Blair & Barker Sportsnet

Jeff Blair and Kevin Barker are joined by Foul Territory’s Trevor May (27:35) to go around the majors; notably his thoughts on former teammate Jose Berrios’ start to the year, and the trust that exists between managers and starting pitchers after Sonny Gray asked to be taken out of his start against the Orioles. Shi Davidi (50:05) checks in pre-game from Rogers Centre, as does former White Sox second baseman Gordon Beckham (1:19:00) with his scouting report on starter Garrett Crochet and more surrounding the Chi Sox.

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Jeff and Kevin begin the show talking to Ben Shulman, Blue Jays play-by-play voice on Sportsnet 590 The FAN, about his takeaways from the weekend, before getting us set for this week's series with the Chicago White Sox.

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Blake Murphy and Kevin Barker open up the Back Leg Line, before being joined by MLB Network Radio and Apple TV’s Ryan Spilborghs ahead of Blue Jays-Rays weekend series (17:14). Rays TV analyst Brian Anderson dives deeper into the series providing a scouting report on Tampa’s pitchers, notably Friday’s starter Tyler Alexander (31:40). Blue Jays manager John Schneider makes his weekly appearance on the show to discuss tonight’s lineup and the decision to start Chris Bassitt tonight (50:05). ESPN’s Jesse Rogers discusses Pirates’ rookie Paul Skenes’ electric second major-league start against the Cubs and his recent story on load management in MLB (01:13:39).

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Blue Jays manager John Schneider joins Kevin Barker and Blake Murphy to discuss the decision to matchup Chris Bassitt to start the series against the Tampa Bay Rays, the positive and negative effects of extra days rest between pitcher's starts, Alek Manoah's improvements on the mound, what has made Yimi Garcia successful coming out of the bullpen, and why he's not worried about his offence.

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Blair and Barker look back on the Blue Jays' 3-2 loss to the Orioles and discuss the back end of the bullpen; notably how good Yimi Garcia has been all season long. Sportsnet’s Caleb Joseph calls up the guys with his recent thoughts on Toronto’s play ahead of their weekend series against the Rays (25:50). Current Rays and former Blue Jays hitting coach Chad Mottola talks about his role with Tampa, why great hitters aren’t necessarily the best hitting coaches, pitchers “stuff” nowadays getting better and better, and Yandy Diaz’s improvement as a player (50:00). Sean Casey, former Yankees hitting coach and host of The Mayor’s Office, joins the guys to talk about life in the minor leagues, if hitters can be given too much data, and how to approach players about moving down in the lineup when they’re struggling (01:15:58).

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

Jeff Blair and Kevin Barker recap Toronto’s 3-2 extra innings victory over the Orioles, notably Daulton Varsho getting it done offensively and defensively. The guys also react to Corbin Burnes’ post-game comments on Toronto’s hitters crediting them for making him work during his start. Orioles Bench Coach Fredi Gonzalez joins the show to discuss the influx of young talent joining the O’s at the same time and how they compare to other hitters he’s coached such as Freddie Freeman when he managed in Atlanta (28:00). USA Today’s Bob Nightengale discusses the rumoured interest in Jordan Romano league-wide and predicts what the market for both he and Yusei Kikuchi would fetch if the Blue Jays become sellers at the deadline (49:45). To end the show, ESPN’s Jeff Passan does a deep-dive on the bat-tracking data released by MLB and shares his takeaways with Jeff and Kevin (01:16:10).

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.