Greg and Josh go over a crazy week in Blue Jays led by the acquisition of José Berríos for Austin Martin and Simeon Woods Richardson. They discuss what Berríos can bring to the club and the cost going the other way, why it made sense and the secondary impact on the roster of Berríos' arrival. They also touch on Brad Hand's recent struggles, Joakim Soria's arrival and the overall look of the new bullpen, the Blue Jays' homecoming, Alek Manoah's velocity and why it doesn't really matter if it's down, George Springer heating up and Santiago Espinal pushing for more playing time. They also answer listener questions and give a Gold Star to Joey Votto.

Artificial Turf Wars

ATW Episode 215: José! José! José! José!

Greg and Josh talk about a disappointing week in Blue Jays land that saw them go 1-5 including two more blown late leads. They go over some of the late game issues including specific worries about the recent stuff shown by Ryan Borucki and Jordan Romano and the late inning offence, the new look, optimized offence, a strong bounceback start from Ross Stripling, the trade talks surrounding the Jays and a discussion about what direction the team should take and the returns of Thomas Hatch and Alejandro Kirk along with the loss of Danny Jansen to injury. They also answer listener questions and give a Do Over to MLB Network.

ATW Episode 214: Lousy Late Losses!

Baseball Prospectus Senior MLB Draft Writer, Keanan Lamb, stops by to discuss the Jays 2021 draft (21:45). He gives his thoughts on the number one pick, Gunnar Hoglund, and the risks the Jays weighed by taking an injured pitcher in the first round, the upside play with picks 3-5 and some interesting late round signs. He goes over the various reasons why this particular draft was so pitching heavy before giving a final grade on the Jays selections. Greg and Josh also discuss the upcoming return of the Blue Jays to Toronto and the crazy process that led them there, the All-Star game heroics from Vlad Jr. – and to a lesser extent Semien, Hernández and Bichette – and their strong play out of the gate, the continued dominance of Robbie Ray and return to form of Hyun-jin Ryu and Pete Walker's role in those turnarounds and the return of Ryan Borucki and its impact on the bullpen before checking in on the status of Danny Jansen. They also answer listener questions and give out two Gold Stars.

ATW Episode 213: It's Quite Drafty!

Greg and Josh break down the Rowdy Tellez for Trevor Richards (and Bowden Francis) trade, including what Richards brings to the table and why Rowdy was a clear choice to be moved, they also discuss Bo's selection to the All-Star team, a positive but also disappointing series vs the Rays and how it affects fandom, the stabilizing force brought by Adam Cimber and Jacob Barnes to the middle innings, Randal Grichuk's place in the lineup and what types of trades make sense for this team and what types probably don't. They also answer a couple of listener questions and give out a Gold Star.

ATW Episode 212: Not so Rowdy!

Greg and Josh discuss the acquisitions of Adam Cimber and Corey Dickerson, including what they can bring to the club, how they impact the depth and what the trade says about how the Jays will operate going forward. They also go over the All-Star selections of Vlad Jr, Marcus Semien and Teoscar Hernández, the struggles of Ryu and how he can get out of them and Chatwood and how he can't, Anthony Kay's strong recent run and creative uses for him with a healthy rotation, Lourdes Gurriel's hot streak, Springer moving up in the order and the pending returns of some relievers and some catchers. They also answer listener questions, touch on the awful allegations against Trevor Bauer and his place in the game in the future (or lack thereof) and give a Do Over to Chip Caray.

ATW Episode 211: What a Relief!

Jeff Paternostro of Baseball Prospectus stops by (24:20) to provide some insight into the Blue Jays' farm system. He discusses Gabriel Moreno and how he could impact the future Toronto roster in various ways, how Austin Martin could also be a very useful, versatile piece. He looks at Simeon Woods-Richardson's ceiling and how his delivery helps the stuff play up, but could face challenges at the next level and finally, discusses a few surprises in the system and what he expects of them. Greg and Josh also talk about the recent winning streak against the league bottom feeders, including the emergence of Ross Stripling, Tyler Chatwood finding the zone and the three-headed back of the bullpen doing the job, Reese McGuire performing in his special opportunity, the return of George Springer and its impact on the lineup and yet another injury to Nate Pearson. They also answer listener questions and give a Do Over to MLB and a Gold Star to Jordan Romano for a much-needed tweak.

ATW Episode 210: Delicious Low-Hanging Fruit

Greg and Josh discuss the recent rough patch for the Blue Jays which included three straight games lost when the Jays led in the 7th inning. The guys go over the bullpen woes specifically, who can/can't be counted on right now and what, if anything, can be done to address it. They also look at Ross Stripling's recent good stretch, Randal Grichuk's June regression, a unique triple play and the pending return of George Springer. They also answer listener questions and give out a Do Over.

ATW Episode 209: The 7th Inning Stretched Bullpen

Greg and Josh discuss the down week for the Jays, including the offence failing to cash in on many chances, bullpen meltdowns and defensive struggles. They also talk about Ryu losing twice in a row for the first time, the resurgence of Ross Stripling, Vlad's triple crown chase and take a ride on the latest injury carousel. They also answer listener questions and award the Cliché of the Week.

ATW Episode 208: 7 Inning Games, Please

Greg, Josh and Nick go over the last week of Blue Jays stories. They discuss Marcus Semien being named player of the month, have a spirited debate over the managing decisions in the Cleveland double header, go over why the clock might not strike midnight on Randal Grichuk's season, and also talk about the return to Buffalo (and the mini-sweep), Ross Stripling's solid turn, injuries and Alex Manoah's rough outing before checking in on Danny Jansen's status. They also answer listener questions and give a Gold Star to Joey Votto.

ATW Episode 207: Managing Expectations

Greg, Josh and Nick discuss the impressive debut of Alek Manoah and the stuff that helped him dominate the Yankees, the bullpen meltdowns of the previous week and why that was somewhat foreseeable, if not to that degree, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. rounding into form during the good part of his hot and cold spells, the weekly check-in on the status of Danny Jansen and a few injury updates. They also answer listener questions and give out two Do Overs.

ATW Episode 206: Man-o(a)h-Man What a Debut

Greg and Josh discuss the latest news following a 3-3 week against the Phillies and Red Sox. They talk about the games themselves, the return of Dolis, Ross Stripling's performance and how it relates to Alek Manoah's timeline, the finally fallible bullpen that still contains the elite Tyler Chatwood, the strong play of Vlad and Semien at the top of the lineup, a check-in on the status of Danny Jansen's "automatic out" tag, and an update on Nate Pearson. They also answer listener questions, give out a Do Over and a Gold Star and introduce a new feature, "Hey man, nice shot."

ATW Episode 205: Win Some, Lose Some

Dr. Mike Sonne stops by (27:00) to discuss the state of PitchAI, his company's app-based biomechanics tool. He talks about what the product does to make mechanics data easy to capture, what they've learned and the tweaks they've made in the last year covering beta testing and product launch, the organization's work with the Blue Jays development team, the biomechanics teaching tool they've created, and Mike gives a pitching mechanical assessment of our very own, Josh Howsam.Greg and Josh also discuss the strong recent play of the club, including the great recent hitting of Marcus Semien and Teoscar Hernandez as well as the stabilizing aspect of the Ray/Ryu (and sometimes Matz) rotation. the promotion/demotion of Nate Pearson and what happened in his bad outing, the minor league dominance of Alek Manoah, give an injury recovery update and do their now-weekly, tongue-in-cheek check-in to see if Danny Jansen is still an automatic out. They also answer listener questions and give Vlad Jr. a Gold Star.

ATW Episode 204: Biomechanics and Blue Jays

Greg and Josh go over the latest week of Blue Jays baseball including the recent conga-line to the IL that saw the team lose six more players, the nonetheless successful week, the return or Hyun-jin Ryu, Robbie Ray finding extreme control, Danny Jansen breaking out of his horrible slump, and the continued strong performance of the middle of the lineup and the bullpen. They also give out Do Overs to Sportsnet and the Blue Jays PR team and a Gold Star to an announcer for sticking it out through a very boring moment.

ATW Episode 203: These Guys M*A*S*H*

Jeremy Wolf of More Than Baseball stops by (22:50) to discuss the challenges minor leaguers faced during the canceled 2020 season, the further issues in the Covid-affected 2021 season and how MTB is working to help out. He also discusses the latest MTBKicks initiative and how that is helping on multiple levels. Greg and Josh also discuss the strong bullpen, Hyun-jin Ryu's injury and how the Jays rotation is being affected, Vlad's epic game and its place in history, the return of George Springer and how that changes the lineup and Danny Jansen's struggles. They also answer listener questions and give out a couple of Gold Stars.

ATW Episode 202: More Than Just a Game

Greg and Josh discuss the last week of Jays baseball including the ups and downs against the Royals and Red Sox, some tactical managing issues, the surprising performances in the bullpen, Vlad and Bo carrying the offensive load while others struggle to come around, the defensive play and its chances for improvement and the pending return of a bunch of key players from injury. They also also listener questions and give out a Do Over to some tv decision-makers.

ATW Episode 201: The Vlad and Bo Show

Greg Wisniewski, Joshua Howsam and occasional guests from around the baseball World talk about everything you want to know about the Blue Jays and noteworthy developments in the game, with a little bit of added fun.

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Artificial Turf Wars

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