Blue Jays Morning Brew: Podcast, Encarnacion, Votto, Tebow

The Toronto Blue Jays enter play on Wednesday with a 71-54 record, identical to the Boston Red Sox as they sit tied atop the American League East

Coming off a convincing win in their series opener against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the Blue Jays send Marco Estrada to the hill tonight at 7:07 p.m. ET. In the meantime, we’ve got you covered with another episode of the Jays Nest Podcast.

Listen using the audio player below, or better yet, subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher to have the podcast delivered straight to your device each week. We’re also available now on Google Play.

The Jays’ Nest Podcast- Talking Toronto Blue Jays – Jays Nest #87- Encarnacion, Bautista & Votto (?)

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The Edwin Encarnacion lawsuit and allegations are our lead story this week. Shaun Doyle of Jays From the Couch and I discuss the troubling rush of opinions on a topic not yet suited for them, and how baseball fans should properly handle the weeks ahead with Encarnacion. On Tuesday, we aggregated the most recent updates on the situation, including a link to the full court documents, in this post.

Also on the list for this week’s show is the upcoming return of Jose Bautista, who is expected to see an increased role as the designated hitter. Shaun and I talk about why this is the ideal Blue Jays lineup and why, at this point in the season, DH’ing doesn’t matter to Bautista’s free agent value.

Then, because we must, it’s Joey Votto time. Blue Jays fans have fallen hard for the idea of Votto and the back end of his mega-contract playing in Toronto, and for good reason. Since the All-Star break, he’s playing at a level rarely seen. We try to keep the expectations in check, though, because remember: other team’s might just be interested, too.

Tebow Time?
I would be remiss if I didn’t touch on this tidbit from last night involving the Blue Jays and former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow. 


Tebow has a showcase upcoming that 20 MLB teams are expected to attend, and this foray into baseball has rubbed some the wrong way. Especially some of the old-school crowd, who scoff at Tebow’s belief that he can simply decide to play professional baseball. His willingness to ride a single-A bus through no-name towns will be the main factor here, because for the name brand alone, someone will take a chance on Tebow if he can put a bat on a ball.