dr. b

Witch Watch # 261 Seems this was the final chapter of the Bone Crisis arc (30 parts). It was a wild ride! Altogether, I really enjoyed it. I am very curious to see if the series ends soon, as it feels like we've reached a natural ending point. Unless there is a twist or some other major development Sakamoto Days # 274 The on-going final fight with Uzuki continues to be exciting action! I think we're nearly at the climax and my gut says that the manga will end perhaps before the end of 2026. I'm looking forward to seeing more of the anime in 2027. And whenever the manga wraps up, I'm tempted to go back and re-read the whole thing. Unless the author really botches the ending and leaves a bad taste... but I don't see that happening. Akane-banashi # 221 He's still a bastard but I guess I'm a legit Zensho respecter now Damnit. Next we get to see Issho do his thing! I'm hyped.

Akane-banashi # 219 and 220

God damn, I’ll be all over that Beat & Motion adaptation! I love those characters

The Jays got smoked by KC last night Series loss. Bieber is hurt now and had been pitching well. They need him. The lineup isn’t scoring enough runs. I think nearly all the optimism I had for this team over the last few weeks has disappeared It’s been a cursed season.

Yep, I might have called it a bit too soon for the M's. Only 4 games back compared to 3 GB for the Jays. The stupid Guardians have been on fire lately so that's a bit of a problem for both our teams. Can't catch them if they never lose again The Yanks and Red Sox look pretty safe. Potentially up to 6 teams could be in play to catch Cleveland for the third WC spot depending on who goes hot or cold in September. It could be an exciting finish on the last day of the season. But more likely it will be decidedly earlier than that and just be boring. So many mid teams in the AL this season.

The Jays played well over the last couple weeks. 8-5 in those 13 games against the Red Sox, Yanks, and Rays. I'll take it! Keep stacking series wins in September and maybe the Jays play themselves into the last Wild Card spot. The M's on the other hand... I think they're cooked

Akane-banashi # 218 Damnit , Zensho is already starting to win me over

I was really worried about the Red Sox going into this season. Thought they had a legit chance to win the division and be very annoying. They didn’t start the season super strong though, and the Jays couldn’t get their acts together anyways, so I forgot about Boston. They’ve really turned it around over the last couple months! Ugh. The Jays are still only 3.5 games back of a Wild Card spot. They’ve won a few series in a row and might finally be starting to build some momentum. But they will need to keep winning at a good clip and leap frog several teams in front of them. The Jays’ schedule over the next two weeks is critical IMHO. - 4 games vs. Red Sox - 3 games vs. Yankees - 3 games @ Rays - 3 games @ Yankees They aren’t coming back and winning the division. But they need to win a good amount of these games against strong division rivals to keep the Wild Card hopes alive. They will probably get buried in the WC standings if they go on a losing streak now.

Pretty busy deadline weekend for our teams. M's - Acquired Taylor Ward from Baltimore - Moved on from Luis Castillo Ward has consistently been a 2-3 win player based on BB-Ref WAR over the last few seasons. Hopefully he's helpful to the team over the next few months. He's not exactly young and I think he's coming up on free agency. I'm not sure if the M's are hoping to re-sign him or if he's just a rental. When I saw the Castillo deal, I initially thought that Seattle was just punting on the rest of the season. Maybe they still are, but once I looked at Castillo's numbers this year, I realized that there's a bit more to the story. He hasn't been great and he's still owed a lot of money. Probably smart for them to ship him out while they had the chance. Jays OUT -> Jeff Hoffman -> Daulton Varsho -> Kevin Gausman -> Tommy Nance -> Adam Macko -> Arjun Nimmala (fairly highly ranked prospect currently in AA) IN -> Jose Soriano -> Spencer Arrighetti -> Jameson Taillon -> Josh Smith -> Various prospects and names I don't know The most intriguing deal here is the trade with LAA to get Soriano. He should be a part of the starting rotation right away, and stick around the next couple of seasons. Arrighetti has some potential to help them as well, although that seems like less of a sure thing than Soriano. Taillon will I'm sure pitch for them this season because they need bodies, but he's past his prime and you can't expect much. Also interesting that they're taking a chance on Josh Smith. He's had some moments in Texas but struggled this year. Maybe they can help him turn it around. I'm sad to see Gausman go and hope they can re-sign him this winter. I'm less sad and more relieved to see Hoffman gone And mostly indifferent about Varsho. Great OF defender but frustrating hitter that should be able to produce more power than he actually does. I wish him well in Houston.

Kurumizawa's Folly #24 God damn

@Eizan , happy B-day dude! It's a bummer that your M's haven't been having a great July. The last stretch especially vs. Cincinnati, then on the road in Texas and LA. Starting to fall behind in the division... But I'm sure they'll win one for you tonight against Minny!

Issho definitely seems to have taken more of a 'tough love' approach to teaching Kaisei. I guess it's working more or less as intended... But the master-student relationship that Akane had with Shiguma seems a lot nicer than what Kaisei has with Issho I'm hyped for the next few chapters. Issho and Zensho are characters that I mostly dislike, but I hope they both show some signs of not being absolute bastards through their art and performances Whatever happens, I'll probably still not like them either of them all that much. Just give me something that I can begrudgingly respect. To be fair, Issho already has that going on... but I want to know more about him anyways.

I was mixed up re: Akane-banashi, the last episode of the first season was actually yesterday. God damn. Perfection Master Shiguma is the GOAT

I've been waiting since May for the Jays to get hot. Even up to All-Star break, they were only a handful of games back in the Wild Card race. The division is almost certainly a lost hope... But I keep telling myself, all it will take is a few weeks of good baseball to get back into it. And if they get hot in September/October then who knows what might happen! But it just isn't happening Lost a series 2-1 against the White Sox after the All-Star break. Not totally surprising since the White Sox are actually a competent team again (I'm happy for their fans!) but the Jays should have enough talent to hang with them. Chicago outscored the 15-5 across those three games. Last night they get soundly beaten by the Rays, and they still have three more to play against Tampa this week. If the Rays sweep - which they probably should - then I'm about ready to just give up on this season and hope for better next summer The AL West is tight and nobody really seems to want to take control of it. I dunno, the AL just doesn't have many truly good teams so far this year. I could jump on board the White Sox bandwagon in October if they get there and both the Jays and M's miss out.

Akane-banashi # 215 I'll spoiler it in case you haven't read it yet