The Toronto Blue Jays have settled in nicely to their temporary home.
They have hit 13 home runs in two games and their home run derby last night at Sahlen Field catapulted them to a 12-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.
The city is buzzing and the Blue Jays have gained some fans in WNY.
Joe Konze Jr. of Trainwreck Sports sat down with the creator and founder of the Blue Jays Backers of WNY, Ryan Kominiarek before tonight’s game to discuss Toronto’s season so far.
Konze:Have the Blue Jays Backers of WNY been around for a while?
Kominiarek: I created it in January before COVID and everything. I’ve been a Blue Jays fan for long time. I’m pretty active in the Buffalo Bills Twitter community talking to fans and I’m like, ‘there’s gotta be something for the Blue Jays.’ I starting looking and they are spread all over Canada. It’s just hard to find a real community where everyone kind of follows each other. I decided to find out how may Blue Jays fans I could find in Buffalo. I made it and the season didn’t start because COVID happened but now that the season started in Buffalo it has taken off a bit."
Konze:How many members of the Blue Jays Backers of WNY would you say you have now?
Kominiarek: "When I started I had about 40. I wasn’t expecting to have a massive following I just wanted to find some people to talk baseball with and hang out at a local bar that we could all get together at for games on Saturdays or something. It’s gone up to 320 members or so now which is still nothing to write home about but there’s people from Buffalo, Rochester, Southern Ontario, and Toronto. I can’t say how many of them are from Western New York, but I hope this all creates more fans."
Konze:I think we all want to know, how did you become a Blue Jays fan?
Kominiarek: "I wish I could say I was a lifelong fan but the truth is I kind of jumped on the bandwagon for a couple reasons. One was the Bisons becoming the triple A affiliate, and then actually in 2015 at the time I was with a girl from Toronto and we would go to Blue Jays games all the time. The more you go the more you realize how accessible they are. They had those two ALCS runs in a row and I kind of just jumped on board."
Konze: We saw seven home runs Wednesday and six home runs last night, as a Blue Jays fan, did you picture any of this happening?
Kominiarek: "It never really crossed my mind that they would be playing here. The kind of offense that we have seen over the past couple of days is what I was hoping to see at the beginning of the year."
Konze: When Travis Shaw hit the walk-off single to win the game on Tuesday night, where were you and how did you react?
Kominiarek: "Shaw was another guy that was a solid pick up in the offseason, a guy who is going to fall somewhere in the lineup every night. He’s not necessarily a star but it is cool to see him come out as a hero that night. 10 years from now there will be a trivia question, ‘who hit the walk off in that game.’ I was definitely watching it. I had a couple of buddies over just to watch that first game in Buffalo it was a cool moment.
Konze: Bo Bichette is having a historical start to the season. We know he’s a great player but did we expect him to be off to such a strong start this season?
Kominiarek: "We knew he was going to be great. I don’t know if we knew he would be this good this early on in his career. He’s only played 50 something games in his career. Vladdy was the big name prospect. I actually went to his MLB debut. As soon as they called him up I was like, ‘I gotta go to that game.’ But Bo is obviously great. He’s already doing things that no other shortstop in the league has done. I think it’s the jersey. Actually, right in January I went up to grab one of those new blue ones at the Blue Jays store at the Rogers Centre."
Konze: The one guy that we have all been talking a lot about is Teoscar Hernandez. He’s just been crushing the ball. I think we can say a lot about this lineup, but what do you like specifically about him?
Kominiarek: "Bisons fans know him too. He’s been up and down with his consistency for a couple of years. You’d kind of say, ‘if he could just stay consistent he’d be a great player.’ So, I don’t know if this is just an up time for him or if he is going to start struggling again. He’s obviously got the power and if he can keep hitting the way he is hitting he could be a 30 or 40 home run guy."
Konze:Rowdy Tellez is a fan favorite here in Buffalo. He came up through the Bisons system and there have been just an insane amount of tweets about him. He has come on strong here in the last couple of games what are you thoughts on his season so far?
Kominiarek: "I don’t know if you know his story but he lost his mom a couple of years ago. As a fan you always gravitate towards those family and underdog stories. He started to struggle shortly after his mom had passed but it’s just really nice to see him in the majors and hitting the ball well."
Konze:We saw Nate Pearson struggle on Wednesday night. There’s a lot that can be said about Pearson and how he is going to be a top pitcher. We’ve seen that scorching fastball and the nice pitching repertoire that he has. There’s going to be the highest of highs with him and the lowest of lows. What have you seen from Pearson that you have liked? What have you disliked?
Kominiarek: "Obviously you like the heat he throws. I’m a little worried that they are rushing him too quickly. A lot of these young athletes are forced into something before they are ready for it. You start to think it might have a negative effect on the development and a career as a whole after that. But without there being a Bisons season, where he would probably be right now honing his skills and getting ready for the majors, if he’s not in Toronto he’s not going to be doing anything but practicing. He’s obviously got a strong arm and a high heat fastball. Hopefully we don’t see too much of those lowest of lows in his career."
Konze:Are the Blue Jays Backers of WNY going to plan to meet at a local bar, watch the games and talk Blue Jays in the future?
Kominiarek: "Yeah, that was the whole intention when I made that account. Obviously, it comes across as a group of people but it is really just me. That’s kind of what I never wanted. I didn’t necessarily want my name or face associated with it because I wanted it to be a group of Blue Jays fans in Buffalo but then COVID put a hold on what I really wanted to do with it. I really just wanted to, again, find some Blue Jays fans in Buffalo … maybe even once or twice a year make some new friends and head up to Toronto for a game. Obviously that hasn’t happened yet but that was the vision."
Konze: Tampa Bay came into this series red-hot. Last night Brandon Lowe of the Rays hitting another home run but the Blue Jays found a way to cool them off. It wasn’t just that Toronto won, they blew out the Rays. Tonight it is Chase Anderson on the mound for the Blue Jays versus Ryan Yarbrough. Why should fans watch?
Kominiarek: "It’s another game in Buffalo. I don’t have a scouting report on Yarbrough or anything like that so it’s tough to say. The one pitcher that I am hoping to see again is John Romano. The dude hasn’t given up a hit yet this year it is unbelievable. Hopefully the Blue Jays starters can go four or five innings, that seems to be the norm these days, and get Romano in there for a no-hit inning or two."
Konze:Will Toronto get another win tonight?
Kominiarek: "Yeah, I think so. It’ll be another expected game. Remember last night, even though it was a blowout, it didn’t feel that way. We were down 3-0 for a while, then it was 4-4 for a couple of innings and then Bo opened it up with a three-run shot that probably made the score look worse that it really was. We’re going to go with another, ‘W,’ tonight. We will go Blue Jays 9 and Ray 5 tonight."
First pitch is set for 6:37PM
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