Laika

order online and pick up a half chicken dinner in your pyjamas bring it home, blend one whole container of chalet sauce with the chicken drink it

Listen, buddy. I said "you will be loving" as in you will be loving them so far. No predctions have been made!

It's almost like Atkins' mandate is literally: Sneak into the playoffs with the least enjoyable team you can construct.

Small sample team stats: Toronto has a .217 BABIP as a team. Only better than two teams. 6.9% barrel rate as a team, 19th in baseball. Launch angle is 17th, hard hit rate is 29th out of 30 teams lmao. LD rate: 26/30 GB rate: 6/30 FB rate: 18/30 IFFB rate: 1/30 Jays have a slightly negative BsR and negative defense so bar. Defense is mostly due to Bo who already has -3 OAA. Ernie, IKF, and KK have some positive OAA. So, if you love weak groundballs and infield popups, and also like bad shortstops, you will be LOVING the 2024 Toronto Blue Jays. Basically the Oakland As on the position player side of things. 3-3 is a miracle. And the pitching by process isn't much better. 21/30 teams in K-BB% 7th luckiest team by ERA-FIP FIP ranks 29/30 teams K rate is 27/30 teams

Yeah but there are reasons for those expectations. #1 prospect, legendary MiLB hitter, already had a near MVP, 6 win season, the projections, the hard hit data, the HR derby performances. Konerko probably a good comp tbh. Peak Giambi was a stud.

The silver lining though is that if he's JUST more patient and nothing else changes, he will still be way better. The power of walks!

The Y Rod fastball is definitely more of a cutter That is good. If it is weird, it will help with the velo not being great.

He's definitely a bit lost at the plate. It looks like he is trying to: 1. swing less 2. put better swings on hittable pitches He is doing #1 so far which is I guess a good sign but definitely lost trying to get #2 working.

who cares

Altuve hit by the ball Altuve picked off at 3rd Meyers falling down The worst slider of Hader's career, a 423 foot bomb to take the lead in the 9th Yay

Man, the pitching was great. A bit of help from Altuve but really solid all around especially from Berrios though Berrios off to a great start

I jizzed my pants

Yariel Rodriguez could be our Ronel Blanco!

not throwing very hard if you believe the MiLB Gameday velocity. Like 91 to 94.5 but mostly 92.5

no hitter

Things that are scarce get paid Good MLB hitters are pretty scarce Good MLB defenders are also scarce, particularly those that can do anything with the stick Defense alone tends not to get paid in FA because it's not as scarce. You can find decent defensive catchers or glove only players in AAA, you can't really find guys who would be a great MLB DH just sitting in AAA. But that doesn't mean the defensive component of WAR is ********, because defenders who can hit at all are still relatively scarce and it remains possible to compare and measure defense. The free agent market is also not perfect or even efficient. Defense is also a) harder to measure and probably subject to more rapid decline than offensive skills. This makes teams more hesitant to pay for it long term, or even short term. But that doesn't mean it's less valuable, it just means it's a bit harder to bottle or it is more fleeting. Hitters are old by the time they reach FA, most past the top of their aging curve. Offense contains old man skills like patience and decision making which basically only get better with age. Defense has zero old man skills within it.

One good game Then one bad game against Clarke Schmidt or something Then no hit by Erick Fedde?

I'm not exactly shocked that "talking less" was a key to YOUR modest success in life.

great analysis we should tag Tom Tango

well yeah, Royce Lewis is on a different level of injury prone if we were giving them injury risk grades Lewis would be an F

It just all comes back to your core players. You can say what you want about the bottom of the lineup, or the IKF/KK signings, or Varsho not being a threat, but at the end of the day the offense is not scary when Bo and Vlad can be pitched to so easily most of the time when it matters.

At their peak, Bautista, EE, and Donaldson were elite, 150+ wRC+ hitters. Jays under Atkins and Shapiro have had exactly one such season from a hitter, 2021 Vlad of course. The feelings around the teams are almost entirely about that core. The rest of the playoff lineups were not as interesting. Tulo, Pillar, Goins, Smoak, Russell, Travis, Zeke, Barney, Saunders, Reyes, Revere... these guys were just along for the ride on offense.

Some guys definitely do just have weaker bones, it has to be the case. Or they stand closer to the plate or have SOMETHING physical going on that makes them break more bones. Jung has crossed the line. That many injuries is nuts.

Jays offense is off to a worst case scenario start. - Springer, hitting .167 - Vlad, looks confused all the time - Varsho, sucks - Biggio, 33% k rate and one lucky homer - Kirk, zero pop - KK, sucks - IKF, nothing bat and offers the least intimidating at bats imagineable. oh noooo he might hit a 85 mph soft liner oh noooo - Bichette, hurt, sucked in his limited chances - Clement and Schendier, not even starting - Votto, has now missed like 3 weeks with a rolled ankle? 78 wRC+ as a team And they have faced ZACH LITTELL, RONEL BLANCO, TYLER ALEXANDER, AARON CIVALE, and ZACH EFLIN NOT EXACTLY A LINE OF ACES