Deep Left Field with Mike Wilner

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Longtime Toronto Blue Jays radio voice Mike Wilner hosts Deep Left Field, a baseball podcast from the Toronto Star. With great baseball coverage, opinion and analysis, Deep Left Field has everything you need to know about the Jays, specifically, and baseball in general.

10 HR AGO

Road Warriors: Blue Jays fight back in ALCS, beating Mariners 13-4 in Seattle

Guest: Blue Jays Offensive Player George Springer SEATTLE - The Blue Jays pulled themselves back from the brink and Deep Left Field is here at T-Mobile Park in Seattle to tell you all about it. After looking sluggish, to put it mildly, in the first two games of this American League Championship Series, the Jays flew north and west and found their offence somewhere along the way. They managed just one hit from the third inning on over Games 1 and 2 and had 17 after the second inning in Game 3. George Springer had three of those - including a fourth-inning solo home run that moved him into a tie for fourth place overall on the all-time post-season home run list - and he joins us to talk about other things, such as Shane Bieber's performance, and the moment the right-hander sent chills through the dugout, the Jays' return to form and their five gold glove finalists that were announced Wednesday. Also, as always throughout the playoffs, we open up the mailbag at deepleftfield@thestar.ca. This time, it's a much happier mailbag than it was after Game 2.

46 min
1 DAY AGO

Before Game 3 in Seattle, we talk to Blue Jays Addison Barger, Davis Schneider and DeMarlo Hale

Guests: Blue Jays third baseman Addison Barger, left fielder Davis Schneider, associate manager DeMarlo Hale Deep Left Field is on the road in Seattle with your Toronto Blue Jays as they try to get back in their best-of-seven American League Championship Series with the Seattle Mariners, having lost the first two games. We assess the mood around the clubhouse with Addison Barger and Davis Schneider, the latter of whom may have thrown a little shade on Jose Bautista's famous Bat Flip home run as we spoke on the 10th anniversary of the big swing. DeMarlo Hale was the Jays' bench coach when Bautista hit the homer that shook the baseball world but, more importantly, he was on the staff when that Jays team overcame a two-games-to-none playoff deficit, having lost both games at home. We talk to him about that accomplishment, now that the Jays are trying to do it again. And, as always, we take your comments and questions in the mailbag at deepleftfield@thestar.ca.

39 min
2 DAYS AGO

It's bleak. But as bleak as it is, the Jays have overcome the odds before

Guest: Blue Jays outfielder Nathan Lukes All appears to be pretty bleak in Blue Jays land as they head north and west to Seattle trailing the best-of-seven American League Championship Series two games to none. The complete offensive collapse against the Mariners was wholly unexpected, especially given that the Jays had scored 34 runs over their four-game ALDS win against the New York Yankees and Seattle seemed ripe for the picking, coming off an exhausting and emotional 15-inning winner-take-all Game 5 in their ALDS against the Detroit Tigers. That game finished less than 72 hours before the M's put the finishing touches on their 10-3 Thanksgiving blowout of the Blue Jays. But as bleak as it is, the Jays seem to have overcome the odds time and time again this year and Deep Left Field will continue to be with them every step of the way. In today's playoff bonus episode, we speak to Nathan Lukes, who had 50% of the Jays' hits in Monday's loss, including RBI singles in both the first and second innings. The Jays only had one hit after the second inning - a Lukes single, his third hit of the game. Lukes was playing with a badly bruised right knee after fouling a ball off himself in Game 1. And, of course, we open the mailbag at deepleftfield@thestar.ca to hear your thoughts on the loss, some clinging to optimism, some resigned to defeat, some utterly off the wall.

32 min
3 DAYS AGO

After losing Game 1, Trey Yesavage starts Game 2 for the Blue Jays vs. Mariners

Guest: Blue Jays reliever Mason Fluharty The first ALCS to open up in Toronto since 1992 began the same way the last one did - with a Blue Jays loss. The Jays got a leadoff home run from George Springer and then just one more hit the rest of the night and fell to the travel- and extra-inning-weary Seattle Mariners 3-1. Mason Fluharty got two huge outs in the top of the eighth, striking out Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suarez to escape Seranthony Dominguez’ jam and give the bats a chance to come back. They didn’t. The rookie lefty joins us from a very quiet Jays’ clubhouse to talk about his playoff experience so far. And, of course, we dip into the mailbag at deepleftfield@thestar.ca to hear what you have to say!

40 min
4 DAYS AGO

Game Day! Blue Jays Kevin Gausman vs. the Mariner's Bryce Miller in Game 1 of the ALCS

Guests: Chris Bassitt and Davis Schneider The American League Championship Series begins tonight and for the first time since 1993, it's opening up in Toronto. The Blue Jays are getting set to take on their expansion cousins, the Seattle Mariners, with the well-rested Kevin Gausman facing off against Bryce Miller, who will be pitching on three days' rest. We're joined by Chris Bassitt, who talks about the sacrifices he made during the season that wound up costing him in September and October, but how missing playoff series doesn't matter to him as long as the Jays keep winning. Davis Schneider stops by as well, to tell us about getting a hit in his first playoff at-bat ever, at Rogers Centre in Game 2 of the ALDS, and in his first playoff at-bat at Yankee Stadium two days later. Plus, as always, we open up the mailbag at deepleftfield@thestar.ca - keep those cards and letters coming!

47 min
5 DAYS AGO

How do the Mariners and Blue Jays match up for the ALCS?

Guests: Toronto Star baseball columnist Gregor Chisholm, Kim's Convenience/The Mandalorian's Paul Sun-Hyung Lee It took a while, but the Toronto Blue Jays have an opponent in the American League Championship Series that begins Sunday night at Rogers Centre. The Seattle Mariners beat the Detroit Tigers 3-2 in the decisive Game 5 of their American League Division Series, but it took them an all-time record (for a winner-take-all game) 15 innings to do it, which is certainly good news for the Jays, who were home and likely in bed watching things finish up just after 1:00 a.m. Eastern time. We discuss the Jays-Mariners ALCS match-up with Gregor Chisholm and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, looking at how the short rest – and using three starting pitchers Friday night – might affect the M's as they try to get to the World Series for the first time in franchise history. For the Jays, it would be their first trip to the Fall Classic since 1993. Will Cal Raleigh be Seattle's version of Aaron Judge? Will the Mariners have anything left after an exhausting, emotional series with the Detroit Tigers, especially after having to win 17 of 18 down the stretch just to win their division? What did the Jays prove to the baseball world with their win over the New York Yankees in their ALDS? These questions and more will be answered, or at least will attempt to be answered, on this playoff bonus episode of Deep Left Field! You can be part of the next episode by sending your questions and comments to the mailbag at deepleftfield@thestar.ca.

27 min
9 OCT

'The Yankees lose' (aka the Blue Jays win and are going to the American League Championship Series)

The Blue Jays are going to the American League Championship Series! The Jays shrugged off their ugly loss to the New York Yankees in Tuesday's Game 3 and did all the things that got them to this point on Wednesday - great defence, timely hitting, making their opponents pay for mistakes - and combined that with an outstanding performance from eight relievers to knock the Yankees out of the post-season, guaranteeing that they won't defend their American League pennant. Of the four teams that went into their games Wednesday with a chance to advance to the next round, the Jays are the only one that managed to do it. They're in the League Championship Series - one of the last four teams standing - for the first time since 2016 and only the third time since 1993. They'll face either the Detroit Tigers in the first-ever 401 series or the Seattle Mariners in the first-ever ALCS battle between 1977 expansion cousins. On this latest playoff bonus episode of Deep Left Field, we go over the Game 4 win, what went right and what could have gone wrong, and we open up the mailbag at deepleftfield@thestar.ca for your comments and questions! Audio sources: Fox and Sportsnet

1h 3m
8 OCT

No sleep til Brooklyn behind them for Blue Jays fans

The Blue Jays quite literally kicked away their chance to sweep the Yankees in the American League division series, uncharacteristic errors and shoddy fielding giving New York the opportunity to overcome a five-run deficit and roar back to win the game and keep their playoff hopes alive for at least one more day. We'll go through the gory details for you on this special playoff bonus episode of Deep Left Field: -Did Shane Bieber get taken out of the game too soon? -What happened on that pop-up that Addison Barger missed to open the floodgates? -Should Anthony Santander be in the lineup and, if so, should he be playing the outfield? As well, and as always during the post-season, we open the mailbag at deepleftfield@thestar.ca to go through your questions and comments, including whether it would be wise for the Jays to use Kevin Gausman in Game 4, how they'll work a bullpen game, when will Bo Bichette come back and what's up with Chris Bassitt and Max Scherzer?

44 min

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Mike Wilner

Host

Longtime Toronto Blue Jays radio voice Mike Wilner hosts Deep Left Field, a baseball podcast from the Toronto Star. With great baseball coverage, opinion and analysis, Deep Left Field has everything you need to know about the Jays, specifically, and baseball in general.