Congrats Thunder + 3 Random Jays

 I was very grateful for the Thunder putting that game away after the first half last night. I had an MRI appointment early in the morning yesterday so by 10pm I was wiped, thank goodness the Thunder let me sleep. As a result, there's not much to say about that game and I have talked extensively about that series! I need a small section to congratulate a Canadian legend winning semi finals MVP and advancing to the finals but besides that I am going to just have a quick post where I talk about a couple of Jays that popped into my mind randomly this week. The Jays thing might turn into a bit of a series, you know how sometimes you have totally random athletes pop into your memory? This is as good a place as any to write those down and so I will!

Congrats Thunder

Real quick, the Thunder are simply the best team in basketball. The fact that the Nuggets series went 7 is more a testament to Jokic' dominance than it is to the Thunder's struggles. Right from the start of the series I called that. I watched how OKC defended Jokic in the post and held him to an assist to turnover ratio I'd never though possible for the best passing big man of all time. Using that as a data point, I was very low on Randle's ability to do anything in this series. Although they're completely different quality of player, they operate in the same spots on the floor, a spot the Thunder have figured out how to turn into a turnover almost every time. Julius Randle isn't the most secure with the ball against any team, against a team that forces turnovers routinely he was cooked. That thesis played out exactly how I thought and despite a couple of decent scoring nights where he hit some tough shots, Randle was awful this whole series. Anthony Edwards is only 23, I give him a hard time, but this defense is no joke and it's the type of thing you have to see a couple times before going back in the lab and getting better. On top of it all, Shai is absolutely unstoppable. The Timberwolves probably have the best group of "Shai stoppers" in the league with Jaden McDaniels, Anthony Edwards and cousin NAW, but it didn't matter. Shai averaged 31.4 points per game and only had 1 game below 30 points for the entire series. The Timberwolves had nobody to match up with that level of production and despite having some great defenders, nobody could turn the tap off either. The Thunder should be heavily favored vs whoever comes out of the East and I for one am really excited to see a potential Canadian finals MVP. We'll cover the finals when the matchups are set though, for now congrats Thunder!

Josh Thole 

Before the basketball game I flipped on the Jays game last night and saw Ali Sanchez was the catcher. The first thing I thought was: "who?" Then I thought about how I've seen a ton of backup catchers in my Jays watching career and one of them stood out to me, Josh Thole. Josh Thole was a career backup catcher, he didn't have much of a bat with a career OPS+ of 73. He had only 9 HRs for his 8 season career and the numbers suggest he was a below average defensive catcher as well. So why did he stick around for 8 seasons? Josh Thole had a unique skillset that got him paid almost $6m total from the Mets and Jays, he could catch the knuckleball. R.A. Dickey burst on the scene as a knuckleball pitcher late in his career with the Mets around 2010. The knuckleball is famously finicky, not a lot of pitchers have mastered it in MLB history, and you have to master it too because of the other aspect you need to think of: not a lot of catchers can catch it. Josh Thole was the guy who could catch a knuckleball. I think that's a cool thing about baseball, sometimes there's a very niche skill that is useless for 31 teams in the league, but for that 1 team if they don't have it they're screwed. Josh Thole could catch a knuckleball and that means he gets $6m, that's pretty cool.

Chris Colabello

One of my favorite Jays from 2015 mostly because of how hilarious his career is when you look back at it. Playing in just 55 then 59 games the year prior for the Minnesota Twins, Colabello was not good posting a 74 and 85 OPS+ in each of those seasons. He couldn't really effectively play any position and he was below average when they stuck him in left field or at first base. In short, he was a 30 year old guy without any major league skills.  He was 31 when he got called up to the Jays in 2015, and out of nowhere he absolutely raked. In 101 games for the Jays that year Chris hit for a .321 batting average, with an .886 OPS good for an OPS+ of 138. Literally out of nowhere he became one of the best hitters in all of baseball, and it wasn't just a flash in the pan. Colabello kept this up for the entire regular season and was even solid in the playoffs hitting for a .830 OPS in 10 playoff games. The Jays surged at the end of that season on the backs of their amazing offense, and Colabello was no small part of that. By the end of the season, Colabello was the #5 hitter in the Jays lineup behind Bautista, Donaldson and Encarnacion, and no joke, he was as good of a hitter as any of them. Basically 2 weeks into the next season Colabello was suspended for 80 games for PED use. He claimed to not know how the PEDs got in his system, but if you look at his baseball reference page you might get an idea of when he started "unknowingly" using. Colabello went 2/32 that season and never got another chance in the big leagues again. A truly remarkable single season run that genuinely helped the Jays win their only division title in my lifetime. Thank you steroids, and thank you Chris Colabello. 

Mark Buehrle 

Maybe calling Mark random isn't fair, he has a perfect game and a long fringe hall of fame career with the White Sox. His career absolutely overshines the others on this list, but he's a guy I think about often and it's time he makes my blog. Mark was always one of my favorite pitchers to watch. He was a lefty who had a fastball that barely touched 85mph, and stuff that wasn't electric, but he could just pitch. He was a master of hitting his location and creating soft contact. He also trusted his catcher wholeheartedly. In his entire tenure with the Jays I don't think I saw him shake off a catcher's pitch call even once. He pitched like a pitch clock era pitcher before the pitch clock was invented and as a result his games were always super quick and digestible. One memory I will never forget in 2013, Tim McGraw had a concert in Toronto on the same night Buehrle was set to start. Mark pitched a complete game 2 hit shutout finishing the game in just 2 hours and 18 minutes, then bolted to catch the start of the concert and actually made it. He was such a mad man that he turned up the heat and disposed of the Astros as quickly as possible so that he could get to a country concert. One of the coolest pitchers in MLB history and I was honored to get to watch him on the Jays. 

That's that! I know many might've been expecting a big hate on Minnesota post but honestly the Thunder are just a much better team. I've spoken a ton about how much better they are and I was right, but that wasn't a very bold prediction. That game last night was super boring as a neutral fan and so I felt it was a perfect opportunity to walk down memory lane with the Jays for a bit. Knicks Pacers tonight, will the finals be set or will New York stay alive? I'll hop on for a rare quick Friday post either way!