OverDrive - Griffin on the Blue Jays' closing stretch, Gausman's playoff role and the handling of the bullpen

Episode Date: September 12, 2025

GriffsThePitch.com Richard Griffin joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines for the Blue Jays and Orioles' series, the mixture of the lineup, Bo Bichette's injury timeline, the handling of Jeff Hoffman closing, Anthony Santander's return, Kevin Gausman's performance and the potential to start Game 1, Max Scherzer's role towards the playoffs, Eric Lauer's position and more.

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if the Blue Jays have one left-handed hitter in the lineup and eight right-handed hitters and you said it was Andres Jimenez, I would say you're full of it. Yes. But clearly the way that the bow injury has affected them, they are never going to finish a game with the same lineup that they start the game. If they're trailing, they're going to use the bench to hit.

If they're leading, they're going to use the bench to defend. And so this, as an opportunity for a bench player, this is ultimate. And it's not ultimate to have Bow injured and out. But this is the ultimate team, baseball team roster right here. Who do you give responsibility for the success? of the mishmash type lineup though griff is it ross is it schnise is it just the players like last year or the year before we'd be like what should we expect from these guys they can't hit and that's just what they are but it's it's pretty damn impressive to watch them

come together who deserves the credit you think yeah i mean i think ross stumbled in to some of these i mean he was accepting the contract of mild straw just so they have a shot at the Japanese kid, the pitcher, and it turns out that Straw is doing way more for the Jays than Sasaki is for the Dodgers. So, yeah, it's a fortunate series of circumstances that have led to this, but I think that fans in Blue Jays Nation got to give Ross a little bit of credit for once. Yeah, I agree with you there. A fortunate set of circumstances.

Love it. no one deserves credit is the way that kind of sounds is where you're going with that little bit of eluism in there but yeah I mean ultimately it is amazing how the confidence of a team can allow us to look at this lineup and say I feel good they win tonight I feel good that they'll find a way to figure this out but the Bichette injury is an interesting conversation because you know it's a knee issue he's on the IL we don't know exactly when he's going to return but I would not be shocked if he had to be eased back in playing DH, if that continues through September into the playoffs, where he's not comfortable enough for whatever reason to actually play shortstop,

how complicated do things get come playoff time? I think they get so complicated that you don't do that. I think that if Bow is running neck and neck with Alejandro Kirk on the basis, then you don't do that. and you've got a D-H spot that you need guys like George Springer to occupy because he's no longer the defender that he once was. And this team, the pitching staff relies so much on defense, but if Bose slowed down and quick changes of direction, affect his sprain knee, I think the 10-day IL was just a suggested, a minimum,

and I think it could be all the way through the season, and then we'll see going into the playoffs if he can play short. out. But I think he needs to be able to run to change direction and to play shortstop to be on any playoff roster, which is a daunting thought, really. Sorry, Griff, where are you out with Jeff Hoffman and, you know, the closing situation? Yeah, well, I mean, we see the 15 home runs that he's allowed. We see then a game where he comes in and goes one, two, three, and does the job of a real

closer. I'm not so sure that Sir Anthony Dominguez is an answer. We know that Louis Barland is young and needs some time. He's got great stuff, but he's not an answer. We know that I could spike a curveball like Brendan Little, 42 feet in front of the home plate. I could do that. So really, I think he's the last man standing in that regard. You know, if anyone who wants to volunteer to be closer, take a step forward, and everybody takes a step back, and there's Jeff Hoffman, there's your guy. Griff, what's the deal with this Sontan Dare character? Like, is he going to be a guy, or, like, his back now?

Like, just give us an update on what he could possibly do or what his story is, because it's been unreal watching him. They say that on, well, Thursday night he went one-for-three in Buffalo and hit a home run and drew two walks. but that is AAA, that is Buffalo. They say that hitting from the right side, it doesn't hurt them as much as hitting from the left side. I don't know. It's like, will I be able to play the piano?

And the guy goes, yeah, and he says, that's great. I was never able to play the piano before. The same thing with Weather Son Tondare can help this team in October. I think they may just decide that the four years remaining on his contract, they'll roll the dice because their outfield has not been a problem, either defensively or offensively. And bringing a guy in who hasn't played in that long,

I think might not be a good idea, especially when he wasn't hot before. Why should he be hot now? And I think that they will concentrate on pretending that he's getting better and then just invite him back to spring training and give him a job then. Well, I hope he gets a job. He's still making like $80 million or whatever it is the rest of the way.

But look at Kauai. Yeah, that's true. Yeah, that is true. I mean, that tree planting company, they went, you know, they went out of business pretty quickly. Who knows what's going on with Santander with Richard Griffin, Jay's Orioles tonight. Another gem from Gosman yesterday, you know, post-all-Star break, he's been phenomenal. They found a lot of rest for him. You know, he's had a lot of, you know, extra days rest, and he's going deep in games.

He, you know, pitched a complete game. That's a unicorn in the sport these days. It feels like weekly we have this chat, and we've had it with you a bunch. You know, if all things were equal, everyone's healthy, everyone's ready to go, game one of the ALDS tonight, who gets the ball for the Jays? Yeah, I think it has been a discussion, and it's been a discussion unique to the Jays because, you know, you've got Tarrick Scoble, you've got every team that has their ace, they're acknowledged ace, and the Jays who are just going on the depth of their rotation and the consistency.

But you guys know that in a short series, you need more than just depth. You need more than consistency. You need one guy to step it up. And Gosman has done that. Since the All-Star break, he's got a 2.25 ERA and 10 starts. Remember, he had eight days of rest. He went into the All-Star break on fumes his last three starts. And then he pitched on his ninth day.

And since then, he's been on fire. He's 68 innings, which is almost. seven, which makes him a marathon man in this day and age. 10 starts, 68 in his, 39 hits, 67 strikeouts, and only 11 walks. The guy's been an ace. He's going to be the ace in the playoffs.

They need to set it up, and if they get a first round by, it'll be easy. To set it up for him to be the game one starter, there's no doubt. And to me, the next two games are going to be either Bieber Scherzer or Scherzerzer-Beeber. And you know, Chris Bassett gets a lot of love from the fan base, but the jays are one and seven in his last eight starts,

and they're 19 and 10 overall with Barrios, and Burrios gets not a lot of love, 19 and 10, and so there would be my fourth starter right there. So you go two and three with the veteran guys, the side guys, and then you bring Burrios, and you put Bassett out in the bullpen. Yeah, it's interesting because that, you know, that's kind of an old-school conventional, Herm Edwards view.

You know, you play to win the game, and when Barrios is on the mound, they win. And when Bassett is, they don't. Yet the stats would indicate Bassett's been better. You know, and I'm not sure, like, I think the Js have tried to will themselves into kind of being dirtbags, and I use that as a term of endearment in terms of kind of old school. We're playing our gut type vives.

John Snyder's going to step up and say, I'm not doing this or I'm doing that. I don't know if they can get to a point where, or if they will get to a point where they look at wins and losses as a reason to pitch a guy. And I know how insane that sounds, 20 years ago, you'd be like, what are you talking about? But you know what I'm getting at, Griff. It's more about statistics and innings and velocity and who they're going up against. And I'm not sure how Burrios can win that battle against Bass. Yeah, well, Burrios was part of John Snyder emerging from his days of analytics.

dominated managing when he got lifted in that Minnesota playoff game. So I think that Schneider has had enough success at this point to be his own man. And I, you know, Barrios has not, he's had one day where he's been above a 4.00 ERA since May. So I think he gets a lot of hate, not much love, but he has consistently been a mid-rotation guy three or four and we're talking we're asking him to be a fourth starter he's got three more years and he's got an opt out after next year can you imagine his decision will be made if he's left off the playoff roster as even a fourth starter despite the numbers that we're talking about i think that it's just logical and the fan feelings be damned in terms of putting him in that rotation for

the postseason yeah that's all kind of stuff that has to be considered or they will consider. We know that. Asper Scherzer, he's going tomorrow. You know, it seems like every time out now there's a little flare-up. You know, it's the back, it's the shoulder, the elbow. You know, he gets through it. Do you think it's more important to keep him on the mound, you know, every fifth day the rest of the way?

Or do you think it might make sense to give him a break? No, man, you've got to get that engine revved up, hazy. I mean, Griff, go ahead. Go ahead, Griff. Well, we have, we had, he's already exceeded what we talked about earlier in the season, 14 or 15th starts. This will be a 15th start coming up, and we didn't believe he'd ever get there. But I think that Eric Lauer has been on the sideline. He hasn't even warmed up in games.

I think that they're holding him back to pitch one of the games in the Rays series, and thus, oh, give everybody in the rotation an extra day. They got 13 straight games. Lauer is still useful. The Rays have a lot of left-handed hitters that he can neutralize. And I think that's the plan is to give Scherzer at least pitching on his sixth day rather than keep wheeling them out there every fifth. Well, it'll be a fun one tonight, fun weekend.

The Orioles always play the J's tough, and they're certainly in a spoiler position right now. The magic number keeps getting lower, and it lowered yesterday, so the Jays are still in a very good spot. Enjoy the weekend, Griff, we'll do it again soon. Thanks, guys. Any time. Richard Griffin from griff's the pitch.com. Seasoned gamer, or just video game curious, this weekend gaming is the podcast for you.

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