GDT 2/4 | Blue Jays (3-1) @ Yankees (2-2) | April 12 — 7:05 PM

[TwistedLogic]

Game #5

 

Toronto Blue Jays (Kikuchi) @ New York Yankees (Cortes)

 

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Edited April 12, 2022 by TwistedLogic

[Stangstag]

A bit early no?

[connorp]

Cracks me up that 10yo kids can do photoshop but they can’t impose a BJ hat on Gausman’s head

[Grant77]

Cracks me up that 10yo kids can do photoshop but they can’t impose a BJ hat on Gausman’s head

 

Rizzo played for the Yankees half of last season and they have him in a Cubs hat

[max silver]

Zips creator Dan Szymborski has a 2022 breakout candidate list up at Fangraphs, and Kikuchi makes his list. Kikuchi only appears to have made a few starts at Yankee stadium up to this point but each of them was very good, even one coming in August of last season when he was really struggling.

 

Yusei Kikuchi, Toronto Blue Jays

It’s undeniable that Kikuchi had a rough second half of the 2021 season, especially in September, which featured some lapses in command. But to play devil’s advocate, who has ever looked good while giving up a .452 BABIP? Still, I’d argue he’s closer to the potential he showed in the early months of the season than his late swoon.

 

Kikuchi has quietly become one of the hardest throwing lefty starters in baseball, and he still has an impressive array of secondary pitches he can whiff batters with. To my eyes, the biggest culprit behind his rough second half was some late-season trouble with his slider. He’s changed how he throws the pitch in recent years, shifting into more of a slurvy — I don’t mean this in a negative way — accompaniment to his cutter, and both it and the cutter saw their whiffs-per-swing plummet starting in August. Unlike a lot of pitchers, Kikuchi uses his slider as much as his off-speed stuff (splitter) when facing the platoon disadvantage, and with the slider failing, right-handed hitters absolutely torched him the last two months.

 

Given his impressive velocity — and he threw harder the second and third times through the order in 2021 — and four solid pitches, I think Kikuchi will be able to adjust in the long run. I’m not sure Carlos Rodón is an obviously superior signing and I really liked that one, too. Indeed, I think three years and $36 million for Kikuchi may end up being one of the best bargains of this past winter.

[Carlos Danger]

Why doesn't he talk about Kikuchi's reduced fastball velocity 2nd half of last season.

 

So the good: Hard throwing lefty in Yankee stadium can help neutralize the short porch in right field and lefty bats.

 

Had great first half last year. We are in the first half.

 

Worried about sustainability and going into Fenway 2nd half playoff run etc... In reality, don't need to worry about that now.

 

Had zero worries about Manoah going into yesterday's game. He only hardened my resolve. Great run prevention from the Jays. Pitching/defense last night!

 

Not so confident about tonight's game... We shall see.

[Signal]

Romano has pitched in three of four games and should sit tonight. Jays should be careful not to overuse him.

 

I think if it is another close game, Montoyo should use Garcia as the closer and Mayza as the setup man. Mix in some Merryweather and Phelps for the 6th and 7th if need be.

 

If it is a laugher either way…just use Stripling, Kay and Thornton to eat up the innings. Montoyo HAS to be prudent using his arms.

 

The schedule is a killer and Montoyo cannot have his same mindset of let’s just play for today and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. NO, the schedule will f*** you up with this approach. He must be smart and make decisions that make sense both short and long term if they are going to survive playing 30 games in 31 days.

[max silver]

Why doesn't he talk about Kikuchi's reduced fastball velocity 2nd half of last season.

 

So the good: Hard throwing lefty in Yankee stadium can help neutralize the short porch in right field and lefty bats.

 

Had great first half last year. We are in the first half.

 

Worried about sustainability and going into Fenway 2nd half playoff run etc... In reality, don't need to worry about that now.

 

Had zero worries about Manoah going into yesterday's game. He only hardened my resolve. Great run prevention from the Jays. Pitching/defense last night!

 

Not so confident about tonight's game... We shall see.

 

You'll have to ask him yourself why he didn't talk about reduced velocity. A bigger red flag for me was the sizeable decrease in spin rates following the sticky stuff crackdown. Kikuchi's exit velocities and hard hit rates all skyrocketed. XWOBA values also spiked in August in September so the BABIP very well may have been earned and not an indication of bad luck. Kikuchi had a pretty nice 6 month run during the covid shortened 2020 season and the first four months of 2021, hopefully he returns closer to being that guy vs the second half pitcher who was regularly shellacked by the opposition.

Edited April 12, 2022 by max silver

[Laika]

Kikuchi is going to shove all year. He will be the team's 3rd best SP when it's all said and done. 3.5 fWAR.

[G-Snarls]

Kikuchi is going to shove all year. He will be the team's 3rd best SP when it's all said and done. 3.5 fWAR.

 

Who does he end up better than - Berrios or Gausman?

[Spanky99]

Why doesn't he talk about Kikuchi's reduced fastball velocity 2nd half of last season.

 

So the good: Hard throwing lefty in Yankee stadium can help neutralize the short porch in right field and lefty bats.

 

Had great first half last year. We are in the first half.

 

Worried about sustainability and going into Fenway 2nd half playoff run etc... In reality, don't need to worry about that now.

 

Had zero worries about Manoah going into yesterday's game. He only hardened my resolve. Great run prevention from the Jays. Pitching/defense last night!

 

Not so confident about tonight's game... We shall see.

 

*s***'s pants*

[Stangstag]

Kinda hoping they give Teo a rest day at DH today and throw Biggio in the OF or something.

[John_Havok]

Kinda hoping they give Teo a rest day at DH today and throw Biggio in the OF or something.

 

Facing a lefty tonight so starting any LHB with terrible splits against lefties wouldn't be ideal if they don't have to. I'd rather see the RH stack tonight and throw the rest in if it gets out of hand one way or the other.

 

On the other hand, this guy has weird reverse splits in wOBA against him over his short career so far, despite underlying numbers that arent really all that different L Vs R

[Stangstag]

Facing a lefty tonight so starting any LHB with terrible splits against lefties wouldn't be ideal if they don't have to. I'd rather see the RH stack tonight and throw the rest in if it gets out of hand one way or the other.

 

On the other hand, this guy has weird reverse splits in wOBA against him over his short career so far, despite underlying numbers that arent really all that different L Vs R

 

I don’t even think we have a righty on the bench, so one of the LHH would have to DH anyways.

 

I’d prefer giving a regular the day at DH and have Biggio take the field

[Laika]

Who does he end up better than - Berrios or Gausman?

 

Manoah.

 

[Jonn]

Kikuchi is going to shove all year. He will be the team's 3rd best SP when it's all said and done. 3.5 fWAR.

 

This definitely belongs in the bold predictions thread.

[G-Snarls]

Manoah.

 

 

Oh I see

 

You really think all three of Berrios, Gausman and Kikuchi will be better than Manoah?

[The Cats Ass]

Who does he end up better than - Berrios or Gausman?

 

Manoah.

 

 

I think it depends which of those 3 get injured. The odds that Berrios, Gausman, and Manoah all make 30+ starts is probably about 23%.

[Signal]

[Stangstag]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2369[/ATTACH]

 

Who tf is Heineman lol

[bones10]

Literally who is heinmen and how many catchers are on this team Lol

[wilko]

Who tf is Heineman lol

 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/04/blue-jays-select-tyler-heineman-place-danny-jansen-on-injured-list.html

[wilko]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2369[/ATTACH]

 

Espinal stealing 2B!

[TwistedLogic]

He was added to the team to replace Jansen when he was moved to the IL.

 

There are two catchers on this team: Kirk and Heineman.

 

Collins is apparently a positionless player that can't do anything but DH.

 

Thank god he's such an elite hitter that he's still worth giving a roster spot to.

[G-Snarls]

How bad is Jansen's injury?

[Signal]

He was added to the team to replace Jansen when he was moved to the IL.

 

There are two catchers on this team: Kirk and Heineman.

 

Collins is apparently a positionless player that can't do anything but DH.

 

Thank god he's such an elite hitter that he's still worth giving a roster spot to.

 

Is it silly to suggest that maybe they should bring up someone and give him some at bats in the majors? Martinez was looking pretty good during training camp. I know you want these young guys playing every day and gaining more experience with the opportunity to work on stuff. But damn, why not bring one up for a couple of weeks and give them some at bats instead of having a bum like Collins DH.

[Solaxys]

Is it silly to suggest that maybe they should bring up someone and give him some at bats in the majors? Martinez was looking pretty good during training camp. I know you want these young guys playing every day and gaining more experience with the opportunity to work on stuff. But damn, why not bring one up for a couple of weeks and give them some at bats instead of having a bum like Collins DH.

 

wtb Greg Bird

[Spanky99]

How bad is Jansen's injury?

 

It's an oblique injury, who knows.

[43211234]

I just realized that if Danny Jansen was healthy then the entire lineup outside of Matt Chapman wouldn't be allowed to play for the Yankees due to facial hair.

 

 

What's Heineman's current beard situation?

[mellowgold]

I kinda like Espy hitting 9th