Laika

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1AE1dNnudwRS6aLhWA1SArp1GoviUeHNcASXxtm3Le9I/edit#gid=1464355835

If you like watching SPs like Kikuchi and Ryu get knocked around, you will LOVE Zach Davies and Jose Quintana in the AL East

Here are some of the Jays relievers so far in 2022 by the Eno Sarris fancy stats PLAYER / STUFF+ / COMMAND+ / PITCHING+ MERRYWEATHER 119.3 / 101.2 / 108.6 CIMBER 135.2 / 102.6 / 106.7 MAYZA 114 / 104 / 106 ROMANO 122.2 / 94.3 / 104.8 THORNTON 106.1 / 99.1 / 104.1 GARCIA 97.3 / 103.4 / 101.3 PHELPS 85.9 / 95.6 / 95.8 RICHARDS 108.6 / 92.7 / 93.6 Okay so Richards does have such awful command this year and he is their worst reliever. Phelps is terrifyingly bad though and should not be trusted. I would kind of ignore Cimber's Stuff+ number because the model likely doesn't work good for someone like him. Romano really struggling with command, that matches the eye test. That is holding him back from being an elite reliever. Elite RPs would be like 110+ on the PITCHING+ number. Merryweather is a stud, f*** you all. Hopefully he comes back this year. The Jays probably need to find or acquire two above average RP. Richards has a glimmer of hope because his STUFF+ number is still good. But the command is whack.

Reliever numbers are super volatile in short samples, guys Richards does have the second highest whiff rate on the team, behind only Romano. His K and BB rates are not wildly different from last year when he was okay. His FB velo is even up this year. He is throwing too many balls of course and getting hit. How much is bad luck? How much is transitory control problems? He doesn't look like someone who is broken to me, based on the indicators, so I don't see why he should be off limits in the 5th inning of a game the SP could not go deep in. In fact he might be pitching better than David Phelps on measures of talent....

Don't need Votto I'm sure Toronto will be talking with CIN about Mahle and Catillo, and OAK about Montas. Are there any other good SP on the block?

Not likely At least not for an arm injury https://community.fangraphs.com/insurance-in-baseball-is-like-a-black-hole/

Bruh Espinal > Altuve

12M AAV is not that much mate Are you seriously worried about Pearson being "blocked"??? Lol. The dude pulls an oblique when he sneezes

It's pretty smart!!!!!

It can be marginally faster but you need to execute the dive perfectly

Yeah so far they have failed to fix Kikuchi I thought scrapping his cutter might do it but it doesn't look like it yet. He really has no idea where has fastball is going.

Media

Welp

I kind of think it has to...

The guy's legs collapse on every hard swing and his GB% has been insane lately. Like it or not he does not a ton of time off to maintain playing health.

Damn.

Oh did you talk to George? You know how he is feeling? You've looked at the advanced data to see how he might be holding up?

Yeah I mean this The Cito pull dat ball stuff is mostly a meme. I don't think anyone should take it that far. But to put it more broadly... hitters should at the early stages of their career and perhaps in ruts go through "offensive approach design" phases in the offseasons to figure out the optimal approach FOR THEM based on their power, swing speed, swing mechanics, and talents. This is basically my point. Earlier this year I saw a lot of Blue Jays who were employing what I would call obviously sub-optimal offensive approaches. This is one of the things that ruined Brett Lawrie's career by the way. He became obsessed early on with trying to hit line drives and groundballs up the middle. OOOOF!

Moreno is maybe another good example. One to watch over the years. This could be a 10 HR player if he is a spray hitter trying to hit .350 all the time or he could be a 25 HR hitter if he understands the value of pulling it in the air more often

Yeah of course But lots of natural talent and bat speed on Toronto There is no doubt in my mind that a few players could for sure pull the ball a bit more if they wanted I mean data says they are already doing this last few weeks

f***, if they can't bring in some shutdown relievers.... I bet Tiedemann could slay in the pen right now haha

I swear I typed Tiedemann

I am not too concerned about SP depth in 2023 onward although I am sure they will look to add an MLB SP or two in the offseason. But in 2023 a lot of the exciting names will not be tooooooo far off to jump up to MLB if there is a need. 2022 is basically one year too early for them. But the following dudes could all be in AA or AAA next year: Palmer Zulueta Murray Kloff Dallas Juenger Robberse Van Eyk (TJS recovery though so won't see him) Santos and Frasso probably A+ I guess

Well it's not pull dat ball over all else But if a player keeps hitting opposite field fly balls that are landing in gloves... It's just way easier to turn raw power into home runs when you pull the ball here is non-Blue Jays example of a player who needs to pull the ball more https://www.fangraphs.com/players/andrew-vaughn/26197/stats#batted-ball

cram it up yer cramhole connnor