Vlad Jr. Jays @ Eloy Jimenez ChiSox, May 16-19

So_Fresh · Post #21 » by **So_Fresh** » Sat May 18, 2019 3:31 am

BigLeagueChew wrote:Sanchez out, blister, fingernail, something something.

I've had enough of Sanchez. He can never stay healthy. I hope we can get something decent for him.

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SharoneWright · Post #22 » by **SharoneWright** » Sat May 18, 2019 3:57 am

Lefty knuckler for us tomorrow? Colour me interested!

https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=feiera001rya

Post #23 » by **Schad** » Sat May 18, 2019 11:09 am

Remember the concern about Vlad's swinging strike rate? Through his last eight games, it's 5.0%. That's not quite Mike Trout low, but it's not far off either, and his seasonal rate is now around the top 20% leaguewide. He's still seeing fewer strikes than anyone else, but he isn't swinging through pitches anymore, and he's making hard contact. His launch angle is out of the negatives as well, so he's pounding the ball into the ground less frequently.

Once his BABIP evens out, his numbers will improve rapidly; everything suggests that he is settling into being a very good major league hitter.

Lateral Quicks · Post #24 » by **Lateral Quicks** » Sat May 18, 2019 1:29 pm

Trilogy wrote:
Tanner wrote:The only hitters doing "well" right now are vets (Sogard, Galvis, Smoak, Grichuk), and the definition of well is used loosely since this is the 2019 Jays I'm talking about. If young hitters are not only struggling but looking like they don't belong in the bigs, then that's more than partly on the hitting coach. It could be a talent issue with some (like McKinney, Teoscar), but everyone?

I've generally been ok with Shapiro and Atkins, but man has Atkins swung and missed on practically everything since 2017 or so.

I'm so-so on them overall but I'm not really a fan of the type of fringy prospect types they seem to target. Basically guys with some power in their bat but who don't really have a secondary skill to back that up. Grichuk is really the only one that does (Good defence). But guys like Hernandez/Drury/McKinney don't do anything outside of hitting the ball hard now and again. Low BB%/High K% and bad defence. Tellez was already in the system but he's another like this. Gurriel also. Blaming the hitting coach is a lazy view to be honest. All these guys just might not be good.

Part of this year was seeing if any of these fringy types they acquired would break out. It's all looking bad at the moment on that front so far. I wish they focus a bit more on the K/BB ratio of guys personally.

It's definitely too early to be blaming the hitting coach. Even though most of the young guys are underperforming expectations by a wide margin, a month and half is not a large enough sample from which to draw conclusions. It sure is ugly, though.

I agree that we ought to be emphasizing OBP over the all-or-nothing long-ball offense. The reality is that baseball offense has been moving to the three true outcomes approach (strikeout, walk, or long-ball) league-wide for a while now. It's boring baseball to watch for a fan, and I suspect it doesn't lead to very consistent offense (haven't found stats to back this up). I've said for years that I prefer an offense that puts up 4 or 5 runs consistently rather than one that puts up 10 one game and 0 the next. Good pitchers know how to exploit this all-or-nothing offense and put up zeroes. It's fun to juice stats against bad pitchers, but give me players with a sound approach that don't totally fall to pieces against good pitching.

Jansen and Tellez were high OBP guys coming up, but haven't showed that yet. I just hope that isn't a product of this new hitting approach trying to get more power out of them.

polo007 · Post #25 » by **polo007** » Sat May 18, 2019 6:39 pm

Read on Twitter

Ado05 · Post #26 » by **Ado05** » Sat May 18, 2019 6:44 pm

So they really not have someone else that could've started this game?

What a **** show.

BigLeagueChew · Post #27 » by **BigLeagueChew** » Sat May 18, 2019 8:07 pm

SharoneWright wrote:Lefty knuckler for us tomorrow? Colour me interested!

https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=feiera001rya

Feierabend is no stranger to the Show, of course. He reached the big leagues as a 20-year-old with the 2006 Seattle Mariners, but fell out of favor with 25 uninspiring appearances over the ensuing three seasons. He pitched in the majors most recently in 2014, having since spent the interim period pitching overseas in Korea, where he embraced the knuckler.

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/ryan-feierabend-set-to-make-return-to-majors-with-blue-jays-as-an-ever-rare-left-handed-knuckleballer/

BigLeagueChew · Post #28 » by **BigLeagueChew** » Sat May 18, 2019 8:14 pm

Adrian_05 wrote:So they really not have someone else that could've started this game?

What a **** show.

Most pitchers in Buffalo have a era over 5 and a whip of 1.5+, not pretty. Could have started Gaviglio today if Sanchez wasn't injured last night.

Lateral Quicks · Post #29 » by **Lateral Quicks** » Sat May 18, 2019 9:51 pm

It's gonna be a long year.

Post #30 » by **Schad** » Sat May 18, 2019 10:34 pm

Lateral Quicks wrote:It's gonna be a long year.

Indeed. On the bright side, the 2020 draft is reputed to be heavy with good arms.

BigLeagueChew · Post #31 » by **BigLeagueChew** » Sun May 19, 2019 5:18 pm

B Eric Sogard L
3B V. Guerrero Jr. R
1B Justin Smoak S
DH Rowdy Tellez L
RF R. Grichuk R
SS F. Galvis S
LF B. McKinney L
C Danny Jansen R
CF J. Davis R

polo007 · Post #32 » by **polo007** » Sun May 19, 2019 6:11 pm

Read on Twitter

BigLeagueChew · Post #33 » by **BigLeagueChew** » Sun May 19, 2019 8:27 pm

vladdy hr #4

TOStateofMind · Post #34 » by **TOStateofMind** » Sun May 19, 2019 8:29 pm

Vladdy with the no doubter

BigLeagueChew · Post #35 » by **BigLeagueChew** » Sun May 19, 2019 8:30 pm

Montoyo really likes the bunt.

vaff87 · Post #36 » by **vaff87** » Sun May 19, 2019 9:01 pm

Jansen is starting to look much better.

Boogie! · Post #37 » by **Boogie!** » Sun May 19, 2019 9:24 pm

So is he heating up

Lateral Quicks · Post #38 » by **Lateral Quicks** » Sun May 19, 2019 9:29 pm

Boogie! wrote:So is he heating up

Before entering today's game his line over the last 5 games was .294/.400/1.224 with 3 HR, 3 BB and 1K. He went 2-4 today with another HR.

I'd say he's full on hot. Or maybe he'll hit like this all the time :clap:

Post #39 » by **Schad** » Sun May 19, 2019 10:23 pm

He's already back to league-average in wRC+/OPS+. I think we can officially put any hand-wringing about his start to bed.

The_Hater · Post #40 » by **The_Hater** » Mon May 20, 2019 12:37 pm

Lateral Quicks wrote:
Boogie! wrote:So is he heating up

Before entering today's game his line over the last 5 games was .294/.400/1.224 with 3 HR, 3 BB and 1K. He went 2-4 today with another HR.

I'd say he's full on hot. Or maybe he'll hit like this all the time

Where’s that guy who wanted to send him back to the minors just last weekend? He stopped posting.