John_Havok

I absolutely am one of the ones blaming the hitting coach when it comes specifically to Vlad's underperformance. When you see the pattern of underperformance over the past few years it's clear that either the message is wrong or the message is being delivered wrong. Both of those things are the direct responsibility of the hitting coach. Stop telling Vlad he needs to think "up the middle and the other way" and start telling him to look for a fastball and murder it into the stands.

It's really past the point where they have to consider moving Springer out of the leadoff spot right? Right? Just give him a break down around the 6 hole for a few games.

Yariel really fighting it tonight. Fastball command just wasn't there

I liked the signing but still didnt expect anything near a 150 wRC+ at any point of the season let alone after the first month. Even if he's nothing but a solid 110-115 the rest of the way....perfect.

Can't believe all these position player injuries. pitch clock just isn't giving them enough time to recover I guess.

Vlad's mental approach is just wrong. He simply has to stop thinking slider every pitch and just gear up for fastballs. His approach right now is assinine

I'm not sure I've seen a more accurate post on this board....ever.

Not sure they have much choice but to copy that for the next core given that once you get past Ricky, the SP prospects that look like they could be top of the rotation-ish guys are in A and rookie ball. LIke, who would the highest level guy with the highest level stuff be right now, after RT..... Macko?

Vlad is actually faster than he was last year. Same with Bo. Would it surprise people to know that so far this season, Vlad and Varsho have the same average sprint speed? Bo is up to 27.8 ft/s from 27.1 last season Vlad is up to 27.1 ft/s from 26.4 last season Varsho is down from 28.1 to 27.1, though his # of competitive runs is still in a small sample alert. His range in the OF and OAA is 99th % so I think his baserunning speed is just a matter of not really having chances to push it. Fastest Jays are Clement, just edging out KK, with 28.9 to 28.8, IKF 27.9, Bo 27.8, Springer and Biggio 27.4 Vlad and Varsho both 27.1 Turner and Kirk are the only below average runners with enough chances to qualify. Obviously we know Vogelbach is slow. Schneider is probably right around average. Jansen will be either average or slightly below

Well part of the reason the IKF signing gets questioned is because the big boys in the lineup still suck compared to their expectations. I don’t think anyone would argue with an IKF signing at his exact price if he was the super utility guy on a roster that looks like all it needed was some depth. His signing is totally fine, but it gets pushback due to the optics.

Holy f*** finally Vladdy

Oh god…Vlad up with 2 out and juiced bases. Why am I not very optimistic

Just started watching here in the 4th but it looks like the Jays have a real good read on the slider and are just letting it go

Whatever the trick was with Kikuchi this year, bottle that s*** and pass it around.

Yeah. It's clear he is sitting soft and waiting for hangers. He's just not ready to hit fastballs. It's weird to because he's still seeing 55+% fastballs coming his way. Why he isn't looking heater is kinda weird.

I'm actually trying to picture the amounts of heads exploding if Vlad was traded after 2021. I can't even think of a comparable.

Kikuchi honorable mention?

When finals are over I'll check into it again. Still have 2 weeks left before I'm out of university until fall again.

Yeah, really the only part that I want explained is how the guy got access to his bank accounts ... That's really the only part that needs explaining to accept the "theft" explanation as legit. Right now I don't believe that story. But I also don't believe Ohtani gambled.

Jackson Holliday debut line 0-4, with 2 Ks. Bust. Davis Schneider > Jackson Holliday

Certainly possible, but that Ryan Noda also hits HRs. Horwitz, unless he can maintain a .400 OBP at the ML level, is a pretty empty hitter. His approach at the plate is too Biggio-esque.

Well it's very clear his swing decisions are pretty much total crap. As for what's causing that issue, that's anyone's guess. It's like he wants to hit everything, or...he is getting fooled a ton because he's guessing and guessing wrong alot. He's late on fastballs all the time. My untrained eye and speculation is that hes so focused on not getting beat with breaking balls low and away that he's sitting soft and getting beat by fastballs as a result. It's somewhat understandable given that pitchers feed him a steady stream of offspeed pitches more often than not, so he's trying to prove he can hit them rather than being ready for the fastball and adjusting to the offspeed. Then there's the PAs where you can tell he's sitting dead-red and just waves at changeups all over the place. Teams may have a pretty good tell on Vlad after analyzing video on him that shows if they throw him a certain pitch in a certain location, they have a good idea at what he's likely to do next. Like they're coaching the pitchers to exploit his mental patterns. A possible example of this is...whenever the pitcher gets a strike close call on the outer edge, if they can execute a similar pitch another 3-6 inches further out, he will be swinging at it,which is exactly what they want him swinging at. That's one pattern I've noticed a ton.

and he could still win ROY or place high enough to get his full season of service time anyways, so ... the manipulation aspect of it makes no sense either

Petition to have Emily replace Hazel Mae.... immediately.

Agree 100%. He's still just way too passive at the plate.