When left-hander David Price jumped from the Toronto Blue Jays to the Boston Red Sox this offseason, it looked like the pecking order in the AL East may have switched with him.
But that’s because all of us so-called experts didn’t realize that lefty J.A. Happ would prove to be a better free-agent pick-up, at least so far this year, than Price.
Happ will bring his 17-4 record and 3.19 ERA in 25 starts to Camden Yards on Tuesday, the second of three games between the Orioles and Blue Jays this week. (The series starts Monday.)
Plenty is riding on the series as the Blue Jays, Red Sox, Orioles and even the Yankees, thanks in part to the Orioles’ troubles in New York this weekend, all duke it out as baseball’s final month approaches.
Richard Griffin, the venerable baseball columnist for the Toronto Star, helps preview the series in this week’s “Around The Beat” podcast. He talks about Happ’s success, Aaron Sanchez’s intriguing season and Jose Bautista’s motivation for a big final month.
Griffin discusses Happ’s and Zach Britton’s chances to win the American League Cy Young Award and why Josh Donaldson’s 2015 season was more impressive than his 2016 campaign.
The former publicist of the Montreal Expos, Griffin also discusses his first impressions of a young Dan Duquette in Montreal and how the Orioles executive vice president has evolved over the years.
Griffin gives his pick to represent the AL in the World Series. And he doesn’t think it’s coming out of the East.
So give this a listen – you’ll be glad you did.
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