Fire Jacoby

[RealAccountant]

^ I disagree. The offense didnt over achieve last season. They have just declined this season. Too many guy have taken a step back at the same time. They are just older and nearbthe end of their useful life

[BlueJayWay]

It could be said the offense overachieved a little last year due to sequencing luck. I saw a stat which showed the team was near the top of the league in runs +/- based on their underlying hitting stats. And anyway a team OPS of 797 doesn't usually result in 891 runs...usually 40 or 50 runs less than that. So there may have been some luck.

 

I don't think anyone could see this kind of drop off though. It's like half the team completely forgot how to hit over the winter.

[TilsonBritoFan]

You do realize he was our hitting coach last season when we blew the doors off the league scoring runs? And you want to can him a month into 2016? GTFO.

 

So did he deserve the credit then? If so he deserves blame now.

 

Personally I don't think he affected much either year

[BigCecil]

So did he deserve the credit then? If so he deserves blame now.

 

Personally I don't think he affected much either year

 

Neither. It's a reactionary thread. It wouldn't have appeared last season when things were going well, and it shouldn't appear now a month in. Jacoby isn't the problem or the solution.

[TilsonBritoFan]

Neither. It's a reactionary thread. It wouldn't have appeared last season when things were going well, and it shouldn't appear now a month in. Jacoby isn't the problem or the solution.

I agree

[Brownie19]

Does Jacoby have a good track record or something? you guys are on your knees for the guy.

 

How in the F do you think anyone can evaluate this? Can you even name another hitting coach in baseball (not named Bonds) without looking it up? Who is the Ray Searage of hitting coaches in MLB right now?

 

This thread is stupid.

[Boxcar]

It's not that simple, but what do you think hitting coaches are for? If the players all coached themselves there would be no need for a hitting coach.

 

Their approach is obviously, "make the pitchers work and throw as many pitches as they can". Maybe it should be, "look for a good fastball and shoot the other way". JD, Bautista and Edwin can be exempt, but everyone else shouldn't be using this current approach because their pitch recognition is just not as good as those guys.

 

If people like Tulo, Martin and Goins start stringing together solid contact, whether balls find holes or not, maybe their confidence improves and they get going a bit, who knows, but the current, all encompassing, approach needs an adjustment.

 

Good advice, you should let the Jays know. Next, do you think you can give any advice to Pete Walker? I think he needs to start telling Dickey to throw knuckleballs that are less s*****.

[Krylian]

Ehhhh he honestly probably doesn't even have that much of an impact these guys know how to hit; just some of them are regressing/getting unlucky.

 

He doesn't. This is a veteran team filled with hitters than have long and successful track records. What is he gonna tell them. It's guys like Thole, Goins, maybe Pillar and Smoak that he can work with. And there's only so much he can do with guys like that.

[FrozenRopes]

How in the F do you think anyone can evaluate this? Can you even name another hitting coach in baseball (not named Bonds) without looking it up? Who is the Ray Searage of hitting coaches in MLB right now?

 

This thread is stupid.

 

Mic Drop!

[THANOS]

Good advice, you should let the Jays know. Next, do you think you can give any advice to Pete Walker? I think he needs to start telling Dickey to throw knuckleballs that are less s*****.

 

I don't see what's unreasonable about my post. It's completely sensible and can the stats back it. High opposing pitcher pitch counts and high strikeout rates tell the narrative that it's the same approach as last season but every bat other than the big 3 has regressed to the point of not being able to do it.

[Brownie19]

I don't understand some of you guys. IMO, we have 3 categories - guys hitting where they should, guys hitting better than they should and guys hitting worse then they should.

 

Guys hitting where they should:

 

Donaldson (slightly higher if anything)

Bautista

Smoak (although it's been an usual start)

Pillar

Goins (because we all knew he couldn't hit)

 

Guys hitting better than expected:

 

Saunders

Zeke

Barney

 

Guys hitting worse than they should:

 

Tulo

Martin (who's playing hurt)

Edwin

 

We have 3 proven, veteran hitters who aren't hitting right now and this is Jacoby's fault? This is a whole new level of stupidity.

[Boxcar]

I don't understand some of you guys. IMO, we have 3 categories - guys hitting where they should, guys hitting better than they should and guys hitting worse then they should.

 

Guys hitting where they should:

 

Donaldson (slightly higher if anything)

Bautista

Smoak (although it's been an usual start)

Pillar

Goins (because we all knew he couldn't hit)

 

Guys hitting better than expected:

 

Saunders

Zeke

Barney

 

Guys hitting worse than they should:

 

Tulo

Martin (who's playing hurt)

Edwin

 

We have 3 proven, veteran hitters who aren't hitting right now and this is Jacoby's fault? This is a whole new level of stupidity.

 

Goins is definitely not hitting where he should. Sure, he's awful but he's not THIS awful.

 

Otherwise I agree with the gist of your post.

[crazy47larry]

I'd like to fire Luis Rivera I think. Even when he makes the right call it doesn't work out. I dunno if he walks under a ladder through the dugout each game but I have never seen anything like this.

[Boxcar]

I don't see what's unreasonable about my post. It's completely sensible and can the stats back it. High opposing pitcher pitch counts and high strikeout rates tell the narrative that it's the same approach as last season but every bat other than the big 3 has regressed to the point of not being able to do it.

 

Looks to me like they are struggling to hit fastballs for some reason, which is probably why they are taking more of them. I really highly doubt Jacoby is telling guys not to swing at balls in the zone. Or not going over video with those guys and pointing out that they are letting hittable pitches go by. Tulowitzki has always been a very passive hitter and it looks like he's either not recognizing pitches quickly enough or he's guessing wrong quite often, or his bat is just not as quick as it used to be. There's nothing Jacoby can do here and I'm not sure what you think you know that the Jays don't but I can guarantee they know more about the issues than you do.

[Brownie19]

Goins is definitely not hitting where he should. Sure, he's awful but he's not THIS awful.

 

Otherwise I agree with the gist of your post.

 

He has a career wRC+ of 61. The boost he'd provide offensively if he was hitting at his career level is negligible. We're missing Travis and the backup infielder getting exposed as a ML regular is not the source of our issues.

[crazy47larry]

How in the F do you think anyone can evaluate this? Can you even name another hitting coach in baseball (not named Bonds) without looking it up? Who is the Ray Searage of hitting coaches in MLB right now?

 

This thread is stupid.

 

I always thought Kevin Long was pretty good. He kinda f***ed up Teixeira's swing but he polished up like everyone else's imo. Hes with the Mets now and they are doing pretty well offensively.

Also while still on the subject i know Davey Lopes is the best 1B coach. hes with the dodgers now.

[frizzer1]

Sometimes players in their 30's get old fast.....you never know..

[Brownie19]

I always thought Kevin Long was pretty good. He kinda f***ed up Teixeira's swing but he polished up like everyone else's imo. Hes with the Mets now and they are doing pretty well offensively.

Also while still on the subject i know Davey Lopes is the best 1B coach. hes with the dodgers now.

 

What constitutes good first base coach skills? Is there some metric that tell us how quick each one yells "back"? The frequency they influence the umpires calls by motioning the runner was safe? First base coach has to be one of the best jobs in the world.

[Spanky__99]

What constitutes good first base coach skills? Is there some metric that tell us how quick each one yells "back"? The frequency they influence the umpires calls by motioning the runner was safe? First base coach has to be one of the best jobs in the world.

 

That and holding players elbow/shin guards, they also take care of the OF defense...

[Boxcar]

What constitutes good first base coach skills? Is there some metric that tell us how quick each one yells "back"? The frequency they influence the umpires calls by motioning the runner was safe? First base coach has to be one of the best jobs in the world.

 

So easy, even Ruben Amaro can do it.

[Spanky__99]

So easy, even Ruben Amaro can do it.

 

Does RAJ run the OF defense? I haven't paid attention, usually they do.

[Brownie19]

So easy, even Ruben Amaro can do it.

 

Interesting enough - something tells me Dave Stewart would fail as a first base coach.

[crazy47larry]

What constitutes good first base coach skills? Is there some metric that tell us how quick each one yells "back"? The frequency they influence the umpires calls by motioning the runner was safe? First base coach has to be one of the best jobs in the world.

 

he increases SB% and SB totals exponentially while also greatly improving overall baserunning. its remarkable. before i knew about it i was in the same camp as you like 'wtf is some old fart gonna do coaching 1B' but he makes a huge difference. he's also the only 1B coach i can name off the top of my head but thats cuz hes the best.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/davey-lopes-is-changing-the-nationals-minds-about-base-running/2016/03/18/68c96486-ed04-11e5-bc08-3e03a5b41910_story.html

Edited May 3, 2016 by crazy47larry
added article

[Brownie19]

he increases SB% and SB totals exponentially while also greatly improving overall baserunning. its remarkable. before i knew about it i was in the same camp as you like 'wtf is some old fart gonna do coaching 1B' but he makes a huge difference. he's also the only 1B coach i can name off the top of my head but thats cuz hes the best.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/davey-lopes-is-changing-the-nationals-minds-about-base-running/2016/03/18/68c96486-ed04-11e5-bc08-3e03a5b41910_story.html

 

Cool. I'm not sure I buy he makes a tangible difference; however, our base running has been bad this year....fire [insert name of our first base coach]!

[L54]

Tim Leiper is the man. f***in guy loves his job!

[Harvey_Specter]

A lot of extra tape study this off season on how to turn down this offense. So far it's worked, but these guys will get theirs. You should get to know baseball, it's a beautiful game.

 

I'm surprised if advanced scouting is the reason. Pitchers still miss their spots enough. But yes, it's a game of adjustments. I admire the lack of concern and hope you're right. At what point can we be officially concerned about the offence? I'm not waiting until the All Star break.

[Boxcar]

I'm surprised if advanced scouting is the reason. Pitchers still miss their spots enough. But yes, it's a game of adjustments. I admire the lack of concern and hope you're right. At what point can we be officially concerned about the offence? I'm not waiting until the All Star break.

 

You can be concerned anytime you wish

[bones10]

I'm surprised if advanced scouting is the reason. Pitchers still miss their spots enough. But yes, it's a game of adjustments. I admire the lack of concern and hope you're right. At what point can we be officially concerned about the offence? I'm not waiting until the All Star break.

 

Normally I think everybody would be a bit more chill regarding the offensive struggles occurring this early in the season. But the fact is we're striking out at a giant clip whereas last year we were in the bottom half of the league if i remember correctly; couple this with a lot higher expectations coming off a deep playoff run people are going to be upset about the offense seemingly drying up.

 

I think the fact is some of our core players are getting old - but this doesn't mean they will continue to be this bad Tulo, Martin, and Edwin will get their share of hits but I would not be surprised if at least two of the three had relatively down years compared to what we are expecting.

 

Tulo at least has 5 bombs and still playing above average defensively from what I can tell.

 

Martin and Edwin have been s***; but Edwin is a notorious streaky hitter and he did miss spring training.

 

Martin is the most concerning tbh - he started off last year stagnate offensively as well; and although he had a good season (3.5 FWAR) I think we all expected a little more. Now we hear hes playing with a neck injury, so if I had to pick anybody to completely have a s***** year it would be our boy Russell.

[Spanky__99]

Normally I think everybody would be a bit more chill regarding the offensive struggles occurring this early in the season. But the fact is we're striking out at a giant clip whereas last year we were in the bottom half of the league if i remember correctly; couple this with a lot higher expectations coming off a deep playoff run people are going to be upset about the offense seemingly drying up.

 

I think the fact is some of our core players are getting old - but this doesn't mean they will continue to be this bad Tulo, Martin, and Edwin will get their share of hits but I would not be surprised if at least two of the three had relatively down years compared to what we are expecting.

 

Tulo at least has 5 bombs and still playing above average defensively from what I can tell.

 

Martin and Edwin have been s***; but Edwin is a notorious streaky hitter and he did miss spring training.

 

Martin is the most concerning tbh - he started off last year stagnate offensively as well; and although he had a good season (3.5 FWAR) I think we all expected a little more. Now we hear hes playing with a neck injury, so if I had to pick anybody to completely have a s***** year it would be our boy Russell.

 

tl dr... directly because of this thread.

[bones10]

Looks to me like they are struggling to hit fastballs for some reason, which is probably why they are taking more of them. I really highly doubt Jacoby is telling guys not to swing at balls in the zone. Or not going over video with those guys and pointing out that they are letting hittable pitches go by. Tulowitzki has always been a very passive hitter and it looks like he's either not recognizing pitches quickly enough or he's guessing wrong quite often, or his bat is just not as quick as it used to be. There's nothing Jacoby can do here and I'm not sure what you think you know that the Jays don't but I can guarantee they know more about the issues than you do.

 

Did I read a fangraphs article that suggested Tulo should maybe use a lighter bat? I wonder if that has any merit.