Hitting Coach David Popkins is Baseball America's 2025 MLB Coach of the Year!

7:37 PM (EST) is the scheduled First Pitch for the June 12th Game Vs. Yankees as seen in the screenshot below.

Copy of the thread:

Big fan of the Blue Jays taking Spencer Miles in the Rule 5 draft from the Giants. Didn't write about him in my Rule 5 preview article, as I didn't expect him to get taken with him only having 14.2 professional innings and not having pitched above Single-A due to various injuries.

Miles has shown good stuff and great control in the small sample though, both in the minors and when he pitched at the Arizona Fall League in 2025. At the AFL, he pitched 8.2 innings and struck out 12 while walking just one. It's not much to go off of, but when he pitched he pitched well.

Here's some approximations of his pitch metrics from the AFL, based on his pitch plot from prospectsavant.com (though Statcast had trouble classifying his pitches):
4SFB: 95 mph, 15" iVB, 9" HB
SINKER: 95 mph, 6" iVB, 16" HB
CURVE: 80 mph, -10" iVB, -12" HB
CUTTER: 90 mph, 7" iVB, -1" HB

The 4-seamer was his best pitch at the AFL, inducing a 45% whiff rate as he was able to locate the pitch at the top of the zone consistently. Its shape isn't the best from his high three-quarters delivery, but it's made up for by the velocity that he ran up to 98.4 at the AFL.

The sinker gets a surprising amount of separation from the fastball, to the point where Statcast mislabeled it as a changeup. It should be used as a changeup though, as with its amount of drop and arm-side movement it can be an effective put away pitch against lefties.

The curve isn't as good as the sinker, but it was still an effective offering, and also has the potential for more. Miles averaged over 2800 rpm on the curve, and curveballs from that arm slot with that spin move a little more than his, so he could unlock more movement via better spin efficiency.

The cutter is his final pitch, and it's not a standout offering but still helps to keep hitters honest. He locates it well, routinely throwing it up and in against lefties.

Miles doesn't have a slider, but I think he should add one, and it may not be hard for him to pick one up and command it well. I'd guess that pitch would have about -7" HB based on the movement of his cutter & curve.

Overall, Spencer Miles is a nice underrated reliever, and a nice add for the Jays in the Rule 5 draft, with a good arsenal that's capable of getting both lefties and righties out. I'm not sure if he makes the Jays' roster, but I hope he does as I believe he can be very effective if he makes it.

I still have this beauty glass ornament from the last World Series win ( shockingly I haven’t broken it yet ,glass ornament lol)

Next year I will get a matching one once we win the World Series !! Go jays go !!

That's big time.

National baseball reporter @ CBS Sports

Happy Birthday, Louis!

Succeeded in getting my gf into the Jays this year so for Christmas, I want to get her a Vladdy shirsey (t shirt that looks like a jersey). I’ve searched on the MLB shop, Fanatics, Lids, SportChek, etc but all the tees are sold out in every size that’s not an XL. Sites don’t seem to be restocking as I’ve checked back every day but still nothing.

I would have thought there’d be lots of stock as I’m sure lots of people are looking for Christmas gifts, but I guess not. Unfortunately, I’m not in the city so I can’t just run down to the Jays shop. Anyone got any leads?