General Blue Jays Discussion Thread (2022)

[max silver]

LF is only easier than RF because of the longer throw to 3B. If Lourdes and his cannon of an arm can play LF, he can play RF.

 

Left field vs right field differences aside I certainly wouldn't want Gurriel switching to the opposite side of the field mid season. It's taken him several seasons to finally get start getting used to playing left field so it could be a recipe for disaster to move him around without a ton of practice time first.

[Stangstag]

Left field vs right field differences aside I certainly wouldn't want Gurriel switching to the opposite side of the field mid season. It's taken him several seasons to finally get start getting used to playing left field so it could be a recipe for disaster to move him around without a ton of practice time first.

 

LF and RF are the same, just want a stronger arm in RF to throw to 3B.

 

If a major league player can’t swap easily between LF and RF idk what to say.

[Spanky99]

LF and RF are the same, just want a stronger arm in RF to throw to 3B.

 

If a major league player can’t swap easily between LF and RF idk what to say.

 

Biggio doesn't like LF because of bad reads off the bat, there's merit to where guys are comfortable in the OF, I wouldn't move Gurriel to right.

[Stangstag]

Biggio doesn't like LF because of bad reads off the bat, there's merit to where guys are comfortable in the OF, I wouldn't move Gurriel to right.

 

I feel like that doesn’t make any sense, but ok I guess

[max silver]

LF and RF are the same, just want a stronger arm in RF to throw to 3B.

 

If a major league player can’t swap easily between LF and RF idk what to say.

 

Early on in his Jays tenure Teoscar had a lot of trouble switching outfield positions and he was a far more experienced outfielder than Gurriel at that point. Teoscar still takes a lot of heat for his early career outfield misadventures and I would still argue that Gurriel has regularly looked far more lost than Teoscar ever did. Maybe one day Gurriel will offer that type of versatility but I just don't know if the risks of once again having a deer in headlights outfielder costing the team runs is worth the unlikely payoff.

[InsideThePark]

I can see how someone might be more comfortable with the way a ball comes off a bat from LF than RF(or vice versa) if you're way more used to 1 position especially since more hitters are righty and a pulled ball is going to be hooking differently than a ball slicing after being hit the other way. Fielders also might feel more comfortable moving to their left to get a ball in the gap than their right. It sounds dumb and might be dumb and an above average outfielder should be able to handle both. But I can see how it might be reasonable to get used to 1 of the positions and be much better in left than right besides for the arm aspect of throwing to 3rd

[Spanky99]

Early on in his Jays tenure Teoscar had a lot of trouble switching outfield positions and he was a far more experienced outfielder than Gurriel at that point. Teoscar still takes a lot of heat for his early career outfield misadventures and I would still argue that Gurriel has regularly looked far more lost than Teoscar ever did. Maybe one day Gurriel will offer that type of versatility but I just don't know if the risks of once again having a deer in headlights outfielder costing the team runs is worth the unlikely payoff.

 

Yup, he'd be in RF every game when Teo's out of the line up, if the Birds had the confidence to do it. It's evidently not happening anytime soon.

[max silver]

Face the hard facts. Yes some of the underlying stuff under the hood is encouraging with Espy, however, he’s hardly run away with the job. It’s about Biggio being viewed by the team as AAAA fodder more than anything else

 

You better get your eyeglass prescription checked dude. If you don't wear them it's time to start. Espinal has been having a statement series with elite defensive plays and home runs in back to back games.

[G-Snarls]

You better get your eyeglass prescription checked dude. If you don't wear them it's time to start. Espinal has been having a statement series with elite defensive plays and home runs in back to back games.

 

Yeah

 

Espinal looks like a 100% legit full time solid MLB second baseman

[Jimcanuck]

Espinal should get some off season reps in the OF. He played some in the minors.

 

Be our very very own Zobrist.

[Eat My Shatkins]

I must have missed it, but does anyone know why Otto Lopez isn't playing in AAA yet?

 

Injured I assume, but can't find anything.

 

EDIT: Never mind, I see he's on a rehab assignment. I wonder if he gets a good look this year? He might be here instead of Katoh if he was healthy.

[Grant77]

Grant is on the sknny side though. I figure i could probably swing him as a bat. We'll get him a nice helmet to protect his brain (scientists are needed) and see what happens.

 

I'm about 225, but nothing close to your size.

[Laika]

Espinal already has as many barrels this year (4) as his entire pre-2022 MLB career.

 

He's second on the team in barrels so far, behind Vlad. That's... great for him but actually not great for the team. Other than Vlad, Espinal, Jansen (hurt) and Collins everyone else is kind of struggling to find their stroke. The xwOBAs of Gurriel, Chapman, Bichette, Kirk, and Springer all are not great.

[Spanky99]

Espinal already has as many barrels this year (4) as his entire pre-2022 MLB career.

 

He's second on the team in barrels so far, behind Vlad. That's... great for him but actually not great for the team. Other than Vlad, Espinal, Jansen (hurt) and Collins everyone else is kind of struggling to find their stroke. The xwOBAs of Gurriel, Chapman, Bichette, Kirk, and Springer all are not great.

 

Same trend league wide.

[Brownie19]

Espinal already has as many barrels this year (4) as his entire pre-2022 MLB career.

 

He's second on the team in barrels so far, behind Vlad. That's... great for him but actually not great for the team. Other than Vlad, Espinal, Jansen (hurt) and Collins everyone else is kind of struggling to find their stroke. The xwOBAs of Gurriel, Chapman, Bichette, Kirk, and Springer all are not great.

 

Chapman's got a 130 wRC+. Perhaps the underlying stats suggest he's been lucky, but he hasn't been awful at the dish.

[Spanky99]

Jays stay afloat at number 2...

 

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-power-rankings-2022-week-3

[Laika]

Chapman's got a 130 wRC+. Perhaps the underlying stats suggest he's been lucky, but he hasn't been awful at the dish.

 

on the contrary I think he's looked like dogshit most of the time

[HERPDERP]

on the contrary I think he's looked like dogshit most of the time

 

I can't remember any other Jay in recent memory that has popped up so much.

 

A few days ago he had like 3 straight ABs with pop-ups

[Brownie19]

I can't remember any other Jay in recent memory that has popped up so much.

 

A few days ago he had like 3 straight ABs with pop-ups

 

Yeah I've noticed this too - tons of f***ing pop ups. And I agree with Laika that he hasn't passed the eye test for me at the plate....but - the results haven't been horrible yet, so that's positive. He's been putting the ball in play a lot more lately after all the K's to start the year - which is good. But lots of those are infield pops - which is bad.

[Laika]

Matt Chapman

 

Career ---- 2022

 

K rate

26.8% ---- 25.8%

IFFB

16.3% ---- 28.6%

Barrel rate

11% ---- 4.9%

O-Swing rate

25.6% ---- 28.6%

O-Contact rate

62.3% ---- 65.8%

 

Narrative

 

He is not striking out worse than his career rate but he is reaching for more pitches outside the zone and, curiously, connecting with them more. This is causing a massive spike in pop ups. He needs to lay off those pitches above/outside the zone and save his swings for better pitches. The barrel rate sucks in 2022 because he's swinging at bad pitches.

 

Silver lining - the statcast stats are not stable yet (need 50+ batted ball events and he is at 41) which means we are still regressing them more than 50% towards league average. The contact rate being above 2021 and 2020 could be seen as promising?

[Dick_Pole]

Espinal already has as many barrels this year (4) as his entire pre-2022 MLB career.

 

He's second on the team in barrels so far, behind Vlad. That's... great for him but actually not great for the team. Other than Vlad, Espinal, Jansen (hurt) and Collins everyone else is kind of struggling to find their stroke. The xwOBAs of Gurriel, Chapman, Bichette, Kirk, and Springer all are not great.

 

Same trend league wide.

 

Give it two weeks. When the rosters drop back down to 26, teams will be compelled to let their starters go more than 4 innings and not use 5 RP every game.

[BigCecil]

Tim Mayza. The numbers and the eye test solid so far building off what was a brutal start in 21, but he turned it around quickly after being sent down. His 2 seam looks heavy and lots of sink. Anyway. Fapping.

[wilko]

Tim Mayza. The numbers and the eye test solid so far building off what was a brutal start in 21, but he turned it around quickly after being sent down. His 2 seam looks heavy and lots of sink. Anyway. Fapping.

 

I find he looks like he's bored or doesn't want to be there when he's pitching.

[BigCecil]

I find he looks like he's bored or doesn't want to be there when he's pitching.

 

Lol. He does. I love that. He just comes out and throws filth efficiently and then disappears. Ho hum.

[TwistedLogic]

One of my blind spots with this team's lineup construction is that I'm not sure why Lourdes Gurriel Jr. needs so much time at DH. Did they ever speak on that? I feel like he gets a disproportionate amount of time there.

 

This lineup would look quite a bit better if Collins was batting in place of Zimmer.

 

[John_Havok]

I find he looks like he's bored or doesn't want to be there when he's pitching.

 

Romano is pretty much the same. It's like they couldnt possibly care less about being on the mound, they're just throwing balls at the catcher for a while, then go on their way

[Brownie19]

Odd that Zimmer is in RF and Springer in CF.

[max silver]

Tim Mayza. The numbers and the eye test solid so far building off what was a brutal start in 21, but he turned it around quickly after being sent down. His 2 seam looks heavy and lots of sink. Anyway. Fapping.

 

He's quietly been the most effective reliever in the Jays pen. He had a rough month of May last season but he's been great since then with a 1.83 ERA/2.66 FIP. I think he's been a little underutilized so hopefully Charlie can find ways to get into games a little more frequently.

[Signal]

One of my blind spots with this team's lineup construction is that I'm not sure why Lourdes Gurriel Jr. needs so much time at DH. Did they ever speak on that? I feel like he gets a disproportionate amount of time there.

 

This lineup would look quite a bit better if Collins was batting in place of Zimmer.

 

 

I know, when Bo gets going he is a terror and an outstanding #2 in the lineup. No argument there. But, I find it ridiculous that you have to keep a player at the top of the lineup and in particular hitting ahead of Vladdy when he is already struck out 20 times, has a TERRIBLE on base percentage. I really do not understand why the lineup is not a tad more fluid, especially at the beginning of the year.

 

Hell, due to injury, Tapia was placed at the top of the lineup and it unlocked something in him and he began to hit. Maybe, just maybe, going out every damn game with the same lineup, no matter what a player is presently doing at the plate is not necessarily the right approach. I would mix it up a bit and IF a player is in a terrible slump, then why not move him around the lineup...to see what might happen. I do know this, that the Jays are not putting up a lot of runs as is. If it is simply a matter of ego over team than I can understand that and well, wish it were not the case.

 

Right now, the fact that Vladdy is not and HAS not batted second is a head scratcher. How many times has he been left holding his bat unable to swing because Bo ended an important inning?

[TwistedLogic]