Laika

Pretty sure he did a similar misplay against Texas too. They shouldn't make decisions based on such tiny samples and recent memory, but who knows if Smoak is even better than Colabello. He has better hands but it wouldn't surprise me if Colabello has better range. Meh. It's also annoying when they swap Smoak in and then he has to hit once before the end of the game. Because he isn't very good at hitting baseballs.

Chris Young is better than you think (article)

Chris Young is better than you think (article)

I'm not sure why the eye test would have much relevance when we have so much data. Slider is decent though: http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/94814812/v520580583/houkc-gm1-young-strikes-out-seven-in-relief-outing/?query=Chris+Young The Blue Jays should still eat his babies, of course. It's a shame if they don't.

Chris Young does similar things to Estrada. He throws slow fastballs up in the zone, with a high spin rate. Look at his career numbers, they are crazy: 3.69 ERA; 4.39 FIP; 4.87 xFIP .247 BABIP 8.1% HR/FB Two things happen when Chris Young pitches. 1) The high fastballs with a high spin rate create a higher launch angle than batters want when they make contact. 2) The low velocity of his fastballs makes it more difficult for hitters to achieve a high exit velocity (getting under the ball due to the high spin rate and location also contributes here). Now observe the donut hole: Chris Young lives in that donut hole. Young has a contact ability that goes somewhat ignored and under-appreciated by FIP theory. Some of his career ERA-FIP differential is his spacious home parks, but some of it is skill. Don't be completely shocked if Young is frustratingly effective today, and gets a lot of flyouts that just don't carry.

If the knuckleball is working and the defense doesn't f*** up, the swing happy Royals could look silly. 90 pitch CG for Dickey?

I agree. Should have gone to Hendriks first out of the pen and asked him for two innings. Big lead, two more games before a day off, would have been nice to give Sanchez and Osuna a breather.

Lies

In other roster shuffling news, Dom Brown was outrighted by the Phillies so he'll probably elect free agency. Bad player but big name.

Venditte's minor league numbers are decent but his stuff looked terrible in the big leagues. Sad fact: he pronounces his name "Ven-diddy" as opposed to the correct "Ven-deet".

still pretty young, UZR/150 of like +15 in his career at 2B

What a time to be a Jays fan!

I think lots probably do. Halladay had zero personality. Stroman is a future hall of famer anyway.

Stroman>Halladay>Edwin>Wells>Donaldson>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Bautista

Most of the time in professional sports, teammates stick up for each other. Jose Bautista was given multiple opportunities throw Goins a bone or stick up for him a little bit, and he stubbornly refused.

There are very few other star players and team leaders in baseball that would handle that post-game interview in that way. It was extremely odd. Yes, he was getting asked stupid questions and he didn't really want to talk about it. Still weird for him to just say, "there's video... I think there's video... there was no confusion...I had a chance to make the play but someone called me off." Most players would say something like, "I thought I had a chance, but Goins called me off. I'm not sure if the crowd distracted him or what exactly happened. It was an uncharacteristic mistake by Ryan, who has been such a good defensive player for us. With the way David was pitching we still weren't concerned, but unfortunately that seemed like the spark they needed to get going. But we've been in this situation before, down 2 games to none, and we're still confident heading back to Toronto." Blah blah Ride the high on Wednesday and bat flip like nobody else. Ride the bad vibes on Saturday and handle a post-game interview like few others. The Best and Worst of Jose Bautista.

Who saw the Bautista post-game interview? What a f***ing dickhead. First time I've ever agreed with the other teams' fanbases in their opinions towards him. Douche. Just makes my f***ing skin quiver to see Bautista, hair slicked back, defiantly throw his teammate under the bus.

s*** throw

wtf is wrong with Goins? I guess inexperience showing through

Yosted...

Not going to pinch hit Smoak or Navarro for Goins with the bases loaded? I guess Gibbons didn't think that the Goins-->Pennington defensive downgrade was worth the extra chance at more runs.

They also could have played Orlando today. He actually had a better wRC+ and UZR/150 than Rios this year. I don't think I would have played Dyson for defense alone. Useless against Price.

8 hits and 2 walks against Ventura. Need to get more than 3 runs off of him!

Again!

It might just be my Blue Jays bias, but it really feels like this broadcast crew just plain likes the Royals more.