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I cannot seem to fathom why this guy’s goes so under the radar. When people comment on how bad the Jays are this year they comment on Rasmus, Bonafiacio, etc.....The FAN 590 never seems to ever mention on how below average this guy is for a DH.
Adam Lind has a batting average of .251 over the last 4 years and hit 13 homeruns last season and this season.
When you go into a season based on hope that this guy can hit like he hit in 2009 you’re really playing with fire.
92 and 93 jays’ teams had the arguably the best DH in the league, not to mention a veteran presence.
When you had really strong DH’s like this last off season e.g.Travis Hafner, Mike Napoli, Nick Swisher, Lance Berkman or even Jason Bay for cheap ( just in case Lind struggles ) available I can’t seem to understand how you expect to make the playoffs with Adam Lind.
Maybe it’s because he has an unnoticeable personality that he goes unnoticed by the Media and never gets any criticism but if the Jays are going to be a contender next year changing our DH should be one of the biggest priorities.

You wouldn't be saying that if you've been reading this forum for the past few years

Truth is, until the last week, our hitting has been atrocious. It doesn't really make sense to key-in on someone who is not an everyday player (doesn't bat vs. LHP) and has the highest .AVG on the team for active players.

The reason why people criticize Rasmus and Arenciba so much is because they swing at absolutely everything. It's frustrating, especially with RISP. and their hack-happy at-bats often kill our momentum. Adam Lind, on the other hand, has been one of the most patient players at the plate. He is starting to realize that a walk can really help out your team as well.

Lind has been awful for the past few seasons, and has been pretty well-hated as a result.

This year, though? He's hitting .263/.393/.417...not a conventional line for a DH, but very much tolerable, and more than 100 points above the team average in OPS. He keeps that up (which is anything but a given) and he is, improbably, worth his salary.

Lind is the last of our worries right now.

3 straight years with an OBP below .300 (I think)

Not sure how he even entered the season on the big league roster, nevermind starting at DH

If this team had 9 Adam Lind's this year, the Jays would be scoring a lot more runs. The truth is that the entire team has been blowing harder than a desperate prostitute. I cannot believe I'm saying this, but Lind has been one of the bright spots of this team this year. Some of the other players can learn a lesson or two from Lind this year on how to take a pitch (or two, or three).

Sifu wrote:If this team had 9 Adam Lind's this year, the Jays would be scoring a lot more runs.

And would be getting roughly the same defense at second base.

Schadenfreude wrote:

Sifu wrote:If this team had 9 Adam Lind's this year, the Jays would be scoring a lot more runs.

And would be getting roughly the same defense at second base.

Perfectly played!

We don't know how much longer his "just stand there and hope it's a ball" approach is gonna last. After all, he's a guy who couldn't hit anything the last 4 years.

kwamebargnani wrote:We don't know how much longer his "just stand there and hope it's a ball" approach is gonna last. After all, he's a guy who couldn't hit anything versus lefties the last 4 years.

Corrected. Lind has been terrible vs lefties since 2010, however, against righties over the last 4 years he ranks 3rd in DH wOBA behind only David Ortiz and Kendrys Morales and ahead of Bill Butler, Adam Dunn. This year we're seeing a distinct platoon benefit him. Something that hasn't been done prior to this season. Case in point % of AB's vs lefties (2013=5%, 2012=28%,2011=28%, 2010=24%, 2009=28%). Whether he provides enough value as a limited-defensive platoon bat to justify $5 million next year is another debate, but he does one thing alright - hit righties.

kwamebargnani wrote:We don't know how much longer his "just stand there and hope it's a ball" approach is gonna last. After all, he's a guy who couldn't hit anything the last 4 years.

While I agree with you in that LInd can regress, taking pitches and plate discipline is a habit. The longer you do it, the more entrenched the habit becomes. Here is hoping that Lind's new approach keeps up and becomes habit forming until it becomes the new norm.

Here's also hoping that some of the other hitters on the team learn from Lind and take the same approach.

Lind has never displayed this type of plate discipline before, so it is either a change in approach or a complete fluke. Can't say he has been bad this season. Not a ton of power but a high OBP on this team is not common so he is definitely not hurting the club like in previous years.

I just hope his option is not picked up. He is thoroughly replaceable.

Michael Bradley wrote:Lind has never displayed this type of plate discipline before, so it is either a change in approach or a complete fluke. Can't say he has been bad this season. Not a ton of power but a high OBP on this team is not common so he is definitely not hurting the club like in previous years.

I just hope his option is not picked up. He is thoroughly replaceable.

It's definitely a change in approach; he's seeing less pitches in the zone, but not by a considerable margin, but he's swinging at a rate entirely removed from his career numbers, both on pitches in and out of the zone. In fact, his swing breakdown isn't too far off that of Bautista, in all categories; the power is a wee bit different, though.

And yeah, I wouldn't pick up his option, either. But we might have an outside chance of offloading him somewhere before the pickup date; his year-to-year options mitigate the risk of a team taking him on and getting a reversion to form, and it'd be nice to avoid paying the $3.5m in buyouts those options carry.

The team has a lot of swinging for the fences type already, I don't mind having Lind as a high OBP guy, but that means we should put him in front of some power guys (JPA or Rasmus). I'm not going to suggest putting Lind in front of Bautista or Encarnacion.