May 15-16 Blue Jays play the CITI game @ Mets

[Skin Blues]

The Jays have also had the worst batted-ball luck in baseball. There was an article about a week ago, and the conclusion was that the cluster luck was entirely negated by the batted ball luck.

Be interested to read that. We do have a low BABIP, but we also had the worst BABIP in baseball last year, which suggested to me that a large part of it wasn't bad luck, but rather related to a couple trends (we're old and slow, and hit a lot of pop-ups).

Found it. It was by Jonah Keri. I thought it was a Fangraphs post but it was on Sportsnet and therefore has a lot less data included, and I don't know if Jonah did the work or just looked at a ranking of team BABIPs.

But, from StatCast we can see that the Jays' hitters have had the worst batted ball luck in the AL by quite a big margin, and their pitchers have had the third worst batted ball luck in the AL behind Boston and Baltimore. The latter is heavily influenced by their defense, but the former is not really explained by anything other than luck.

[So_Fresh]

We needed a blowout game like this.

[SharoneWright]

JA Happ's value goes up!

[Lateral Quicks]

Growing cautiously optimistic that Hernandez is a keeper. Would be huge if he could be a relatively cheap yet effective fixture in right field for the next 5+ years. That would be quite the return for 14 bad bullpen innings from Francisco Liriano. When Grichuk returns there's no way you can demote Hernandez at this stage. Maybe that's the point they finally get rid of Morales.

Also, Dwight Smith Jr. has done nothing but impress in his very limited appearances. If there weren't such a big outfield glut I'm sure he'd get a longer look.

[emptytheclip]

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[rotty]

Growing cautiously optimistic that Hernandez is a keeper. Would be huge if he could be a relatively cheap yet effective fixture in right field for the next 5+ years. That would be quite the return for 14 bad bullpen innings from Francisco Liriano. When Grichuk returns there's no way you can demote Hernandez at this stage. Maybe that's the point they finally get rid of Morales.

Also, Dwight Smith Jr. has done nothing but impress in his very limited appearances. If there weren't such a big outfield glut I'm sure he'd get a longer look.

I hope we can keep Dwight aswell. When Gritchuk comes back, DFA morales and have Smith Jr. Granderson, Gritchuk take turns in the outfield along with DH. I also forgot Pearce so we have an interesting decision to make

[Natural11]

Also, Dwight Smith Jr. has done nothing but impress in his very limited appearances. If there weren't such a big outfield glut I'm sure he'd get a longer look.

This kid can't catch a break. All he does is gets hits, followed by an immediate demotion.

[Tanner]

Grichuk needs to play everyday when he gets back. He's good defensively and we need to see what he can do given how cheap he is and years of control remaining. Hernandez in left and Grichuk in right needs to be the alignment, with Grandy and Pearce sharing DH.

I just don't see Rogers dumping Morales yet. I kind of wish the Jays can phantom DL him for 60 days. He's going to get paid regardless, and if they are afraid of the optics of releasing him, then that's the next best solution. Not his fault, he's "hurt".

[polo007]

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Some believe Cleveland, which has surprised us before (they signed Edwin Encarnacion as a free agent), may consider an infield upgrade. The Indians were said to be one of nine main players for Machado this winter, along with the Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, White Sox, Phillies and Cardinals, so he’s at least been on their radar.

Donaldson would also represent a major upgrade for a lineup, which is currently relying heavily on Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez. The front offices of the Indians and Blue Jays also have a longstanding rapport, as Jays honchos Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins came over from Cleveland.

Jose Ramirez has been fantastic for the Indians again at third, but he could easily transition to second, where longtime star Jason Kipnis is having uncharacteristic struggles with the bat. Cleveland could be reluctant to do this as Kipnis still has years to go on his long deal. However, this is a huge year for Cleveland considering both their star relievers – Andrew Miller and Cody Allen — are free agents after the year.