Tampa Bay news and links: The AL East in the postseason

It’s the American League Wild Card game tonight, and it’ll be an AL East affair. Chris Tillman and the Baltimore Orioles will take on Marcus Stroman and the Toronto Blue Jays at 8:00.

The Orioles will have Ubaldo Jimenez and Dylan Bundy in the bullpen and available if needed. And Kevin Papetti of Bluebird Banter thinks the Jays should make an early pitching change to bring in starter Francisco Liriano before the Orioles lineup sees Stroman too many times.

That all sounds like a very Rays game there, with the possibility of a couple quick hooks—if the Rays were the type of team that got outs and won games.

Links:

• A few days ago, Jason Hanselman broke down Steven Souza Jr. Good analysis, don’t miss it.
• The marketing message here is clear. Kids don’t know that watching losing baseball isn’t fun. (Probably the kids have got this one right.)

• Topkin’s story on priorities for next year: fix the bullpen.
• Lou Piniella is on the Hall of Fame ballot.
• Jon Roegele on the 2016 strike zone.
• What do advanced defensive metrics say about Rays fielders? One should get a gold glove, and another should get an iron glove.
• Some stats to evaluate managers: Kevin Cash used some of the most rigid roles in his bullpen.
• And finally, thanks all Ottoneu players. I’m working on a season wrap. Will have that soon.