Jays (12-13) @ Yanks (15-10) - April 25-27

[JaysRule25]

So happy to see this explosion of four runs. With Fried pitching tomorrow, I'm not expecting more two runs.

[TOStateofMind]

Much needed. Good stuff from Kirk, and Hoffman as usual.

[Mehar]

Kirk saves the season, what a player.

For one game, Turtle Kirk showed his "Power Bat" that you raved about. Too bad offensive games like this are a rarity for the guy you call one of the best Catchers in the game.

Hope the Turtle can find the form he once did for the first half of 2022, but that might be too much to ask since he has not been that guy consistently since 2023.

[C Court]

Fun game for sure. After the last 5 games, this was an extra sweet win.

[Boogie!]

Back to 500. 4 run explosion expect no runs the rest of the series

[Mehar]

Oh captain, my captain (Kirk)

Elite and saves the season as the dual threat catcher he is

Do not get carried away with the praise after one game. Kirk had an OPS of .532 and a Negative War of -0.5 coming into the game. Guy has been garbage for over a month hitting wise, and since the 2023 season.

What dual threat? You mean cleaning out the Buffet Tables at every restaurant he eats? One great game after being garbage for one month does not translate into "Elite" and Dual Threat.

[GameChannel]

Oh captain, my captain (Kirk)

Elite and saves the season as the dual threat catcher he is

The trolling is exhausting.

[GameChannel]

Oh captain, my captain (Kirk)

Elite and saves the season as the dual threat catcher he is

Do not get carried away with the praise after one game. Kirk had an OPS of .532 and a Negative War of -0.5 coming into the game. Guy has been garbage for over a month hitting wise, and since the 2023 season.

What dual threat? You mean cleaning out the Buffet Tables at every restaurant he eats? One great game after being garbage for one month does not translate into "Elite" and Dual Threat.

Hes just a troll. He will do anything to praise Kirk because that indirectly means putting down Moreno so he can justify the trade for his manlove, Varsho. The guy wants a team of 9 Vasho's if he could get it.

[Randle McMurphy]

Oh captain, my captain (Kirk)

Elite and saves the season as the dual threat catcher he is

The trolling is exhausting.

Yeah, the trolling is the one defending one of the best catchers in the league in a hitting slump and not the guy who spends every single post in these threads for literally years now weirdly trashing the guy over and over again.

Make it make sense.

[Randle McMurphy]

Some of you could serve to listen to this

Read on Twitter

[Mehar]

Oh captain, my captain (Kirk)

Elite and saves the season as the dual threat catcher he is

The trolling is exhausting.

Yeah, the trolling is the one defending one of the best catchers in the league in a hitting slump and not the guy who spends every single post in these threads for literally years now weirdly trashing the guy over and over again.

Make it make sense.

Best Catchers in the league based on what? Kirk is a very good pitch framer, no denying that. You mean a Three Year Hitting Slump? Hitting Slumps do not last three years. Look at the Numbers since the second half of 2022 for Turtle Kirk. I presume you finished school and can read all the data that I read in front of me.

You criticized Vlad for his underwhelming 2022 and 2023, but Kirk was in a slump for nearly 3 years? Kirk had a Negative 0.5 WAR heading into today's game. Look at his Stats since 2023 (OPS, On Base, BA, SLG). They are awful. How with a straight face can you call Kirk one of the best Catchers in MLB with his garbage offensive numbers? You are delusional just like the two clowns in this front office.

[Parataxis]

Well, that was more of a nailbiter than it should have been.

Schneider definitely over-managing the bullpen pulling Jimmy for Fluharty there, and it predictably hurt us, but we managed to get the W. Kirk's two CS throws saved the game for us there, absolutely.

Tomorrow is going to be a rough one, but I think we should be able to come away with the series win.

[Mehar]

Oh captain, my captain (Kirk)

Elite and saves the season as the dual threat catcher he is

Do not get carried away with the praise after one game. Kirk had an OPS of .532 and a Negative War of -0.5 coming into the game. Guy has been garbage for over a month hitting wise, and since the 2023 season.

What dual threat? You mean cleaning out the Buffet Tables at every restaurant he eats? One great game after being garbage for one month does not translate into "Elite" and Dual Threat.

Hes just a troll. He will do anything to praise Kirk because that indirectly means putting down Moreno so he can justify the trade for his manlove, Varsho. The guy wants a team of 9 Vasho's if he could get it.

That is exactly what it is. At least Moreno is making only S793,000 and is under team control for Arizona for three more years after this one, while Turtle Kirk is getting paid 11 more million a year than Moreno on his new deal. When you talk about the garbage offensive production of Randle's .200 hitting Man Crush Varsho and Turtle Kirk, Randle changes the subject. He is good at changing the subject like the person he now pretends to criticize in Ross Atkins.

Randle supported the Gimenez trade also, and paying nearly 100 million over five years to another very good defender who cannot hit. Ross Atkins has built this team just like Randle prefers it. Guys who play good defense but cannot hit a lick. Just like how the foolish way Randle rationalized trading the real "Power Bat" of Teoscar Hernandez also after 2022. Unlike the Fake "Power Bat" he praises of his hero Turtle Kirk, who has been a terrible hitter since the second half of 2022.

[Randle McMurphy]

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

[JaysRule25]

Game today postponed. To be made up tomorrow.

[Mehar]

Turtle Kirk now has an atrocious -0.4 WAR and a horrific .569 OPS after yesterday's rare solid performance. No matter what his bootlickers like Randle say or in the media, he is nowhere near the best Catchers in the game. Very good pitch framer. No denying that.

If you do some real research and examine the actual data on Baseball Savant right now- Kirk ranks 16th in Catcher Throwing, 17th in Catcher Pop Time, 29th in Catcher Blocking, and 34th in Arm Strength. The only thing Kirk is very good at is Pitch Framing (Ranks Third in MLB). Moreno is Ranked Number 1 in Pitch Framing right now, making $793,000 this year and is under team control for three more years after this. He is also ahead of Kirk in the various other categories and making 11 million less than him.

Kirk is a solid backup catcher on a legit contending team, but it was damn outright foolish to give this guy a 5 year extension for nearly 12 million a year based on his horrific offensive production (BA, SLG, OPS, ON Base) since his all-star first half of 2022. The Jays could have simply waited to see how he performed this year, and no other team would have given Turtle Kirk what he ultimately signed for (which is a lot more money than other Starting Catchers who are better than Kirk are making right now).

A man who is the slowest player in MLB, turns Doubles into Singles, hits into double plays at an alarming fashion, does not take walks or get on base like he did in the first half of 2022, and needs to be pinch run for in late innings- was never going to be a hot commodity in free agency. Another instance of the clowns in the front office outbidding themselves when they did not have to. No wonder you have the 5th highest Payroll in baseball with an offense that is bottom tier. Same with acquiring Gimenez who is owed nearly 100 million over five years, and whose bat has regressed since 2022 as he looks more like Ryan Goins 2.0 (a move also supported by Randle).

[Fairview4Life]

So…Moreno has been very bad this season, if that’s your opinion of Kirk’s numbers.

[Mehar]

So…Moreno has been very bad this season, if that’s your opinion of Kirk’s numbers.

Moreno has sucked offensively like Kirk no doubt. Defensively, he has better metrics than Kirk (including being Number 1 in Pitch Framing). My point was Moreno is making $793,000 and is under team control for three more years, while Kirk is making 58 million over 5 years on his new deal.

What was the point of rushing to extend Kirk, when you could have waited to see how he performed this year? No team would have given Kirk 58 million in free agency. Just like no team would have given Vlad 500 million over 14 years. It is about using your financial resources wisely, and Shapiro/Atkins have done a terrible job with that. This team being the 5th highest spending team in MLB with this offense is laughable.

[Fairview4Life]

12 million/year isn’t all that much for a starting catcher signing this year.

[Mehar]

12 million/year isn’t all that much for a starting catcher signing this year.

It is still a fairly substantial amount for Kirk who has a Negative -0.4 WAR right now, and gives you very little besides being a very good pitch framer. All that being said, I wish Kirk could be the player he was in the first half of 2022. It is very disappointing to see him regress with his bat and plate discipline from three years ago. Hoping that yesterday is the start of something better for him, because he has been terrible offensively the first month of the baseball season (not forgetting his awful 2023/2024 numbers).