Brownie19

I was out yesterday and haven't gone back to read through the comments, but I think MLB should amend the rule, which would eliminate the grey area altogether. My proposed change is the catcher can't block the plate at any point or time (and if it's not already, I'd make this apply to any fielder at any base). Why can't catchers straddle the plate and tag a runner like fielders do at 2nd and 3rd? Why on earth would we allow a catcher who's in full gear 'block' the plate from the runner (after he has the ball) if the runner is not allowed to run him over? Currently, the catcher is allowed to use his body (covered in armor) to prevent the runner from getting to the plate, but all the runner can do is slide into him (or try and go around him) and hope for the best? That is f***ing stupid. I've said this consistently since they eliminated the take out slides at 2nd base. Baseball doesn't need violence to be entertaining - it simply doesn't. The elimination of the take out slide has proven this as you hear next to nothing about it these days. People complained it would ruin/pussify baseball for like a month and that's all I've heard about it since. Nobody misses it. Just because we allowed stupid things to happen for a long time doesn't mean we should continue to allow them. MLB should eliminate blocking the plate or any base at any time.

Gabriel's load reminds me of Bo's a bit...

The only logical response to this is "bring back Cito!"

It all seems rather indicative of someone who's trying to improve his patience at the plate and to reduce his O-Swing % (which he's done this year). Hopefully he finds the right balance.

10-4, just curious. And the COVID vaccine reaction was last year? Always liked Didi. I think he deserves a ton of credit for how well he played for the Yanks after replacing Jeter. Big shoes to fill. I hope he gets healthy and resumes a quality career.

When did he tear the MCL?

A lot of wishful thinking here man. Why would we trade Tapia and who's our 4th OFer (if we do trade Teo). I also don't see us upgrading 2nd base. Espinal/Biggio/Merrifield are perfectly fine there. CF is going to be a tough one to fill and while I agree moving Springer to RF is the best option, I'm not confident it will happen this offseason. I could definitely see them keeping Teo/Lourdes/Springer/Merrifield/Tapia for another year and just manage the s*** out of Springer's time in CF through the DH position.

Imagine getting paid to write about how irresponsible the Jays FO must be - or even to have a discussion about this on TV. f*** me.

That's the primary reason right there.

Man - I've been on the JBJ is s*** bandwagon for years. Virtual high 5 brother.

Thank you for correctly pointing out how dumb I am. I still struggle to believe this makes a huge difference. If you're comparing the Jays at 28th v. 10th place (because if we were 10th in the league, nobody would be talking about this), it's a difference of 1.1% and if we're just looking at relief pitchers and assuming they throw 50 pitches per game on average, that's only 0.55 more swinging strikes per game out of the pen. I can't wrap my head around that being the difference between winning and losing consistently. Or at least that it matters enough that media outlets and fans are so focused on the Jays lack of swing and miss stuff in our bullpen. I'll just go back to my day job.

Personally, I think we all give people who get paid to write and talk about baseball FAR too much credit for being smart and knowing baseball.

That's fair - but what about my comment. A 3% difference from 1st to last doesn't seem like a tangible difference at all. The best team gets 3 more swinging strikes per 100 pitches than the worst team? I find it hard to believe that 3-4 more swinging strikes per game makes a major difference. Am I wrong?

Jesus, there's only 3.1% difference between 1st and last. 1% from the Jays jumping from 28th to 13th. Do these very small margins make a tangible difference? Perhaps that Chris Black tweet suggests they don't? Beats me.

Not really from May to September. It's f***ing scorching.

Am I supposed to cheer for the M's or the Yank's?

Reminds me of the Mets Generation K!

https://www.bluejaysmessageboard.com/threads/10446-The-Blue-Jays-acquire-Mitchell-White

Sorry - I should have clarified and would appreciate your view on this. I understand and agree with what you've suggested. Balls in play are bad. I'm talking about whether we value swinging strikes over actual K% results. Pitcher A has a K/9 rate of 10.0 and a swinging strike % of 26% Pitcher B has a K/9 rate of 10.0 and a swinging strike % of 35% Is Pitcher B more valuable than Pitcher A because of the swinging strike %? or do I just care about the K% results? What about this situation Pitcher A has a K/9 rate of 11.5 and a swinging strike % of 26% Pitcher B has a K/9 rate of 9.5 and a swinging strike % of 35% Would we rather have Pitcher A or Pitcher B (assuming everything else is similar)? I believe our bullpen ranks 18th in K/9, but only 26th overall in swinging strike % (I may be a little off with those). We add Bass, who's K/9 is >9 and the narrative is still that his swinging strike % is only 2 points over league average. Just curious and trying to understand it.

I missed a lot of all-star weekend. Did the Dodgers do anything for Vin during the weekend? I assume he wasn't able to be there?

I tend to agree with you Laika. I think the concerns with Springer's elbow force their hand to acquire someone who could play CF. Merrifield might be cooked, but he's been solid since a horrible May and adds depth to the bench. I've asked this before, but never received a true response, so I'll ask it again. All I keep hearing is how the Jays didn't add swing and miss - why do we talk about swing and miss instead of K%? Are pitchers who get swing and miss instead of pitchers who get called strikes more valuable?

The same thing was said when we traded for Stripling... The Dodgers are so deep that they are constantly managing their 40 man roster and these are the types of trades they have to make to do so. Apparently White was vocally pissed that he keeps getting sent down after pitching well so LA may also have just been sick of his bitching. Who knows.

RIP to this legend. A sad day for baseball.

Wave 1 was Bo, Vlad, Jansen, Bo Wave 2 was Manoah, Kirk, Espinal, Romano Wave 3 will be Moreno, Tiedemann, Zulu, Orelvis, Pearson, Juenger, Horwitz, Barger Wave 4 will be Gabriel Martinez, Jimenez, Carter, Meza, Brandon Barriera, Josh Kasevich, Tucker Toman, etc. Obviously there are a lot of unknowns and guesses in Wave 3 and 4, but so far, they have delivered waved of quality players from our system and I still see a lot of good players and waves on the way. The reason we'll have waves is because they resisted the urge to burn a lot of these assets at the deadline this year.

This is something that shouldn't be underrated. We didn't acquire rentals. These are pieces that will help us win this year and next year (and for some - several more years)