April 9-11: Blue birds hunt prey among orange birds

rotty · Post #241 » by **rotty** » Thu Apr 12, 2018 1:35 am

dammit oh

BigLeagueChew · Post #242 » by **BigLeagueChew** » Thu Apr 12, 2018 1:48 am

Will be interesting to see if we pinch hit for anyone next inning.

So_Fresh · Post #243 » by **So_Fresh** » Thu Apr 12, 2018 1:55 am

Bench clearing brawl in the Yankees and Red Sox game.

Lateral Quicks · Post #244 » by **Lateral Quicks** » Thu Apr 12, 2018 2:04 am

Maile 2-3 with a BB. Our next 3-hole hitter?

BigLeagueChew · Post #245 » by **BigLeagueChew** » Thu Apr 12, 2018 2:06 am

Would have hit with Donaldson or Martin but it sucks that they were completely unavailable.

Tanner · Post #246 » by **Tanner** » Thu Apr 12, 2018 2:10 am

Lost in all the Grichuk talk is how bad Travis has been as well. Both of them getting hot soon would be nice.

Post #247 » by **Schad** » Thu Apr 12, 2018 2:16 am

Tanner wrote:Lost in all the Grichuk talk is how bad Travis has been as well. Both of them getting hot soon would be nice.

Don't think it's been lost at all, heh; there's been quite a bit of talk about Travis' struggles, and for good reason. He has options remaining, and if he isn't hitting by the end of April, I wouldn't be surprised if we sent him down. His statistical profile is truly awful at the moment. Like, "wacky body swap hijinks with 2017 Luke Maile" awful.

Charly10 · Post #248 » by **Charly10** » Thu Apr 12, 2018 2:34 am

Schad wrote:
Tanner wrote:Lost in all the Grichuk talk is how bad Travis has been as well. Both of them getting hot soon would be nice.

Don't think it's been lost at all, heh; there's been quite a bit of talk about Travis' struggles, and for good reason. He has options remaining, and if he isn't hitting by the end of April, I wouldn't be surprised if we sent him down. His statistical profile is truly awful at the moment. Like, "wacky body swap hijinks with 2017 Luke Maile" awful.

He had a putrid April last year as well and we all know what happened in May. I think he gets at least til the middle of next month before any consideration is made in that regard. I would be very surprised if Devo didn't pick up his game very soon, tbh.

Post #249 » by **Schad** » Thu Apr 12, 2018 2:42 am

Charly10 wrote:
He had a putrid April last year as well and we all know what happened in May. I think he gets at least til the middle of next month before any consideration is made in that regard. I would be very surprised if Devo didn't pick up his game very soon, tbh.

His numbers were awful in April 2017, but he was getting more than a little unlucky. Still early, but his numbers suggest right now that this isn't a product of luck: he has been every bit as awful as his statline suggests.

Post #250 » by **Schad** » Thu Apr 12, 2018 3:22 am

In other news, while it absolutely won't last, every hitter on the Angels save Kole Calhoun is red hot right now. Their hitters have been worth 20.8 runs above average prior to tonight; second-best is 12.4, and only three teams have cracked 7.

Charly10 · Post #251 » by **Charly10** » Thu Apr 12, 2018 3:55 am

Schad wrote:
Charly10 wrote:
He had a putrid April last year as well and we all know what happened in May. I think he gets at least til the middle of next month before any consideration is made in that regard. I would be very surprised if Devo didn't pick up his game very soon, tbh.

His numbers were awful in April 2017, but he was getting more than a little unlucky. Still early, but his numbers suggest right now that this isn't a product of luck: he has been every bit as awful as his statline suggests.

He has been awful for sure. Maybe its just the fact that he has been away from competitive baseball for too long with injury. Ring rust. Spring training doesnt count, imo. Or it could be blind faith on my part but i see him rebounding nicely, and soon. We shall see.

Post #252 » by **YogiStewart** » Thu Apr 12, 2018 12:01 pm

Schad wrote:
Charly10 wrote:
He had a putrid April last year as well and we all know what happened in May. I think he gets at least til the middle of next month before any consideration is made in that regard. I would be very surprised if Devo didn't pick up his game very soon, tbh.

His numbers were awful in April 2017, but he was getting more than a little unlucky. Still early, but his numbers suggest right now that this isn't a product of luck: he has been every bit as awful as his statline suggests.

i mean, dude's been away from baseball for a year. think he needs some slack cut.
that slack should rightfully be with Buffalo, not with the Jays

dagger · Post #253 » by **dagger** » Thu Apr 12, 2018 12:51 pm

Maybe just tell Travis that Bo Bichette played 2B yesterday.

jaymeister15 · Post #254 » by **jaymeister15** » Thu Apr 12, 2018 2:28 pm

I'd give Travis a chance to play more often before considering sending him down. Playing only 2 out of every 3 games can't help for something that is as timing dependent as hitting. I get you want to keep him healthy, and I'm not a Doctor, but I can't imagine resting him once every 3 games instead of one every 4 or 5 games would make a tangible difference for his chances of staying healthy.

Martin being on the same schedule makes a bit more sense given his age and the wear and tear of catching, but he hasn't exactly been on fire either.

Skin Blues · Post #255 » by **Skin Blues** » Thu Apr 12, 2018 4:05 pm

Travis looks like a lost cause. He's Kevin Pillar without the defensive value and health. He's already in his first arb season so we have him for 2 more years which won't exactly be cheap, although they won't be as expensive as we might have thought since he's been injured and ineffective for the past couple years. At this point he should probably be a utility guy. He's neither good nor durable enough to be a regular 2B.

I understand full-time AB's will help him with timing, but the same is true for Diaz and Solarte. I'd put a priority on keeping those two productive and in the lineup rather than Travis, because we can actually rely on them to stay somewhat healthy, and both are locked up for as long or longer than Travis.

manjusaka · Post #256 » by **manjusaka** » Thu Apr 12, 2018 5:57 pm

Morales' injury opened the spot for Travis, otherwise I think Solarte should be the starting 2B for us right now especially the front office wants to win. Travis might needs AB to get his hitting back, but MLB isn't a place for training, he still has options I believe, so I think he should go to Buffalo.

Either way, I want to see Travis to hit like he used to.

emptytheclip · Post #257 » by **emptytheclip** » Thu Apr 12, 2018 10:46 pm

I don’t think Travis will have a long leash.
He already has chronic health issues, if he can’t find his bat by the end of May they will find someone else to play 2B.

Grichuk needs to figure it out soon too.

Lateral Quicks · Post #258 » by **Lateral Quicks** » Thu Apr 12, 2018 11:37 pm

When healthy, Travis is a .300 hitter. Some commentators have said he'll win a batting title someday. Either he's just lost his timing due to a year away from baseball - in which case you'd expect him to get it back sooner or later - or he's still hurt in one way or another. I'd say the former is more likely.

If he still has options - I'm not sure - I'd give him until mid-May to turn it around. If he's out of options, I give him longer. His bat can carry a team when he has it going - would hate to see him do that for another team later this year.

Skin Blues · Post #259 » by **Skin Blues** » Fri Apr 13, 2018 1:20 pm

He batted .300 for a season's worth of games a few years ago, but he's not a .300 hitter. It's hard to accept because there was so much promise when we got him for Gose way back when, but he's just not very good anymore. Whether it's from health or skill deterioration, I don't see any of those problems going away. We don't have to cut him, he can be the utility infielder since we have 2 other guys in the lineup that can play SS. But continuing to run a sub-optimal lineup out there just so an injury prone 27 year-old with a chronic knee issue can try to maintain his timing is not a good idea. Even if he miraculously finds his 2015/2016 form, his health will prevent him from ever being a full-time player. Lets at least see if he can function as a utility guy which will help keep him in better shape as the season wears on.

BigLeagueChew · Post #260 » by **BigLeagueChew** » Fri Apr 13, 2018 6:46 pm

Marco Estrada was removed from his start against the Orioles on Wednesday night after feeling a pop in his back. He wasn’t himself as he missed his spots in the strike zone and Baltimore took advantage of it. The Jays need to be very careful with Estrada. It’s far better to miss a start or two now to get his back under control than it is to push him to pitch leading to underperformance and then potentially a significant injury. Estrada is a big part of the spirit of the Jays.

https://www.tsn.ca/mlb/article/confidence-in-changeup-paying-dividends-for-sanchez-1.1056266