Brownie19

How do they feel about playing in Oakland?

Did Moreno get into many games this spring?

Oh so you don't overreact much. Right. Got it.

You are the king of overreactions.

I wonder if his spot in our order was part of the negotiations...

We've seen the Springer, Semien, Bo stack at the top of the lineup a few times now. Wonder if Charlie will start the year with that.

Some interesting tidbits about the Jays bullpen in this snipit. Didn't realize Dolis's slider was this dominant. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) The Toronto Blue Jays have a top-five bullpen. The lead arm for the ninth inning roles goes to the great Kirby Yates. Yates didn’t really pitch in 2020 due to injury but years prior he was known to be one of if not the best reliever in the league. Between 2018 and 2019 he held a 1.67 ERA and 1.93 FIP and grabbed 53 saves along the way. Word on the street is Yates has looked fantastic in spring training and is completely healthy. The eight-inning pitcher in Toronto goes to Mr. Jordan Romano. Before the Yates signing Romano was a big target in drafts. In 2020 he made a pitch mix change by leaning on the slider and it lead to a 1.23 ERA and 36.8 K%. Romano is the perfect setup man who can step into the ninth inning role when needed. In the seventh inning, you have Rafael Dolis. Last season Dolis finished with a 1.50 ERA and 31.0 K%. He features a slider that is essentially unhittable as it posted a -19 wRC+ and .000 ISO against. He also throws a splitter that induces just as many whiffs as the slider leaving him with two stellar breaking balls. That is three pitchers who could technically all could close. All three have filthy breaking pitches and all three can create a lot of strikeouts. If the Blue Jays go to the seventh inning winning the game it will be very difficult to beat them with these three arms anchoring down the bullpen. Last season their bullpen was ranked 24th overall in terms of ERA and I suspect that a major turnaround is coming.

Where does this take come from? Grichuk is a career 105 wRC+ hitter. We know what he is and his advanced metrics are actually down the past 2 years. When he gets on a hot streak, you can ride it out, but otherwise, there's no reason to force him into the lineup. He's a great 4th OFer. Tellez is on the right side of the platoon and posted elite statcast/advanced metric numbers last year. I think we need to see if he can sustain the success he had last year. If he can't, then Grichuk is a nice fallback option.

Wow - I didn't know this. I was going to come comment on their broadcaster, but I think I'll keep my mouthy yap shut.

I think Kershaw's 2013-2016 is as impressive - except he didn't throw 300+ innings a year.

Tommy Milone walking around like

I vote yes - the guy is a f***ing stud.

I'm also high on Hatch. Very smooth delivery.

Nick Markakis is retiring. We've talked a few times here about his pursuit for 3,000 hits and what that would mean, but he evidently won't get there. Solid career for Nick. Another 'makes me feel old' moment as I remember when he first came up and had a ton of early success. Such a pure hitter.

I agree and think this is what will happen. Jansen isn't good enough to garner 75% of the starts now that we have another legit option.

Charles and Shaq want to see more post play? Shocker. Uptempo, 'small ball' with a priority on athleticism, versatility and skill made the NBA great IMO.

Pick offs and step offs blow and I do think making it easier to steal would add excitement to the game. A slo pitch 1st base would be cringeworthy, but it totally makes sense and we'd all get used to it. Eliminates injuries and the stupid setup how you have to run in the baseline and then cross over at the last second. I'm not a fan of limiting where fielders stand - but whatever, I could probably get on board with it too.

you may find a change in approach now that we're a legit contender.

Perhaps, but I believe ratings and popularity of basketball is through the roof....so they probably don't seem to need to solve that problem you believe exists (or may exist).

There's a likelihood that Kirk is a much better hitter than Grichuk.

First time I've heard a serious complaint about the new NBA game. I like it. Up tempo and exciting.

Well there it is. They won the cat and mouse game and keep both of those s***** pitchers.

Unusual that they will just letter rip with full capacity for opening day and then scale back...

Yates is scheduled to pitch tomorrow. That's good news.