feel, I felt like that

58:48

Boston game, I felt the wind on

58:51

my face, but my body actually felt

58:53

fine, like wearing long sleeves and...

58:55

and you got pants on, it's,

58:57

you're not, you're not totally

58:59

in the elements, so yeah, it was,

59:02

it was kind of just something

59:04

I didn't really focus on too

59:06

much and just let myself play.

59:08

One hopes that in every major league

59:11

outing of yours you have pants on,

59:13

that's gonna be a big thing. Yeah.

59:15

thinking back like looking over on your

59:17

way up through the minor leaves you

59:19

lost 20-20 right a lot of these

59:21

guys with the COVID year there was

59:23

60 games but there was the the

59:25

alternate site where some of the bigger

59:27

guys were you didn't get to play

59:29

at all right so what do you

59:31

do with that year when you're on

59:34

your way up trying to get into

59:36

trying to make your way in pro

59:38

ball yeah that was a that was

59:40

a tough off season I think for

59:42

everybody in the minors for me it

59:44

it kind of worked out. I had been,

59:46

you know, my shoulder is actually not been

59:49

feeling great in that spring training. We had

59:51

like a week and a half or whatever. And

59:53

so that that sort of season being an

59:55

off season gave me a chance to like

59:57

rest that and it kind of worked out.

1:00:00

where I had a nagging little shoulder

1:00:02

problem that got healed up because

1:00:04

of that. But I basically was

1:00:06

living in South Florida with my

1:00:08

fiancé, now fiancé's family, and with

1:00:10

the COVID restrictions, we didn't want

1:00:12

to fly it and want to

1:00:14

fly back to California. I'd go

1:00:16

to a park and my fiancé's

1:00:18

brother played baseball in high school.

1:00:20

So he had some friends who

1:00:22

were ketchers and I'd go meet

1:00:24

him out of park after, it

1:00:26

was probably like two months into

1:00:28

the COVID, so it kind of

1:00:30

gotten a little bit more normal

1:00:32

where we could go to parks

1:00:34

and hang out like outside. But

1:00:36

yeah, so through a couple bullpens

1:00:38

and then like have maybe one

1:00:40

or two live BPs basically where

1:00:42

I was throwing pitcher catcher hitter

1:00:44

hitter hitter hitter. Yeah, it was

1:00:46

just a weird time where it's

1:00:48

kind of just get whatever you

1:00:50

can out of it and I

1:00:52

wouldn't say that I used it

1:00:54

the best looking back like not

1:00:56

that I you know didn't use

1:00:58

it at all but like there's

1:01:00

definitely guys who went out and

1:01:02

came back way better I think

1:01:04

I might have sort of stayed

1:01:06

the same and then 2021 is

1:01:09

kind of where I realized I

1:01:11

needed to be better sort of

1:01:13

in the off-season and staying on

1:01:15

top of myself to you know

1:01:17

I was in the bullpen the

1:01:19

bullpen. I was in the bullpen.

1:01:21

I started 20, 21, like maybe

1:01:23

80 to 90 miles per hour,

1:01:25

and I kind of was like,

1:01:27

yeah, this isn't going to get

1:01:29

me to the big leagues. Like,

1:01:31

I, you can, it's, it's possible,

1:01:33

you know, you got Yarbrough and

1:01:35

guys like that who are nasty

1:01:37

and make it work, but in

1:01:39

high, starting in high, doing that,

1:01:41

like, the organizations are looking for

1:01:43

velocity and nasty stuff, and so

1:01:45

if you want to give yourself

1:01:47

the best chance, you got to

1:01:49

throw harder, so that's kind of

1:01:51

what I started working working on,

1:01:53

and yeah. It worked out. Yeah,

1:01:55

it did. Just here you are.

1:01:57

We're sitting here in a big

1:01:59

league dugout and you're getting ready

1:02:01

for a start to. and we

1:02:03

wish you the best of luck.

1:02:05

It's been great to watch. It's

1:02:07

been a wonderful surprise to have

1:02:09

you hear this soon and pitching

1:02:11

this well. And we're looking forward

1:02:13

to, you know, no one wants

1:02:15

Mac sure to be out any

1:02:17

longer than he has to be,

1:02:19

but you've done a great job

1:02:21

filling in. Yeah, thank you. I'm

1:02:23

glad to get this opportunity and

1:02:25

I'm gonna keep making the most

1:02:27

of it. That's Easton Lucas and

1:02:29

this is the point where if

1:02:31

there was a thread on social

1:02:33

media. the next line would be

1:02:35

narrator, he did not. And unfortunately,

1:02:37

he did not, because he went

1:02:39

out the next day and got

1:02:41

his ears pinned back good by

1:02:43

the Seattle Mariners, and now he's

1:02:45

down in Buffalo and the Blue

1:02:47

Jays have to figure out who's

1:02:49

next to help fill that Max

1:02:51

Scherzer spot in the pitching rotation,

1:02:53

and that's another spot where the

1:02:55

Jays sort of have left themselves.

1:02:58

Naked was supposed to be Yariel

1:03:00

Rodriguez, but first weekend of the

1:03:02

season, they decided he was better

1:03:04

as a short reliever. Could have

1:03:06

been Ryan Yarborough, but in their

1:03:08

infinite wisdom, we already have one

1:03:10

long guy in Yariel Rodriguez. We

1:03:12

don't need another one. They let

1:03:14

Ryan Yarborough go. So Jake Bloss

1:03:16

is not doing well in AAA,

1:03:18

although his last start was pretty

1:03:20

solid. Adam Cloffenstein's hurt, Adamacko's hurt.

1:03:22

We'll see what the Blue Jays

1:03:24

decide to do. Paxton Schultz, maybe

1:03:26

he's not stretched out, but boy

1:03:28

did he look good in so

1:03:30

far his only outing, striking out

1:03:32

eight over four and a third

1:03:34

shutout innings following. That start by

1:03:36

Easton Lucas on Sunday. That was

1:03:38

one Lucas, another one when we

1:03:40

come back. You

1:03:44

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1:03:46

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1:03:49

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talkspace.com. It's deep left field. I'm

1:04:47

Mike Wilner. Thanks so much for

1:04:49

joining us, whether it's your first

1:04:52

time. You're two hundred and fifty

1:04:54

first. or anywhere in between, we

1:04:56

are thrilled to have you. And

1:04:59

Nathan Lucas is thrilled to have

1:05:01

an addition to the family, a

1:05:03

bouncing baby boy who came into

1:05:06

the world in Arizona on April

1:05:08

14th. Lucas didn't make it back

1:05:11

for the birth of his second

1:05:13

child to join his three and

1:05:15

a half year old daughter, but

1:05:18

he was on a flight. as

1:05:20

soon as that night's game ended

1:05:22

and got to spend three days

1:05:25

at home with his new family.

1:05:27

I wanted to give you a

1:05:29

peek behind the curtain, how this

1:05:32

kind of stuff works when you're

1:05:34

starting a family, growing a family,

1:05:37

and balancing that with being a

1:05:39

professional athlete. So here's my conversation

1:05:41

with Nathan Lucas. All

1:05:47

right, Nathan, let's talk baby. There were

1:05:49

two Blue Jays babies born last week

1:05:51

with yours and Antoll and Vars shows,

1:05:53

but you left the team after a

1:05:55

Monday night game when you already knew

1:05:58

it was gonna be too late. I

1:06:00

guess to get home, take us through

1:06:02

that whole thing about how you're finding

1:06:04

out and how you make that decision.

1:06:06

My wife, she woke up and I

1:06:08

mean we have that three hour time

1:06:11

difference because she's in Arizona. She called

1:06:13

me is like, I have a feeling

1:06:15

we're having this baby, like we're having

1:06:17

this baby tonight. I was like, get

1:06:19

to the hospital, like, and then we'll

1:06:21

talk. And then she called me like

1:06:24

an hour later and goes, no, we're

1:06:26

having this baby tonight. I'm going to

1:06:28

the hospital. If I

1:06:30

were to have left right then,

1:06:32

I think I would have made

1:06:34

it. But obviously, the airport is...

1:06:36

20 minutes away and then you

1:06:38

have to purchase the flights and

1:06:40

by the time she was admitted

1:06:42

if I got on a flight

1:06:44

I wouldn't have made it. Right

1:06:46

it's not that easy to get

1:06:48

to Phoenix here there's only like

1:06:50

one or two flights a day

1:06:52

direct so and this is the

1:06:54

second one which generally comes quicker

1:06:56

for me anyway I remember it

1:06:58

was like 32 hours of labor

1:07:00

for the first and eight for

1:07:03

the second. So once you know

1:07:05

you're not going to make it

1:07:07

she says you're not going to

1:07:09

make it. you're starting today so

1:07:11

I mean that that's pretty much

1:07:13

it I was like I'm not

1:07:15

gonna argue with you it's I

1:07:17

know I'm not gonna make it

1:07:19

I feel bad but I mean

1:07:21

it was it was a tough

1:07:23

game but an easy game at

1:07:25

the same time like it was

1:07:27

I knew she had it I

1:07:29

knew she was in good hands

1:07:31

so but it was also I'm

1:07:33

thinking about it like pretty much

1:07:35

like holy shit I'm About to

1:07:37

be a dad of two and

1:07:39

so that that didn't escape escape

1:07:41

my mind or the game But

1:07:43

I mean I was able to

1:07:45

get there the next the next

1:07:47

morning and Got to see the

1:07:49

kid and it was awesome. And

1:07:51

he had to spend a couple

1:07:53

of days at home So what's

1:07:55

what's that like when you're you

1:07:57

know? I remember last year I

1:07:59

think Chris Bassett was pitched a

1:08:01

game with his wife in labor

1:08:03

and got out as soon as

1:08:05

the game was over left so

1:08:07

you have to wait till the

1:08:09

next morning to get out to

1:08:11

Arizona. So what's that like on

1:08:13

the plane and then getting there

1:08:15

and seeing your new kid? I

1:08:17

mean I know I knew everyone

1:08:19

was healthy momma was healthy baby

1:08:21

was healthy so I mean that

1:08:24

I wasn't really thinking about it

1:08:26

on the flight it was just

1:08:28

I mean it was more joy

1:08:30

just like excited they get out

1:08:32

there and and me baby boy

1:08:34

for the first time but I

1:08:36

mean I knew they were all

1:08:38

healthy they were safe and so

1:08:40

that made the plane ride a

1:08:42

little bit easier. And then you

1:08:44

get there and you know you've

1:08:46

been in this world for two

1:08:48

months since the beginning of spring

1:08:50

training getting to Florida and no

1:08:52

break up here and right out

1:08:54

at it and then you get

1:08:56

you just to be home with

1:08:58

this new family that's doubled in

1:09:00

size for three days. How was

1:09:02

that? It was I mean it

1:09:04

was I think the second second

1:09:06

night we had all four of

1:09:08

us in the bed and it

1:09:10

was just like Oh man, like

1:09:12

our family just got bigger. Just

1:09:14

definitely got bigger. The bed got

1:09:16

a lot more crowded. And that's

1:09:18

just when they're an infant and

1:09:20

three and a half years old

1:09:22

with my daughter. But I mean,

1:09:24

flying was difficult because it was,

1:09:26

obviously it's Arizona. So it's that

1:09:28

three hour time difference. So flying

1:09:30

there wasn't bad. But it was,

1:09:32

I took a red eye flight

1:09:34

on. technically Friday morning at 12

1:09:36

like 1230 in the morning. So

1:09:38

I was at the airport at

1:09:40

like 1115 and I didn't travel

1:09:42

with really any bags just carry-ons

1:09:45

but it was I didn't get

1:09:47

in until 10 a.m. Friday morning

1:09:49

it's just that three-hour time difference

1:09:51

going to the to the west

1:09:53

coast is easy but then coming

1:09:55

back to the east coast you're

1:09:57

losing that three hours which is

1:09:59

tough. Yeah, those red eyes home

1:10:01

west to east are hard and

1:10:03

then you get plunged right back

1:10:05

into this. But getting to spend

1:10:07

three days, right, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday

1:10:09

at home with the family. It's

1:10:11

amazing, and now, you know, here

1:10:13

you are with a three and

1:10:15

a half year old and a

1:10:17

brand new one. Two's a lot

1:10:19

more than one more than one.

1:10:21

Yes, it is. But I mean,

1:10:23

all of it, it was amazing.

1:10:25

I mean, seeing my daughter with

1:10:27

her, with her son, just constantly

1:10:29

wants to hold them, constantly wants

1:10:31

to hug them and cuddle them,

1:10:33

and it's just, I mean, it's

1:10:35

the greatest thing in the world,

1:10:37

watching her, want to love on

1:10:39

her baby brother or baby brother,

1:10:41

which is huge, That's the proud

1:10:43

Papa, Nathan Lucas, and that interview

1:10:45

a little more subdued because that

1:10:47

was in the Blue Jays clubhouse

1:10:49

right after that Sunday lost to

1:10:51

Seattle before they hit the road

1:10:53

to go get swept in Houston

1:10:55

if you're listening on the day

1:10:57

this drops. This is the off

1:10:59

day before the Blue Jays go

1:11:01

to New York. Well, they're already

1:11:03

there. To take on the New

1:11:06

York Yankees for three before coming

1:11:08

back home. for a week. But

1:11:10

congratulations to Nathan Lucas. And look,

1:11:12

I remember too, my three and

1:11:14

a half year old daughter was

1:11:16

so excited to have a new

1:11:18

baby sister. It's such a wonderful

1:11:20

thing. It really is. And it's

1:11:22

so great to see all these

1:11:24

young families after the games when

1:11:26

we go down to the media

1:11:28

conference room to talk to John

1:11:30

Schneider after every Blue Jays game

1:11:32

at Rogers Center, right outside that

1:11:34

room. There are. A dozen kids,

1:11:36

probably five and under, running around,

1:11:38

having fun, laughing. It is the

1:11:40

best. And it's so great to

1:11:42

see these young guys with their

1:11:44

young kids. And Lucas very pragmatic

1:11:46

about missing the birth of his

1:11:48

second child. There was literally nothing

1:11:50

he could do. Can't just... Hop

1:11:52

on a plane to Phoenix whenever

1:11:54

you want. You gotta wait until

1:11:56

they go. And that's not exactly

1:11:58

an easy city to get to

1:12:00

when you need to at a

1:12:02

moment's notice. Do that. Congratulations to

1:12:04

the Lucas's on their new edition

1:12:06

and that's gonna do it for

1:12:08

this episode of Deep Left Field.

1:12:10

Wish it was a happier time

1:12:12

for the Blue Jays, but five

1:12:14

losses in a row, all different

1:12:16

ways of pull your hair out

1:12:18

frustrating, has knocked them under 500

1:12:20

for the first time since they

1:12:22

were one and two, three games

1:12:24

end of the season that day

1:12:27

that Max Schurzer got hurt. He's

1:12:29

not back yet. He's not going

1:12:31

to be back anytime soon, but

1:12:33

Dalton Varshow might be. There's a

1:12:35

chance that Varshow joins the Jays

1:12:37

in New York. And by the

1:12:39

time you hear this, you may

1:12:41

already know whether he is or

1:12:43

isn't. Thank you so much. To

1:12:45

our guest, George Springer, Easton Lucas,

1:12:47

Nathan Lucas, to our fantastic executive

1:12:49

producer, JP Foso, our incredible sound

1:12:51

engineers, our Crawford Blair. And Sean

1:12:53

Patenden, the editor-in-chief of the Toronto

1:12:55

Star, is Nicole McIntire. And the

1:12:57

best way to support this podcast,

1:12:59

it'll cost you a dollar. But

1:13:01

that's it. The best way to

1:13:03

support this podcast is to go

1:13:05

to the star.com, go to the

1:13:07

Deep Left Field page and subscribe

1:13:09

to the paper. It is $1

1:13:11

for six months. It would help

1:13:13

us out a ton. The biggest

1:13:15

thank you of all goes to

1:13:17

you. We wouldn't be doing any

1:13:19

of this without you. Thank you

1:13:21

for being here, whether it's your

1:13:23

first time, your two hundred and

1:13:25

fifty first, or any of those

1:13:27

in between. I'm not going to

1:13:29

go through all the numbers between

1:13:31

one and two fifty one. I'm

1:13:33

sure you know what they are.

1:13:35

My name is Mike Wilner. Thank

1:13:37

you so much for listening, and

1:13:39

we'll see you here next time

1:13:41

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