John_Havok

I had to leave the house after watching the shitshow in the 1st, I’m actually surprised (but not really) that Vlad is still in the game. I would have taken him out after that series of mistakes.

Me too, the opposing pitcher splits says he gives up major damage to RHH.

Vladdy - 1 Point - Abomination Bichette - 1 Point - Dylan Chapman - 2 Points Varsho - 2 Points- LTBF Springer - 2 Points - Omar, JohnHavok Belt - 3 Points - Jonn, JaysAllMighty Kirk - 4 Points - StangStag Merrifield - 5 Points Kiermaier - 6 Points - wilko Off the bench: 10 Points

Kirk between Varsho and Kiermaier makes me laugh. Two jackrabbits around a sloth. If Varsho gets on first he should be running alot to stay out of that DP

CBS writers on who the best SS is in baseball right now: Matt Snyder: Man, this is a tough one and I think a good portion of it boils down to if we're ready to give the mantle to Wander Franco yet. Given his inconsistencies and injury history to this point, his recent slump makes me want to move off of him. To be clear, he's already great and he's going to get better. I'm only saying it gives me pause in saying he's the best shortstop in baseball right now. Instead, I'll stick in that division and say it's Bo Bichette's time. It's his third full season and he continues to get better just about everywhere (significantly lowering his strikeout rate, for example). He has the foundation right now to make the leap into a high MVP finish (top five or even top three?). I suspect some of the usual names (Francisco Lindor, Carlos Correa, Trea Turner, Corey Seager, Xander Bogaerts) can thrust themselves into the mix by the end of the season, but right now, for me, it's Bichette. R.J. Anderson: As is always the case with these kinds of questions, I think it just depends on how you define such a thing. If you're thinking about this from a multi-year perspective, then I think Carlos Correa is probably the answer. (To wit, he leads all shortstops in Wins Above Replacement since 2021.) If you're just looking at this season, then yeah, I think it's perfectly reasonable to say either Wander Franco or Bo Bichette. Mike Axisa: You know, it's entirely possible the answer is Fernando Tatis Jr., who is of course playing right field (and playing it well) in deference to Xander Bogaerts. If we're picking the best shortstop for the next 10 years, then I'd take Wander Franco, no questions asked. If we're picking for just 2023, then I'd go Corey Seager. He's been excellent (around his hamstring injury), he's in his prime, and the skills suggest he should be a high-end performer all year. Carlos Correa and Trea Turner have struggled enough that I lean Seager. Franco long-term, Seager short-term is my answer. Shoutout to Bogaerts and Bo Bichette. Dayn Perry: In the here and now, I might narrowly lean Xander Bogaerts over Wander Franco and Bo Bichette thanks in part to the strides that Bogaerts has made with the glove. If we're talking overall with reasonable near-term expectations moving forward, I'll say Carlos Correa once he finds his level at the plate. He's got some concerning quality-of-contact indicators, however (as does Trea Turner). So it's Bogaerts for now with a nod to Bo Bichette, Corey Seager, and Wander Franco (who'll soon take over this honor).

Quite likely, or they're trying to dummy up enough paperwork to make the IL stint stick without serious scrutiny and that's taking a day or two

Vladdy - 1 Point - Abomination Bichette - 1 Point - Dylan Chapman - 2 Points Varsho - 2 Points- LTBF Springer - 2 Points - Omar, JohnHavok Belt - 3 Points - Jonn, JaysAllMighty Kirk - 4 Points Merrifield - 5 Points Kiermaier - 6 Points - wilko Off the bench: 10 Points

There's no real need to announce a Manoah "injury" until his next start unless they wanted to carry an extra reliever in the meantime.

They kinda fleeced LA for Stripling, so ... can't really bag on one bad trade to LA without acknowledging the good one too.

Not the worst bet in the world.

It pretty much does actually, but it doesnt indicate whether or not it will continue.

They picked Ray of the scrap heap and turned him into a Cy Young winner. Pitching development as a whole... I guess a bit underwhelming but there's very few teams that have that secret sauce for pitching development consistenly. Atlanta and Tampa do for sure...Dodgers probably in that list.

I'll do a deep dive post on this later, but I can tell you I've found a really good explanation for Tampa's success offensively, and the Jays struggles.

So much of the frustration of the team is perspective and expectations, not just abotu the Jays but other teams in the division. Tampa was expected to be good, not otherworldly ridiculous. Baltimore was expected to be good, not 100 win good. Boston was expected to be .500ish - not 90+ win pace good. New York is about as expected. Pre-season if you were told at the end of May the Jays would be 3 games back of New york in the AL East, that would be within the realm of expectations and you would expect NY to be leading the division with the Jays in 2nd. They still trail the Yankees by 3 games, but the jays are in 5th, Yankees 3rd. Vlad is just a chronic undeachiever of his talent after what we all saw in 2021 so essentially unless he duplicates that, he's disappointing - even if he's still really good. Half the lineup and the entire bench is underperforming their projections Some guys busted out of the gate white hot (chapman) and have now settled back to Earth so lately they seem disappointing. But if someone told you in the offseason that through most of May Chapman would be a 144 wRC+ bat after last seasons 117, not a single person would say that would be disappointing. Expectations on Manoah were some regression, not a full blown dumpster fire. Expections on the pen were much better swing and miss, which is actually happening! But then they give up HRs anytime it's not a whiff out of nowhere. People expected that jays to be above .500 and either at the top, or near the top of the division. Only half of that is true because 3 of the teams in the division are outperforming their expectations, so naturally that adds to the anger and dissapointment.

Yesterdays game was a perfect example. at least 6 line drives in the 300+ feet range that were right at outfielders. if even 2 of those 6 fall in...

Wasnt fired, his contract ran out after 2013 and he was just not retained. he was only the hitting coach for 1 season.

The fluff is for the reporters. Behind closed doors it's probably more like re-iterating what theyre doing right, but mostly what theyre doing wrong and what steps each player is going to do rectify their shortcomings. As to the exact form that takes, that's not something we'll ever know.

Also left handed and also 0 power. 3 HRs in 263 PAs so far in the minors. 5’11 but weighs in at 215. Might be some more pop in there but gonna need to unlock it to be useful.

Yeah that’s exactly what it was based on all the articles I’ve seen. Educated guess from the media

Rays hitting coach Chad Mottola on Wander Franco: “He’s so good at contact, and he can touch everything, so let’s get a better pitch to hit," Mottola said. “Even though you can touch that ball, let’s wait for one that you can drive." Sounds like a message some Jays might be in need of

Players had a closed door meeting yesterday after the loss. Schneider’s comment “they beat me to it” “We got punched right in the face the last 10 days or so,” said manager John Schneider. “You have to understand that, make adjustments and have the right attitude. You have to have the right focus going forward and in talking to the guys and hearing them, it has to happen tomorrow. Yes, it’s a tough division. Yes, it’s a tough team. We’re a good team, too.” Matt Chapman met with the media soon after Schneider spoke, and he chose to keep the details between he and his teammates, saying that he was not sure how the media knew the meeting had happened. Chapman is a professional, though, and he’s one of the most respected players in that clubhouse for a reason. Like Schneider, the third baseman believes in the importance of players holding one another accountable. “We’re all grown men here,” Chapman said. “It’s up to us. We’re the ones on the field. Our coaches can’t hold our hands. We have to go out there and find ways to win games. We have to communicate with each other and help try to make each other better. We are a team and we want to win. If we want to win a division or play in the playoffs, it’s up to us to find ways to get back on track. It’s up to nobody else but us.” Schneider, who was the first out of the clubhouse to meet with the media following the game, also took some of the responsibility upon himself and his fellow coaches. “When it comes down to us as a staff -- Pete [Walker] as a pitching coach, Guillermo [Martinez] as a hitting coach, me as a manager -- the expectations are put right in front of you,” Schneider said. “There is an urgency that needs to be had in order to meet those expectations. Wins and losses out the window, the last 10 days haven’t been great, and I think the urgency with which those expectations are trying to be achieved is not right there.” The expectations are, and should be, to win the division. These past 10 days have turned that into a mountain climb. “Yes, that’s on me and the players, but ultimately on me,” Schneider continued. “The players are recognizing that, and when the players are calling attention to that, it’s going to hold a lot more weight than any one of our staff members trying to get mad or get in their face. When players recognize it and they see it needs to get better, it will get better.” Doesn’t sound like leadership is a problem at all

According to scouting reports he also throws a low 80s slider and changeup. Slider is apparently effective, changeup is mostly just something he throws to lefties.

He’s got some deception there too with that little pause in his delivery and the short arm action. Probably allows the fastball to play up a bit. His spin rate on the fastball must be pretty good too, it wasn’t dropping much at all.

Whiff rate is substantially better, HR rate substantially worse which pretty much negated all those whiff rate gains. last year the problem was getting swing and miss, this year its getting them not to hit HRs when they don't swing and miss.

There would have to be a really hard road to the playoffs before this team would even consider sell mode. That said, there's probably multiple guys on the roster right now that won't be at the deadline.