General 2019 Blue Jays Discussion Thread

[P2F]

Cavan Biggio Talks Hitting

 

David Laurila: What is your hitting philosophy?

Cavan Biggio: “My goal is to get a pitch I can square up, and drive. Hitting the ball hard is my No. 1 goal. If I don’t get the pitch I want in the first couple of strikes, I’m going to take. Once I get to two strikes, I’m going to battle and just try to get on base.”

Laurila: Are you basically looking fastball middle?

Biggio: I’d say I’m pretty traditional in trying to hunt the heater. I look for a heater in the middle thirds: middle-in, middle, and middle-away. Those are the parts of the strike zone where I can do the most damage. I’ve also gotten better at recognizing offspeed while looking for the fastball, so if it’s a mistake— if it’s a hung breaking ball — hopefully I’m able to hold off a little bit, put a good swing on it, and barrel it up. So I’m basically trying to hit the heater, but if a guy makes a mistake with a breaking ball, I’m ready for that as well.”

Laurila: What is the key to recognizing an off-speed pitch, particularly one you can handle?

Biggio: “With some guys you’re able to pick up the spin. There are others who do a good job of spinning their breaking balls in a way that they look like their fastballs. Regardless, if a guy has a nasty breaking ball you’re probably not going to hit it anyhow. You want to take it — you want to let him have his nasty breaking ball — and hopefully he’s going to hang it eventually. So if I stay on the heater, and am able to recognize it early, and it stays up, I can do some damage on it.”

Laurila: What is your timing mechanism?

Biggio: “It’s very small. Something I’ve been working on the last couple of years is just having something to get my momentum back, and then straight forward, so that my direction is pretty much from the backstop straight to the pitcher. I don’t want to go side-to-side at all; I just want to go back, then straight forward, keeping my head still so that I can see the ball as best I can.”

Laurila: Are your hands starting close to your firing position?

Biggio: “Exactly. I like to preset them where I want them to fire from. It’s something I’ve kind of always done, although they did used to be a little bit higher and then would drift down. Two years ago, I brought them lower. Whatever my load was, I kind of didn’t want to move my hands. I just wanted to load, see the pitch, and go from there.”

Laurila: What about your lower half?

Biggio: “I’m a little bit wider than shoulder width, and while it might look like I have a knee tuck, in my head I’m just thinking of it as a weight transfer.”

Laurila: Are hitting analytics something you’ve delved into? Optimizing your bat path, and things of that nature.

Biggio: “For me, bat path is really big. I don’t want to get in-and-out of the zone. Being in the zone as long as possible is going to give me the best chance for success. But as far as analytics … I don’t really look at too many numbers when it comes to my swing. I kind of know what I’m doing — I kind of know if it’s good or bad — and what things I need to work on. For instance, when I get a little pull happy, I tend to fly open a lot. If they’re shifting me, and I keep grounding out into it, I’ll focus on using the whole field a little more.”

Laurila: Is using the whole field part of your overall approach?

Biggio: “I like to consider myself a guy who uses the whole field, and can drive the ball to all parts of the park. When I’m able to hit balls to left field, that forces the shortstop to come back over, and takes the second baseman out of the three-four hole. That way, if I do get an off-speed pitch and roll it over, but still hit it pretty good, it can be a base hit to right field.”

Laurila: Are you generally trying to catch the ball out front?

Biggio: “I actually like to see the ball deep. I think that’s why I have power; I can use my body to drive the ball. If I get too far out in front, I’ll tend to hook it foul. If I see it deep and outer half, I can go to left. If the pitch is more in, I came be more out in front, but not too far in front.”

Laurila: Where did you learn to hit? A lot of people probably assume your father played a huge role.

Biggio: “My dad didn’t really teach me a lot when it comes to … I guess I’d say that he taught me things I saw him do, versus him teaching me hands-on. I kind of learned how to hit by hitting my whole life. I’ve been able to pick things up that I can add to my game. When I started to get more advanced would be shortly after I got drafted.

“The biggest adjustments were after my first full season in High-A. I hit .230. I had a good start to the year, but the second half I found myself struggling a lot. The struggling was too long. It wasn’t just, ‘OK, I went a couple games without a hit.’ What I realized is that my bat path wasn’t in the zone as much as I wanted it to be. I would swing at a fastball — a good pitch to hit — and I would miss it, or foul it straight back. I would be, ‘Why am I doing that?’

“I watched some video and realized that my bat was coming in, and then it was coming out. So what I did going into that offseason was, as I said earlier, set my hands lower. I would set them, load, and launch from there.”

Laurila: You’d been too steep to the ball.

Biggio: “Exactly. That had been my natural swing, my natural hand position. Throughout college I kind of just stepped in the box and it was ‘This is how I’m going to hit.’ I just went out there and tried to go hard. But then, in High-A, I pretty much realized that I could be better if I made an adjustment. I’d been swinging and missing at too many pitches that I shouldn’t have been swinging and missing at.”

Laurila: Have you changed anything in your short time here in the big leagues?

Biggio: “No, but before this year I added a little bit more of a load; a little bit more of a push-back, versus a weight transfer. It’s a little more clear cut, and easier to do, for a longer period of time.”

Laurila: Nolan Arenado steps back onto his back leg.

Biggio: “I don’t step back. Basically, what I would do before is not lift my foot off the ground; I would just kind of lean back. I decided I needed something more clear cut, because sometimes that was really hard for me to feel. What I’ve done is kind of just lift off the ground with my front foot a little bit more. Again, it’s kind of a push-off, versus a weight transfer. That said, if you watch me hit, you won’t be able to notice much of a move at all. It’s really tiny.”

Laurila: Are you trying to take the same swing every time?

Biggio: “Yes. The same swing every time.”

Laurila: Regardless of pitch type and location?

Biggio: “Yes, I’m just trying to get the barrel to the ball, no matter where it is. I mean, if it’s inside, my hands are going to naturally come in more, and if it’s outside, I’m going to be reaching a little bit more, but overall, I want it to be the same swing.”

Laurila: We’ve covered a lot here, but is there anything else we should address?

Biggio: “Maybe that I take a lot of pitches? I like to see a lot of pitches. Early in the count, I’m not going to swing at a pitch on the corner, or a little bit off. We did kind of touch on that earlier. I want to wait until the pitcher makes a mistake.”

Laurila: Do you ever find yourself taking too many pitches?

Biggio: “I have in the past, but I’ve gotten better with that. I’ve gotten better at being selectively aggressive.”

Laurila: Working deep counts can obviously contribute to higher strikeout totals. Do you care about strikeouts?

Biggio: “I do. I hate striking out. It’s not fun. But for what I do, the amount of pitches I see … I mean, I don’t want to get off my game. Certain strikeouts bother me, but at times you have to tip your hat to the pitcher. Hopefully you don’t have to tip it too often.”

 

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/cavan-biggio-talks-hitting/

[Ray]

It may be time to give Anthony Alford an extended look.

 

Since May 1st (42 games): .308/.392/.465, 123 wRC+

 

He's also turning 25 this July. It's basically as close as it can be to now or never.

[Slade]

It may be time to give Anthony Alford an extended look.

 

Since May 1st (42 games): .308/.392/.465, 123 wRC+

 

He's also turning 25 this July. It's basically as close as it can be to now or never.

 

Yep time to send Teoscar back down.

[Ex Player]

Yep time to send Teoscar back down

Lets do a Gurriel on him!!

[Ex Player]

I want that Rosenthal fella on our roster.

 

We cant do much worse, can we???

[Barkerfan23]

I am more optimisitic now after seeing the damage Guirrel is doing. Biggio looks great too. If Vlad is what he is supposed to be and Bichette proves good, we wont have a offensive problem and lots of money for pitching.

[Terminator]

Has anyone noticed Biggio's ROS projections for Zips and Steamer?

 

Zips thinks he's an 80 wRC+ hitter from here on out while Steamer has him at 101. I know the board seems to prefer Steamer so that's why I go with it but I never knew why exactly. Is Zips kind of trash or is this just an outlier?

[Boxcar]

Zips suxxxx

[BlueRocky]

I think projection models that uses weighted averages of Biggio’s past few years in the minors (like ZiPS) are going to come out more pessimistic. He’s been a bit of a late bloomer that really broke out last year after making adjustments to swing mechanics.

 

He is the type of guy with potential to give you a 100 walks, 20-25 homers, and steal 10-15 bags while batting left-handed and playing two or three positions. That’s a valuable player.

Edited June 27, 2019 by BlueRocky

[wamco]

Alford not an option

[Ray]

Since his return to the majors on May 24th, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. has literally been the 2nd best hitter in the AL:

 

1. Mike Trout (200 wRC+)

2. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (188 wRC+)

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=al&qual=y&type=8&season=2019&month=1000&season1=2019&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&startdate=2019-05-24&enddate=2019-12-31&sort=17,d

[Ex Player]

Since his return to the majors on May 24th, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. has literally been the 2nd best hitter in the AL

Its amazing what a trip down to Buffalo in non-airconditioned buses will do to you

[Orgfiller]

Since his return to the majors on May 24th, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. has literally been the 2nd best hitter in the AL:

 

1. Mike Trout (200 wRC+)

2. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (188 wRC+)

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=al&qual=y&type=8&season=2019&month=1000&season1=2019&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&startdate=2019-05-24&enddate=2019-12-31&sort=17,d

 

Oh boy, a .390 BABIP over that time frame, you've just activated tercet.

 

Just noticed that Michael Chavis has a .420 BABIP but that's only resulted in a 65 wRC+, f***ing yikes dude.

[Krylian]

Oh boy, a .390 BABIP over that time frame, you've just activated tercet.

 

Just noticed that Michael Chavis has a .420 BABIP but that's only resulted in a 65 wRC+, f***ing yikes dude.

 

Stupid question...but how does BABIP factor in EV? Does it differentiate between a guy just making marginal contact versus a guy squaring it up and hitting screamers all over the place.

[Orgfiller]

Stupid question...but how does BABIP factor in EV? Does it differentiate between a guy just making marginal contact versus a guy squaring it up and hitting screamers all over the place.

 

I would assume a high EV would correlate strongly with a high BABIP. Obviously, there's the caveat that the ball is kept in the park, since extreme flyball power hitters could have a bunch of hard hit balls that are homers and thus don't count towards BABIP. I don't think many pop ups are being hit at 100+ mph whereas line drives and hard ground balls can be and the latter two correlate with BABIP. However, I believe there's some interesting results for low EV as well which could be much more luck than skill, i.e. a player that hits a bunch of bloops, high choppers or dribblers that squeak through could potentially have a high BABIP but very poor batted ball measurements. I believe Billy Burns exhibited this in Statcast's first year in 2015, and some early results indicated a sort of valley between the very low EV and very high EV players, not sure how the graph looks nowadays that we have a few years of data.

 

As Laika points out below, BABIP isn't actually factored in at all in EV and vice-versa, but they're related.

[Laika]

Stupid question...but how does BABIP factor in EV? Does it differentiate between a guy just making marginal contact versus a guy squaring it up and hitting screamers all over the place.

 

Well it doesn't. A guy hitting hard line drives should have a higher BABIP over time.

 

There is expected BABIP (xBABIP) which purports to correct for contact quality.

[Laika]

I would assume a high EV would correlate strongly with a high BABIP. Obviously, there's the caveat that the ball is kept in the park, since extreme flyball power hitters could have a bunch of hard hit balls that are homers and thus don't count towards BABIP. I don't think many pop ups are being hit at 100+ mph whereas line drives and hard ground balls can be and the latter two correlate with BABIP. However, I believe there's some interesting results for low EV as well which could be much more luck than skill, i.e. a player that hits a bunch of bloops, high choppers or dribblers that squeak through could potentially have a high BABIP but very poor batted ball measurements. I believe Billy Burns exhibited this in Statcast's first year in 2015, and some early results indicated a sort of valley between the very low EV and very high EV players, not sure how the graph looks nowadays that we have a few years of data.

 

Yeah there's a multitude of factors. EV is a big one, launch angle is, so are hit direction (oppo vs pull) and speed.

 

Notice at the 30-40 degree bracket for launch angle - a player can hit the ball harder and have a lower BABIP. They basically need to smash it at 95+ mph to get over the hump. Balls hit under that mph are cans of corn, medium depth fly balls, right.

 

http://i.imgur.com/FPPJHGK.jpg

[BlueRocky]

Its amazing what a trip down to Buffalo in non-airconditioned buses will do to you

 

For sure, those greyhounds are not comfortable.

[Ray]

[BigBounceyBlueBalls]

Since his return to the majors on May 24th, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. has literally been the 2nd best hitter in the AL:

 

1. Mike Trout (200 wRC+)

2. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (188 wRC+)

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=al&qual=y&type=8&season=2019&month=1000&season1=2019&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&startdate=2019-05-24&enddate=2019-12-31&sort=17,d

 

Hey Ray , Hey Sugar umm Org what does

Bs B.E.V.R say ... I know ya wanna Know Right !!! Ok

 

 

I did them Trout would Under B.E.V. R get 135

And GURR under The B.E.V.R get only 90

 

I did 3 Random quick from that Fan graphs

Page To Give as added Reference and B.E.V.R number or Rank just for you !!!

 

DJ would have had the Best Stretch of them

At 144 B.E.V.R , Bogarts would get 132 B.E.V.R and Santana the worst of those I did quick and up at a B.E.V.R of only 70 !

 

So GURR got a ways to go to be Trout did perform better then Santana over that time !

 

Tercets one foot off the ledge and Saved !!!

Whew which may either be a Good or Bad thing not sure ??? Lol BBBBs B.E.V.R saving

A life by being introduced first day out of a BJMB Member ... Holy B.E.V.R tails tales Batman ! Thank you

[Dick_Pole]

Another fun fact about Gurriel is that he earned about half of his seven year contract with this little outburst. If he keeps anything like this up, his $/WAR could be less than a million.

[Angrioter]

Tatis is looking so so good.

 

He's better than Vladdy overall

[glory]

 

Doesn't surprise me. Atkins and the Astros GM seem to have a good relationship (lots of trades between the two), and Stroman seems like someone who would go to the Astros, make a minor tweak, and within a few days become a 2.00 ERA starter. Always saw them as a realistic destination for Stro.

 

Buy low on Josh James (stretch him out to replace Stro in the rotation, 5 more years of control) and tack on some prospects from there.

[BigCecil]

Jonah Keri Jays mid season report card FWIW

 

https://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/blue-jays-first-half-report-cards-whats-fair-grade-guerrero-jr/

[Deadpool]

Jonah Keri Jays mid season report card FWIW

 

https://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/blue-jays-first-half-report-cards-whats-fair-grade-guerrero-jr/

 

DH Rowdy Tellez: B

 

WUT?

[Bobthe4th]

DH Rowdy Tellez: B

 

WUT?

 

His ratings do seem to be a bit off.

 

Gurriel A+ I mean sure since he’s been back, but he was sent to the minors earlier in the season for being worse than Alen Hanson.

 

Jansen as an F I also think is ignoring that he’s doing ok as a rookie catcher. Obviously his bat has been bad, but surely a fail should be sucking at catching too?

[Terminator]

I thought Jonah Keri was better than this

[Brownie19]

His ratings do seem to be a bit off.

 

Gurriel A+ I mean sure since he’s been back, but he was sent to the minors earlier in the season for being worse than Alen Hanson.

 

Jansen as an F I also think is ignoring that he’s doing ok as a rookie catcher. Obviously his bat has been bad, but surely a fail should be sucking at catching too?

 

He says Jansen's framing hasn't been good. That may be true (I'm too lazy to figure out where you look that up), but he's posted a 9.6 DEF value per Fangraphs to date this year, which is fantastic and allowed him to be above replacement level with just a 48 wRC+

[Bobthe4th]

He says Jansen's framing hasn't been good. That may be true (I'm too lazy to figure out where you look that up), but he's posted a 9.6 DEF value per Fangraphs to date this year, which is fantastic and allowed him to be above replacement level with just a 48 wRC+

 

Fangraphs has Jansen as the 6th best framer this season providing roughly half of his defensive value: Link

[BigBounceyBlueBalls]

His ratings do seem to be a bit off.

 

Gurriel A+ I mean sure since he’s been back, but he was sent to the minors earlier in the season for being worse than Alen Hanson.

 

Jansen as an F I also think is ignoring that he’s doing ok as a rookie catcher. Obviously his bat has been bad, but surely a fail should be sucking at catching too?

 

iN B.E.V.R we the BJMB must Trust ...

 

No way Tellez is a B in any way or even on this team

B.E.V.R disputes this Claim to be False !

 

If you Look at my B.E.V.R you will see Truth

And the Fact about him and our Team !!!

 

Thank you in Advance !