General Blue Jays Discussion Thread (2023)

[wamco]

For sure. Last time I was there about 10 years ago, it took losers about 8 hours of me being in town for them to break into my car.

 

Even took my kids coats so they were cold at the game the next day and we had to go inside to an enclosed kids zone. And I was staying in a hotel in the supposed “good “ part of town when it was broken into in the hotel lot. Security at the hotel said 2

Things :

1) it happens there a lot

2) we don’t have any security cameras

 

Keep it real cleveland.

[Terminator]

It’s actually one of the most resurgent cities in the US. It used to have a well deserved reputation for being a shithole, but in the past 10ish years it’s been a real dramatic turnaround. It’s almost vibrant

 

Has it avoided the downturn that almost all American cities are experiencing right now?

[Eat My Shatkins]

This bullpen is f'n good

 

And it's currently missing Romano, Richards and Green.

 

The Jays have also built up a stable of live young bullpen arms in the upper minors with Pearson, Pop, Zulueta, Francis, Eisert, Danner, Juenger, Cooke, Fluharty and Burnette.

[L54]

Cleveland rocks! Cleveland rocks!

[AMS528]

It’s actually one of the most resurgent cities in the US. It used to have a well deserved reputation for being a shithole, but in the past 10ish years it’s been a real dramatic turnaround. It’s almost vibrant

 

True for a few places. I lived in Windsor for a few years, and saw Detroit actually become a much nicer city than it used to be. Helps that it has some great architecture, from back when people wanted their buildings to look nice.

 

It's got lots of issues still, but they've figured out that the smaller population is for the best, the cheaper housing has attracted some needed gentrification, and lots of places that were run down have been fixed up or have new businesses running. Nice to see when it happens.

[BigCecil]

Recency bias but is Hicks essentially Pearson + 2/3 MPH?

 

K rate is up this year. Low spin rate. Whiff % percentile 75th.

 

Struggles at times with command on both the FB and SL.

 

I see him as a really useful piece but not replacing Romano's spot.

[Olerud363]

Recency bias but is Hicks essentially Pearson + 2/3 MPH? K rate is up this year.

 

Struggles at times with command on both the FB and SL.

 

I see him as a really useful piece but not replacing Romano's spot.

 

Fujinami = Hicks

 

Again why we love the Orioles. I saw that over the weekend they gave Fujinami the 8th in a 2-0 game which I thought was crazy after he gift wrapped the Jays a win last week.

 

However Fujinami (for the Orioles) has been as good as Hicks has for the Jays, if Hicks wildness last night had started with the bases loaded it would have been just as bad as Fujinami's.

 

So the Orioles once again acquire the same guy as the Jays except I think they have him for a few years and didn't give up as much to get him

 

Fujinami throws harder than Hicks btw... Saw consistent 103s the other day.

[metafour]

Fujinami is not even close to Hicks you tard. Neither is Pearson.

 

Ten seconds on Statcast will show that to you. Fujinami (and Pearson) both get squared up and hit HARD with ease. Hicks is the complete opposite (93rd percentile average exit velocity, 95th percentile barrel percentage, 98th percentile xSLG).

[Brownie19]

Fujinami = Hicks

 

Again why we love the Orioles. I saw that over the weekend they gave Fujinami the 8th in a 2-0 game which I thought was crazy after he gift wrapped the Jays a win last week.

 

However Fujinami (for the Orioles) has been as good as Hicks has for the Jays, if Hicks wildness last night had started with the bases loaded it would have been just as bad as Fujinami's.

 

So the Orioles once again acquire the same guy as the Jays except I think they have him for a few years and didn't give up as much to get him

 

Fujinami throws harder than Hicks btw... Saw consistent 103s the other day.

 

Stop trolling. Fujinami is just running a BABIP heater for the O's right now (0.167). His xFIP with the O's (and overall) isn't nearly as good as Hicks and he doesn't throw harder than Hicks (99.4 w O's v. 100.9 avg). That said, was Fujinami worth a shot? Sure he was, as he obviously has a huge arm. Very similar to the Jays grabbing Genesis Cabrera.

 

I'd look at it like this - the following is the % chance that each pitcher comes in an provides Elite | Solid | Terrible results to their new teams:

 

Hicks - 50% | 30% | 20%

Fujinami - 10% | 20% | 70%

Cabrera - 10% | 20% | 70%

 

Are the O's some genius organization that "knew" they could tweek something on Fujinami and get elite results? Highly unlikely. Much like the Jays with Cabrera, they saw an opening in their 26 & 40 man rosters to take a shot on a guy with a huge arm. You're hoping a change of scenery helps or you just get some reliever magic. The Jays and O's both managed to throw something against the wall and make it stick this past month. Do they deserve some credit? Sure, but there has to be a lot of luck involved with that - just like there was a ton of luck for the Mets when they got solid results from Brad Hand after the Jays released him in 2021.

[BigCecil]

. That said, was Fujinami worth a shot? Sure he was, as he obviously has a huge arm. Very similar to the Jays grabbing Genesis Cabrera.

 

Not sure I understand. Other than teams taking shot on a pen arm (in this case from a DFA) which happens all the time, how does Cabrera show up in a comparison with Fuji and Hicks? His avg FB us under 96?

[Jonn]

Hicks had one bad outing with command where he didn’t even blow the game and he’s being compared to the worst pitcher in Baseball in 2023 and Nate Pearson lmao.

 

Fujinami = Big Arm no semblance of command. Probably a really good project but shouldn’t have been used in the some of the situations the Orioles have used him.

 

Pearson has an arrow straight fastball. Hicks fastball moves everywhere. Pearson can be effective with his velocity but only if he’s throwing atleast one of his other pitches for strikes. Which doesn’t happen often enough. So they sit heater and demolish it regardless of how hard he throws it.

 

Hicks doesn’t get squared up and hit hard because all his pitches move a metric f*** ton. He gets himself in trouble with command as a result. BABIP f***s him more than anything. If you get contact off a Hicks it’s usually on the ground. Even his mistakes. Pearson’s and Fujinami’s end up over the wall.

[Brownie19]

Not sure I understand. Other than teams taking shot on a pen arm (in this case from a DFA) which happens all the time, how does Cabrera show up in a comparison with Fuji and Hicks? His avg FB us under 96?

 

Velocity aside, I've always thought Cabrera had an electric arm from the left side. He's just been far to erratic in his career to provide consistent results. FWIW, his fastball velocity is in the 80th percentile this year and was in the 97th percentile in 2021. Maybe I'm wrong?

 

Regardless, he's similar to Fuji in that he was struggling mightily and about to be released and like the O's, the Jays came in and offered a bag of balls to take a chance that he could regain his effectiveness with some minor tweaks and a change of scenery - and so far, it's worked for both teams.

[BigCecil]

Velocity aside, I've always thought Cabrera had an electric arm from the left side. He's just been far to erratic in his career to provide consistent results. FWIW, his fastball velocity is in the 80th percentile this year and was in the 97th percentile in 2021. Maybe I'm wrong?

 

Regardless, he's similar to Fuji in that he was struggling mightily and about to be released and like the O's, the Jays came in and offered a bag of balls to take a chance that he could regain his effectiveness with some minor tweaks and a change of scenery - and so far, it's worked for both teams.

 

His stuff does look electric. In '21 he averaged almost 98 on his FB. He has lost a couple MPH it seems.

[Brownie19]

His stuff does look electric. In '21 he averaged almost 98 on his FB. He has lost a couple MPH it seems.

 

He's still 15th in MLB in average velocity from a left handed pitcher. If he ever gets back to 98, he's top 3 in all of baseball from the left side.

[Stangstag]

Fujinami = Hicks

 

Again why we love the Orioles. I saw that over the weekend they gave Fujinami the 8th in a 2-0 game which I thought was crazy after he gift wrapped the Jays a win last week.

 

However Fujinami (for the Orioles) has been as good as Hicks has for the Jays, if Hicks wildness last night had started with the bases loaded it would have been just as bad as Fujinami's.

 

So the Orioles once again acquire the same guy as the Jays except I think they have him for a few years and didn't give up as much to get him

 

Fujinami throws harder than Hicks btw... Saw consistent 103s the other day.

 

This is egregious and you should be ashamed at making this comparison

[Brownie19]

For sure. Last time I was there about 10 years ago, it took losers about 8 hours of me being in town for them to break into my car.

 

Even took my kids coats so they were cold at the game the next day and we had to go inside to an enclosed kids zone. And I was staying in a hotel in the supposed “good “ part of town when it was broken into in the hotel lot. Security at the hotel said 2

Things :

1) it happens there a lot

2) we don’t have any security cameras

 

Keep it real cleveland.

 

Interesting. I was there 5 or 6 years ago now (Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cinny baseball/golf trip) and we really enjoyed Cleveland. I didn't think it was the shithole it had the reputation of being. 4th Street East area was amazing. Closed streets with all kinds of great restaurants, bars and patios. Progressive Field has a bar type area in the RF stands. Tons of craft beers, good food and standing room. Like the Corona Rooftop patio I guess. It was a great place to watch a game in which I didn't care who won.

[Daniel Labude]

[Laika]

 

Isn't this just good evidence supporting the idea that they should go on a run?

 

RISP splits are probably noise

 

The bases empty number would be much closer to true talent

[Jonn]

Hoping the lineup can round more into shape when Bo is back. Knowing Schneider here can push Varsho for playing time while booting the likes of Espinal out of the lineup gives me intrigue as well. I also think Springer has to get hot at some point for an extended period time. He's been getting his hits recently but we haven't seen a power surge yet.

[Daniel Labude]

Isn't this just good evidence supporting the idea that they should go on a run?

 

RISP splits are probably noise

 

The bases empty number would be much closer to true talent

 

You would think, but at 100+ games, can they break the pattern or is it the norm for the season

[bones10]

Is there any updates on any of the injured dudes? I imagine Romano would be the first back.

[Brownie19]

Isn't this just good evidence supporting the idea that they should go on a run?

 

RISP splits are probably noise

 

The bases empty number would be much closer to true talent

 

No, no - it's evidence we should fire the hitting coach of course.

[Daniel Labude]

Is there any updates on any of the injured dudes? I imagine Romano would be the first back.

 

Romano threw a bullpen and Bo might start taking swings this week

[Daniel Labude]

[Brownie19]

Ben Wagner - 22 minutes ago...

 

Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said Tuesday in an interview with MLB Network that Bo Bichette (knee) was “moving around with very few symptoms, almost none at all” during a workout on Monday.

Bichette has resumed baseball activities, but has yet to be cleared to start hitting again. The 25-year-old shortstop landed on the injured list last Wednesday with right knee patellar tendinitis, but isn’t expected to require a lengthy absence. Barring any setbacks, it’s possible he could return to Toronto’s lineup at some point in mid-August. It’ll be veteran trade acquisition Paul DeJong continuing to handle shortstop in his absence.

[Laika]

You would think, but at 100+ games, can they break the pattern or is it the norm for the season

 

It probably already has

[Omar]

Ben Wagner - 22 minutes ago...

 

Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said Tuesday in an interview with MLB Network that Bo Bichette (knee) was “moving around with very few symptoms, almost none at all” during a workout on Monday.

Bichette has resumed baseball activities, but has yet to be cleared to start hitting again. The 25-year-old shortstop landed on the injured list last Wednesday with right knee patellar tendinitis, but isn’t expected to require a lengthy absence. Barring any setbacks, it’s possible he could return to Toronto’s lineup at some point in mid-August. It’ll be veteran trade acquisition Paul DeJong continuing to handle shortstop in his absence.

 

Would be great to have him back before the next Baltimore series.

[G-Snarls]

 

That's kind of nuts really LOL

[G-Snarls]

Would be great to have him back before the next Baltimore series.

 

That would be fantastic

[Omar]

Went on 10 day IL Aug 2 so could potentially be ready for Saturday. Does he need a rehab stint??

 

Yeah our schedule is relatively soft until August 22 when we face the O’s. He should have lots of time to recover.