General Blue Jays Discussion Thread (2024)

[hanton]

Shift Springer to LF, Barger in RF vs RHP. Need to leverage Bargers best defensive attribute in RF, Springer can STFU and move to LF without saying a thing.

 

as long as he's played some innings in rf that should be fine, excited he's getting this chance

[glory]

Varsho Orelvis Barger new core please

 

Varsho, Orelvis, Barger, and Schneider is actually a pretty decent start to a new core (on paper), assuming Varsho is back to being a 100+ wRC+ player and can finally play CF regularly. Bring Jansen back on a long term deal (with his injury history baked in it should in theory lower the cost), and put Roden in AAA to see if he's a potential late 2024 or 2025 contributor. That combined with a lot of money to play with in free agency/trades. I'm ready.

[DigitalRock]

Our MLB rankings by position this season:

 

C - .490 OPS (27th)

1B - .648 OPS (15th)

2B - .927 OPS (2nd)

3B - .802 OPS (6th)

SS - .619 OPS (24th)

LF - .824 OPS (8th)

CF - .559 OPS (23rd)

RF - .601 OPS (24th)

DH - .789 OPS (8th)

[The_DH]

Someone get hurt?

 

He's been playing mostly 3B but could play RF too I suppose.

 

It's Barger time!

 

KK last night, hip area.

[Jays24]

Our MLB rankings by position this season:

 

C - .490 OPS (27th)

1B - .648 OPS (15th)

2B - .927 OPS (2nd)

3B - .802 OPS (6th)

SS - .619 OPS (24th)

LF - .824 OPS (8th)

CF - .559 OPS (23rd)

RF - .601 OPS (24th)

DH - .789 OPS (8th)

 

That's crazy... literally all the positions most people complained about all offseason are our strongest positions relatively lol.

[Orgfiller]

That's crazy... literally all the positions most people complained about all offseason are our strongest positions relatively lol.

 

Not to mention people complaining about John Schneider and the FO rotating 2B/3B too much and not playing enough of Davis Schneider and Clement, but here we are. JS has been squeezing all the juice out of the 2B/3B timeshare to perfection thus far.

[Eat My Shatkins]

I can't f***ing believe how bad Kirk is at hitting now.

 

This guy was a hitting machine all the way up the MiLB ladder and into the majors. How in the f*** do you fall off a cliff like that in your early/mid twenties?

[Eat My Shatkins]

We need patented Danny Jansen and Bo Bichette hot streaks to kick in pronto.

 

I don't have any faith in the fatties anymore.

[Terminator]

Bit weird that he literally has yet to play an inning at LF in his career, but assuming this isn't actually some weird mental hurdle:

 

Against RHP:

LF / CF / RF: Barger(Biggio) / Varsho / Springer

2B/3B: IFK/Biggio(Barger), Schneider filling in on advantageous matchups (pitchers that don't use high heat too much)

 

Against LHP:

LF / CF / RF: Schneider / Varsho / Springer

2B/3B: IFK/Clement, Biggio sometimes

 

Going to be interesting to see how the playing time gets divvied up.

 

Barger will probably get most of his run at 3B with some RF; he probably will play a ton against righties.

 

Schneider has been playing a lot. I think he probably becomes close to a full time LF.

 

Seems like Biggio will take the biggest hit. His RF and 3B time is probably completely gone. Now competing with IKF and Clement more at 2B. He could get more run by spelling Schneider in LF some.

[Brownie19]

That's crazy... literally all the positions most people complained about all offseason are our strongest positions relatively lol.

 

shocking.

[Eat My Shatkins]

Man is it hard to predict Jays line ups with the plethora of multi-positional players they carry now.

[Eat My Shatkins]

That's crazy... literally all the positions most people complained about all offseason are our strongest positions relatively lol.

 

Same as the previous off season where the complainers whined about the bullpen all off season and that stupid Atkins wasn't doing anything to improve it and then the bullpen ended up being a strength.

 

Won't stop the complainers from complaining next off season though.

[Laika]

I can't f***ing believe how bad Kirk is at hitting now.

 

This guy was a hitting machine all the way up the MiLB ladder and into the majors. How in the f*** do you fall off a cliff like that in your early/mid twenties?

 

Catching is HARD

 

I guess that would be the main thing going on

[Jays24]

Same as the previous off season where the complainers whined about the bullpen all off season and that stupid Atkins wasn't doing anything to improve it and then the bullpen ended up being a strength.

 

Won't stop the complainers from complaining next off season though.

 

Until you win a world series, there are always going to be areas to improve on. Sadly this team hasn't even come close to that yet so the complaining will be justified if targeted towards the right areas. Most of us wanted the offense to improve but little did we know that Bo/Vlad/Springer/Kirk were going to be the biggest culprits.

[Eat My Shatkins]

Catching is HARD

 

I guess that would be the main thing going on

 

Especially when you're 5 foot 3 and 300 pounds and you've gotta pay for all those bags of fudge rounds.

[Eat My Shatkins]

Until you win a world series, there are always going to be areas to improve on. Sadly this team hasn't even come close to that yet so the complaining will be justified if targeted towards the right areas. Most of us wanted the offense to improve but little did we know that Bo/Vlad/Springer/Kirk were going to be the biggest culprits.

 

Meh, complainers will find something to complain about even if they win a world series.

[glory]

That's crazy... literally all the positions most people complained about all offseason are our strongest positions relatively lol.

 

A lot of this is just noise, though. Like, Biggio has a .412 BABIP and .290 xwOBA. He's going to regress hard, though if they use him based on matchups which they appear to be doing, then maybe they can mask that a little bit. Bichette is going to get better. Vlad (hopefully) is going to get better. Kirk and Springer can't possibly get any worse, and Jansen is back now. IKF's underlying numbers are actually pretty good, so while I don't expect him to continue to hit this well, he may not be the 80 wRC+ player that he's been in the past. But still, very SSS. I think the best part of the season so far in terms of offense has been the way they have maximized the DS/IKF/Clement/Biggio performance.

 

Much like last season, this team's offensive upside is going to come down to which Vlad shows up. If he's a 115 wRC+ player who drills GB's like he's doing it on purpose and is a 1 WARish 1B with s*** defense/base running again, then it's going to put a lot of pressure on the ancillary pieces to carry the load again. If he's even the 2022 version of Vlad (130 wRC+, 30 HR) then it would drastically change the outlook of the offense. Unfortunately, I think even that bar is too high to expect from Vlad at this point. Something is not right with him.

[z3r0s]

Especially when you're 5 foot 3 and 300 pounds and you've gotta pay for all those bags of fudge rounds.

 

god knows taxes ought not to pay for them!

[Olerud363]

Catching is HARD

 

I guess that would be the main thing going on

 

I don't know Joe Mauer did OK, even the light version of Joe Mauer is better than this version of Kirk...

 

But weirdly catchers do this sometimes yes. Russel Martin had two random .330 slugging seasons in his mid 20s. Jason Kendall had like a random 0 homer season one time. Joe Mauer went from a 1987 Wade Boggs (a.k.a. 1993/98 John Olerud) to a powerless guy to.

 

Maybe it's all hand injuries. The entire thing is hand injuries. Everything is f***ing hand injuries.

 

Maybe Vlad was destined to be 10 straight triple crowns until he got his hand stepped on in Yankee Stadium around April 12th 2022 **. Maybe Snider and Hinske were destined to be great until hurting their hands. Hamates both I think.

 

Vlad got hand stepped on, but hit two more bombs. I think Snider actually hit a bomb after his hand injury but then felt it more swinging and missing....

 

So that's it. That's the explanation. All the pain is hand injuries and maybe catchers get them more.

 

But also. Kirk got hit by pitch in Milwauklee June 25th or so 2022 and after that point he has sucked even though he didn't miss any time except for a day.

 

ITS ALL f***ING HAND INJURIES.

 

OKJ. So here is what you do. DL them and inject stem cells, HGH and steroids (medical exemption) until the f***ing hand is fixed even if it take 18 months.

[Olerud363]

I don't know Joe Mauer did OK, even the light version of Joe Mauer is better than this version of Kirk...

 

But weirdly catchers do this sometimes yes. Russel Martin had two random .330 slugging seasons in his mid 20s. Jason Kendall had like a random 0 homer season one time. Joe Mauer went from a 1987 Wade Boggs (a.k.a. 1993/98 John Olerud) to a powerless guy to.

 

Maybe it's all hand injuries. The entire thing is hand injuries. Everything is f***ing hand injuries.

 

Maybe Vlad was destined to be 10 straight triple crowns until he got his hand stepped on in Yankee Stadium around April 12th 2022 **. Maybe Snider and Hinske were destined to be great until hurting their hands. Hamates both I think.

 

Vlad got hand stepped on, but hit two more bombs. I think Snider actually hit a bomb after his hand injury but then felt it more swinging and missing....

 

So that's it. That's the explanation. All the pain is hand injuries and maybe catchers get them more.

 

But also. Kirk got hit by pitch in Milwauklee June 25th or so 2022 and after that point he has sucked even though he didn't miss any time except for a day.

 

ITS ALL f***ING HAND INJURIES.

 

OKJ. So here is what you do. DL them and inject stem cells, HGH and steroids (medical exemption) until the f***ing hand is fixed even if it take 18 months.

 

FOR THOSE WHO CAN'T READ MORE THAN 2 SENTENCES. ITS ALL f***ING HAND INJURIES. ALL THIS f***ING UNDERPERFORMANCE IS HAND INJURIES.

 

Hinske: June 2003. Snider May 2010. Vlad April 2022 (stepped on in Yankee Stadium). Kirk June 25th Milwaukee (hit by pitch).

 

Sometimes they stay in game and even it homers, but hand is wrecked long term. All need DL's for months if needed until hands are fixed.

[Olerud363]

FOR THOSE WHO CAN'T READ MORE THAN 2 SENTENCES. ITS ALL f***ING HAND INJURIES. ALL THIS f***ING UNDERPERFORMANCE IS HAND INJURIES.

 

Hinske: June 2003. Snider May 2010. Vlad April 2022 (stepped on in Yankee Stadium). Kirk June 25th Milwaukee (hit by pitch).

 

Sometimes they stay in game and even it homers, but hand is wrecked long term. All need DL's for months if needed until hands are fixed.

 

Overbay - sometime in 2007. Changed guy after that.

[wilko]

I don't know Joe Mauer did OK, even the light version of Joe Mauer is better than this version of Kirk...

 

But weirdly catchers do this sometimes yes. Russel Martin had two random .330 slugging seasons in his mid 20s. Jason Kendall had like a random 0 homer season one time. Joe Mauer went from a 1987 Wade Boggs (a.k.a. 1993/98 John Olerud) to a powerless guy to.

 

Maybe it's all hand injuries. The entire thing is hand injuries. Everything is f***ing hand injuries.

 

Maybe Vlad was destined to be 10 straight triple crowns until he got his hand stepped on in Yankee Stadium around April 12th 2022 **. Maybe Snider and Hinske were destined to be great until hurting their hands. Hamates both I think.

 

Vlad got hand stepped on, but hit two more bombs. I think Snider actually hit a bomb after his hand injury but then felt it more swinging and missing....

 

So that's it. That's the explanation. All the pain is hand injuries and maybe catchers get them more.

 

But also. Kirk got hit by pitch in Milwauklee June 25th or so 2022 and after that point he has sucked even though he didn't miss any time except for a day.

 

ITS ALL f***ING HAND INJURIES.

 

OKJ. So here is what you do. DL them and inject stem cells, HGH and steroids (medical exemption) until the f***ing hand is fixed even if it take 18 months.

 

If they were clever, they would have opted to amputate their hands and allow them to regenerate during the offseason. That's the approach Jansen takes, but with each regeneration, the bones become progressively weaker.

[Jays24]

Meh, complainers will find something to complain about even if they win a world series.

 

Come on now... you know everyone's end goal here is winning a world series. You don't join a message board like this if you don't care for that to happen. We all just have different views on how to best achieve that but ultimately gotta respect that 99% of us are hoping for the same end goal.

[Olerud363]

1. Something happens to f*** up hand but hand isn't destroyed totally.

2. Feels OK so guy keeps playing, hits homers maybe even

3. It's not the hard hit ball that messes it up more but a hard swing and miss at some point on an already f'd up hand

4. After playing with messed hand for a few days, gets messed up more and guy becomes powerless.

5. Guy completely changed now. Power cut 70%.

 

These teams aren't being conservative enough with hand injuries because it seems OK at first.

[Olerud363]

If they were clever, they would have opted to amputate their hands and allow them to regenerate during the offseason. That's the approach Jansen takes, but with each regeneration, the bones become progressively weaker.

 

But maybe there is something to the Jansen thing.

 

1. Jansen mentally weak and low pain threshold, so can't tolerate even minor fractures so goes for a rest as soon as getting hand hit.

2. Yeah so Jansen misses 80 games, but since he isn't ever playing with a f***ed up hand he doesn't lose his power and comes back strong.

 

Jansen - ouch. OK coach get me out of this game right now and I go rest for 2 months now and not swing again for a while. Let the fat guy and some minor league scrub play for the next few weeks.

[Governator]

FOR THOSE WHO CAN'T READ MORE THAN 2 SENTENCES. ITS ALL f***ING HAND INJURIES. ALL THIS f***ING UNDERPERFORMANCE IS HAND INJURIES.

 

Hinske: June 2003. Snider May 2010. Vlad April 2022 (stepped on in Yankee Stadium). Kirk June 25th Milwaukee (hit by pitch).

 

Sometimes they stay in game and even it homers, but hand is wrecked long term. All need DL's for months if needed until hands are fixed.

 

 

I mean.... I don't remember what meat is thawing on the counter and you got dates going on from 20 years ago. What's the secret?

[The_DH]

CONFIRMED: Barger travelling to meet the Jays per reports (Ben Nicholson Smith).

[Eat My Shatkins]

Come on now... you know everyone's end goal here is winning a world series. You don't join a message board like this if you don't care for that to happen. We all just have different views on how to best achieve that but ultimately gotta respect that 99% of us are hoping for the same end goal.

 

 

Of course we all want that but you have to realize that it's highly unlikely. Every year 100 win teams get their SPI in the playoffs and every once in a while 80 something or 90 win teams win it all.

 

All the FO can do is build a team that makes the playoffs regularly to increase the odds that s*** falls their way at least one year. Look at the Dodgers, 100 win season after 100 win season and only one world series to show for it in the last 10-15 years of ruling baseball regular seasons.

 

Or I guess you don't have to realize it's highly unlikely and instead let it ruin your life and then come to message board to piss and moan about it non stop.

 

Whatever floats boats I guess.

[Eat My Shatkins]

I mean.... I don't remember what meat is thawing on the counter and you got dates going on from 20 years ago. What's the secret?

 

"How many toothpicks Ray?"

"246 toothpicks"

[gruber92]

CONFIRMED: Barger travelling to meet the Jays per reports (Ben Nicholson Smith).

 

f*** YES

 

c