John_Havok

I'm 6'6" and split squat 7000 pounds... as a warmup. So .... the e-warrior up there doesn't scare anyone.

Stroman starting vs Bassit. lineups... who cares Joey Votto has accepted a non-roster invite to Spring Training for the Jays according to Olney

I mean.. Olney so... grain of salt, but it's probably true since Shulman just mentioned it on the broadcast. Its a classy gesture to see if there's anything left in the tank, but there's also those Jersey sales i'm sure they're hoping for.

Yes. The precursor trade where Tanev went to Dallas and included Jersey as a salary retainer ... that laid the groundwork for the Markstrom deal, but ownership in Calgary is being f***in stupid, as usual. Its a curse of the Alberta NHL teams, meddling ownership that ties their GMs hands, gets s*** results because what they want is obviously stupid, then fires them for doing what they are told. Pick a lane. Doing it 75% of the way is just dumb. They're 6-4 in their last 10 and are 8 points out of a WC spot with 20 games left. They'd pretty much have to go 14-6 AND hope Nashville plays .500 or worse, AND Vegas keeps forgetting how to play hockey.

New pitch? or ... poorly thrown slider. Lets go with new pitch for now.

The velo on the slider is way up too, which may or may not be a good thing. Last outing it was 90-91 avg velo.

Here's a decent article on spin rates overall, and has a nice visual on spin rates and fastballs etc. Its from 2018 but it's still all good info https://www.blessyouboys.com/2018/5/15/17355934/a-basic-look-at-spin-rate-and-what-it-means-for-pitches

Yeah, and even if they did offer him a deal late, it doesn't exclude the likelihood of Chapman saying he wasn't all that interested in returning early on. Feelings can change when you know you turned down 6/120, and 4 months later you find yourself wondering why you haven't received any offers at all even close to what you thought you should get.

Visually, the stuff is good as it always has been. He still can't get it where he wants/needs it consistently.

Got the nasty version of Pearson today too. 12 pitches, 9 4-seamers and 1 each of the curve, slider and splitter/changeup. Avg 98.5 with the heater 5 swings and 3 misses. 2 Ks and soft contact out.

Its almost like that pitching lab is ... doing stuff. But as with anything, there's no system that can be the magic pill for everyone, as a hitter or pitcher. Not everyone can just "get your front foot down earlier and pull it" and become Jose Bautista. All of that stuff is highly individualized, though some general truths clearly exist. I can't remember what I was listening to or what teams they were talking about but the contention was that a ton of the scouts out there over the past 10 years or so are out there not just looking at the basics, but recruiting guys with very specific physical attributes and then the team teaches them the pitches that work the best from those attributes. Not just a "big and strong" prototype anymore. If we get X guy with X attributes, we'll make sure he learns X pitch type.

Just checking your logic here since the Jays SP threw more innings than the Orioles SP did. Its easy to think "that other team does do this" when you dont watch them everyday. THey did the exact same stuff, just as often and even slightly more. The only difference was they had 2 guys at the backend that were as close to automatic as you could get. They micromanaged the hell out of the gap from when the SP left and when Cano/Bautista took over. # of relievers used by Baltimore in 2023 = 26 # of relievers used by Toronto in 2023 = 19 # of relievers used by Baltimore who threw 10 innings or less on the season = 11 # of relievers used by Toronto who threw 10 innings or less on the season = 4 # of relievers used by Baltimore and Toronto who threw 50+ innings = 5 each. Both teams had 5 primary relievers that got the most innings. Orioles RP threw more innings on the year 575 to 557 for the Jays Seems your hypothesis of the Jays being "guilty" of micromanaging the pen more than Baltimore is clearly false. As for "best bullpen in baseball".... Orioles Relievers stats K/9 - 9.6, BB/9 3.3, xFIP 3.94 LOB 72.4% Jays k/9 9.8, BB/9 3.2, xFIP 3.99, LOB 74.7%. Differences were mainly the ground ball rates and HR rates. Orioles RP threw 4% more ground balls, and gave up 2.5% fewer HR per flyball. Not exactly massive differences between the "best pen in baseball" and the Jays is there? They're not some juggernaut.

THe issue with Vancouver is getting a partnership together and building a new park in a good location. BC Place would be a dumpster fire just like the Big O.

I'm leaning towards Maroudis as one of a few names that could have a breakout year.

Boras was probably on the phone before the MRI results were in to see what they would pay for Montgomery or Snell. Doubt they even entertain that though, they may as well resign themselves to 5th and sign a scrap heap guy like Vince Velasquez

Is it really pride though? Dude has enough money for 10 lifetimes, why put himself through the AAA grind for a 99% pay cut.

6.5 hours, i do that every few weeks from Saskatoon to Lethbridge for conjugal visits while I'm in Uni and the wife is at home. When you have the ever impressive landscapes of southern sask and alberta to look at while driving though, it seems like 10

Whatever, he could easily have been the tee

It is. But …let’s say for for a second that Chappy did think the stadium changes were responsible for his poor numbers. How does he think they’re going to be any better in SF where hitters go to die?

Josh Donaldson announces retirement.

Urshela is coming off a broken pelvis that ended his season July last year. It's reasonable to assume there might be a dip in his skillset

It was confirmed he turned down 6/120 from the Jays at some point, and told them early on he wasn't coming back to TO.

I'm still trying to figure out how the RC changes caused him to hit 400 ft flyouts to CF all year. The new dimensions caused sufficient wind changes that he could no longer pull the ball due to the wind resistance slowing down his bat speed?

Yeah but they sure nailed that Japanese market pretty effectively. Blank cheques are great for that

Its interesting though... all the predictions around here for regression only seem to apply to the Jays. Other teams players only seem to get projected to get better. Gotta love fans