Biggio and Gurriel Jr. called up, McKinney and Urena sent down.

[DigitalRock]

About f***ing time.

[Brownie19]

Dude did he step on your pumas or something

 

I mean - he's not wrong. Gurriel started hot, but his AAA numbers are s***.

 

Has anyone read anything about his defense? did he get over the yips?

[L54]

I mean - he's not wrong. Gurriel started hot, but his AAA numbers are s***.

 

Has anyone read anything about his defense? did he get over the yips?

 

McKinney and Urena are s***. What’s your point?

 

Why does Richard Urena deserve looks over Gurriel?

Edited May 24, 2019 by L54

[P2F]

I wrote up this promotion here:

 

https://www.radioscouts.com/blog/jays-to-promote-cavan-biggio

[Bobthe4th]

I'll be interested to see where they play both of these two, particularly Biggio. Corner OF needs the most help but Sogard is cooling off too. Hopefully with more OF options it means Grichuk will be full-time in CF and Davis will be in a permanent bench role. Watching him start the last 6 games was testing my fandom.

 

It’s pointless Davis being here if he’s stuck on the bench, plus he’s one of only 2 full time outfielders on the roster. Give him time, if he continues to suck then send him back to AAA and recall Hernandez / Alford etc.

[Bobthe4th]

I don't mind a Smoak extension but would rather he be traded. He'll be 33 next year, in the decline phase and probably will not be a very useful piece by the time the Jays are good again. So get a young asset for him now from a contender needing a LH bat.

 

IMO we will probably have to wait for the deadline for a contender to decide to try to replicate the Steve Pearce deal last year. As others have said a pretty good 1B doesn’t have much value.

 

I agree though, a trade now would be good to open up another roster spot. Hernandez could then be the back up 1B and play some outfield too.

[Jimcanuck]

IMO we will probably have to wait for the deadline for a contender to decide to try to replicate the Steve Pearce deal last year. As others have said a pretty good 1B doesn’t have much value.

 

I agree though, a trade now would be good to open up another roster spot. Hernandez could then be the back up 1B and play some outfield too.

 

Sure the value is not great, that is obvious. But doesn't matter, a lottery ticket in rookie ball is fine.

 

Also the idea of holding onto Smoak to support the youngsters is dumb to me. No evidence of any value here. Maybe knowing the one good restaurant in Cleveland or something.

[saskjayfan]

I'm super pumped to watch Biggio....super 2 be damned!

[saskjayfan]

Sure the value is not great, that is obvious. But doesn't matter, a lottery ticket in rookie ball is fine.

 

Also the idea of holding onto Smoak to support the youngsters is dumb to me. No evidence of any value here. Maybe knowing the one good restaurant in Cleveland or something.

 

veteran leadership is an old wives tale.

[Brownie19]

Sure the value is not great, that is obvious. But doesn't matter, a lottery ticket in rookie ball is fine.

 

Also the idea of holding onto Smoak to support the youngsters is dumb to me. No evidence of any value here. Maybe knowing the one good restaurant in Cleveland or something.

 

I don't think anyone is actually suggesting we keep him here because he's a vet. They are suggesting we keep him because he'll probably have no value on the trade market and thus may provide more value to this team on a 2 year extension because he's still a productive 1st baseman.

[Brownie19]

McKinney and Urena are s***. What’s your point?

 

Why does Richard Urena deserve looks over Gurriel?

 

Fair enough. He's just saying Gurriel got sent down and played like s*** (after a brief hot streak). He didn't earn the call back to the majors. That's true. I've always just viewed Urena as a 25th man backup type. He's going to bounce around to fill a need and he can play some very solid defense. I think most had slightly higher hopes for Gurriel. I assume he's gotten rid of the yips; however, it would have been nice to see him show some tangible growth/improvements that may help his long term development before we bring him back to the majors. In all likelihood - he's a bust and is no different than Urena.

[DigitalRock]

Gurriel being called back up is odd.

[Deadpool]

I wrote up this promotion here:

 

https://www.radioscouts.com/blog/jays-to-promote-cavan-biggio

 

Missing a couple of letters in your second to last paragraph. A W to start it off and either a t or and r to start off the word ough.

 

Good article, though.

 

Edit: Suggestion: For your second Fangraphs screengrab, include the 2017 and 2018 numbers as well as 2019. I had to scroll around to compare.

[Laika]

Sending down McKinney in the middle of a really strong 2 week stretch seems strange but hopefully he'll be back.

 

This post is fascinating on multiple levels.

 

How can he be "in the middle" of a "really strong 2 week stretch"? -- Do you know what he would have hit like over the next week in the majors?

 

Are you aware that he is hitless in his last 4 games? Your post indicates that he is on a heater.

 

Who cares about 2 week sample sizes anyway?

 

His OPS was .620 after May 5th. It was .650 upon his demotion. How hot could he have been in the last couple of weeks!? It actually went from .657 on May 8 to .650 now. He was cold!

 

Grant!!!!!!!!!! Not sure I can agree with this.

 

I know you really like the smell of your own farts but McKinney is no Justin Upton. Let him go, buddy. Put him up on your shelf with Zacky Stewart.

[DigitalRock]

Sending down McKinney in the middle of a really strong 2 week stretch seems strange but hopefully he'll be back.

 

McKinney has been with us since last season..but yeah lets make decisions based off a two weeks sample size. Not to mention the awful defense he provides.

Edited May 24, 2019 by DigitalRock

[P2F]

Missing a couple of letters in your second to last paragraph. A W to start it off and either a t or and r to start off the word ough.

 

Good article, though.

 

Edit: Suggestion: For your second Fangraphs screengrab, include the 2017 and 2018 numbers as well as 2019. I had to scroll around to compare.

 

Those words were both fine when I posted the article last night and went to bed. Then I read through the article one more time on my phone, edited a word, and updated it. I can assure you it was all correct from my phone, but it would appear that the moral of this story is to refrain from editing articles through the mobile website. Oh well, no biggie.

 

Thanks! Good suggestion regarding the second screen grab - I've updated that.

[Deadpool]

Those words were both fine when I posted the article last night and went to bed. Then I read through the article one more time on my phone, edited a word, and updated it. I can assure you it was all correct from my phone, but it would appear that the moral of this story is to refrain from editing articles through the mobile website. Oh well, no biggie.

 

Thanks! Good suggestion regarding the second screen grab - I've updated that.

 

No problem man Love the site and the project as a whole, so happy to contribute in some small way.

[tbad]

Can someone explain where Biggio and Gurriel will play? Both are "supposed" to be middle infielders. But we already have Galvis/Drury/Sogard in the middle infield? And now we only have two natural outfielders in Grichuk and Davis? There is an obvious lack of OF depth on this team and sticking infielders in the OF reeks of poor design and planning.

[Jimcanuck]

Can someone explain where Biggio and Gurriel will play? Both are "supposed" to be middle infielders. But we already have Galvis/Drury/Sogard in the middle infield? And now we only have two natural outfielders in Grichuk and Davis? There is an obvious lack of OF depth on this team and sticking infielders in the OF reeks of poor design and planning.

 

Drury, Biggio, and gurriel can all do the OF better than Hernandez, for one. Probably galvis also.

 

You might be the only one with this concern.

[tbad]

Drury, Biggio, and gurriel can all do the OF better than Hernandez, for one. Probably galvis also.

 

You might be the only one with this concern.

 

Not sure if this ("better than Hernandez") is supposed to make me feel better about our OF situation but OK, thanks.

[Bobthe4th]

Drury, Biggio, and gurriel can all do the OF better than Hernandez, for one. Probably galvis also.

 

You might be the only one with this concern.

 

We don't know that yet, they've played about 5 MLB games in the outfield between them.

[Barkerfan23]

Pretty sure Sogard is back to being a pumpkin, he has had 4 hits in the entire month of May, his luck run is over. Biggio is playing there everyday I think

 

Mckinney going down suggests Jr is going to play LF

[Jimcanuck]

We don't know that yet, they've played about 5 MLB games in the outfield between them.

 

Drury spent a lot of time in OF for d backs. Over 100 games.

 

Gurriel 7 games in OF last season, and looked fine to me.

 

Biggio we don't know, but chances are he is better in OF than Hernandez.

[Ray]

The lowest K% that Biggio posted in any month during last season was 23%.

 

So far this season, Biggio has already posted a K% of 17% in April, and has dropped it even further in May to 15%.

 

The drop in K% is pretty dramatic here. Obviously it's a small sample, but maybe it's indicative to him patching up some holes in his swing.

[Bobthe4th]

Drury spent a lot of time in OF for d backs. Over 100 games.

 

Gurriel 7 games in OF last season, and looked fine to me.

 

Biggio we don't know, but chances are he is better in OF than Hernandez.

 

I didn't know that about Drury - just looked it up 93 games in the the outfield for Arizona in 2016. His defense that year was significantly below average according to Fangraphs, improved significantly the next year with zero outfield games for the Diamondbacks.

 

Biggio and Gurriel combined 7 games in the outfield at MLB level.

 

You're being optimistic (not like you!) assuming the outfield defense is going to be improved by this combination of 3 part time utility players and the outfield is a valid concern.

[Brownie19]

I didn't know that about Drury - just looked it up 93 games in the the outfield for Arizona in 2016. His defense that year was significantly below average according to Fangraphs, improved significantly the next year with zero outfield games for the Diamondbacks.

 

Biggio and Gurriel combined 7 games in the outfield at MLB level.

 

You're being optimistic (not like you!) assuming the outfield defense is going to be improved by this combination of 3 part time utility players and the outfield is a valid concern.

 

I think at the end of the day - the answer is - WHO CARES. Who cares if Drury, Gurriel and Biggio play out of position. This season is all about throwing it against the wall to see if it sticks. If we find out that 2 of those 3 are actually average defensively in the OF - then great! We have more options moving forward. If they can't - at least we find that out. As long as they get at bats and we find out if they hit, I don't think this FO gives a flying f*** where they play.

[Bobthe4th]

I think at the end of the day - the answer is - WHO CARES. Who cares if Drury, Gurriel and Biggio play out of position. This season is all about throwing it against the wall to see if it sticks. If we find out that 2 of those 3 are actually average defensively in the OF - then great! We have more options moving forward. If they can't - at least we find that out. As long as they get at bats and we find out if they hit, I don't think this FO gives a flying f*** where they play.

 

Well we have more infield prospects than outfield so obviously if any of the utility guys can be at least ok out there than that helps for the future. But yeah it doesn’t really matter in the short term.

[Terminator]

Biggio starting at 2B tonight. Saw it on twitter.

 

I think Drury is probably better at 2B but he's probably just a bench player moving forward. I think trying to develop Biggio there is the right move and I hope he gets the lion's share of the starts there.

Edited May 24, 2019 by Terminator

[Barkerfan23]

Man who would have thought both Teoscar Hernandez and Billy Mckinney would fail as miserably as they have. I thought at least one of them would develop into a decent ball player.

[DigitalRock]

Biggio starting at 2B tonight. Saw it on twitter.

 

I think Drury is probably better at 2B but he's probably just a bench player moving forward. I think trying to develop Biggio there is the right move and I hope he gets the lion's share of the starts there.

 

I agree. Drury off the bench and some spot starts in the outfield and infield is not a bad bench player. Developing Biggio is the important thing for the Jays moving forward.

 

I still am surprised at calling up Gurriel though, he never had enough time in AAA to really improve anything.