max silver

So it's fine for you to complain about Biggio's lack of production based on small sample size (without actually looking at his statistics) but it's not ok for us to defend the guy from the same sample size when he has good numbers? That's mighty hypocritical of you. For what it's worth Biggio has been a solid if unspectacular contributor since his recall from Buffalo in May of last season. In his last 292 plate appearances he's produced a 110 WRC+/1.7 FWAR.

Biggio is rocking a 154 WRC+ at the moment, you'll need to pick a new whipping boy for the time being.

I recall a Chris Black twitter thread where he showed that the key for Vlad's launch angle was to avoid offering at pitches below the strike zone. Vlad has done a great job at taking pitches off of the plate so far so the launch angle should be fine if he continues to display this type of discipline. Vlad is only swinging at 21.9% of pitches off the plate, vs 30.5% in 2022. His career average is 28.4% and his best season plate discipline wise was 2021 where he swung at 24.5% of pitches out of the strike zone.

Only 1 strikeout in 34 plate appearances is pretty insane. I think he's poised to have a monster season even better than 2021.

Exactly. The key is not to get too high or too low based on spring training numbers due to a variety of factors, including players working on things, lower quality of competition etc.

Digging into the numbers a little further shows that Bass was arguably the least effective in low leverage situations. Low Leverage: FIP 4.58 K/BB 2.89 HR/9 1.65 Medium Leverage: FIP 1.58 K/BB 5.80 HR/9 0.00 High Leverage: FIP: 2.78 K/BB 3.0 HR/9 0.60

Time will tell if Pearson can command his arsenal sufficiently to maximize his potential. I was surprised that he was optioned to start the season but he and Pop can be easily flip flopped if necessary.

He'll have some very stiff competition from Jordan Romano and potentially Erik Swanson if he can repeat his 2022 success. Slider heavy second half Romano was a beast out of the pen, and Swanson was even more dominant, albeit in a lower leverage role.

Richards certainly looked very good today. Shelving the s***** offspeed pitches and maximizing use of his changeup just might allow him to be effective more frequently.

Pop is likely a slider adjustment away from becoming a really effective leverage reliever. He's has a pretty similar profile to Clay Holmes of the Yankees but still needs to find a more effective secondary pitch to complete the package.

It sounds like you think basically everyone f***ing blows though. Espinal's bat f***ing blows, Pop f***ing blows (half win season in only 39 innings f***ing blows apparently), and if I remember correctly you were the idiot harping on constantly about how Romano f***ing sucked and would be the third reliever at best on most contenders.

Slowly building up after his offseason knee surgery. https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/blue-jays-make-tough-call-with-guerrero-jr-but-caution-makes-sense/

Goddamn you're a whiny baby. We get that you're a crotchety old f***er who is completely resistant to change but honestly man you'll be so much better off once you just accept the new reality of the pitch clock and move on. I don't get all of the bitching and moaning about this change, it's like you enjoy watching batters constantly adjusting their batting gloves, pitchers shaking off the catcher 10 times in a row, 8 pick off attempts in at bat, and all of the other assorted s*** that does nothing but serve to slow the game down.

I think Nate will eventually settle into a Chad Green fireman type role. Having Nate in this role and actual Chad Green as well would make for a nice combination.

Pearson is nearly 5 years younger and has 4 years of remaining control so he's not quite Merryweather level lost cause just yet.

Creating more home grown starters is a big key to the Jays future sustainability. If they want to have the available funds to extend both Vlad and Bo long term they can't have this type of money tied up in the rotation long term. Tiedemann at leaves gives the chance of another top of the rotation stud so at least that's a good start. On an unrelated pitching note I feel that the team is making massive strides in developing home grown bullpen relief, I think the current crop of relievers in the minor leagues will start graduating to the majors in 2023.

If Varsho can repeat his defensive results from 2022 he very well may be the team's best defender despite the presence of Kiermaier and Chapman on the roster.

I can certainly see a 5+ WAR season, how much does the defensive adjustment for primarily playing left field likely affect his overall WAR numbers?

A proper father supports the mother by joining in the seefood diet where you see food and eat it.

Yeah totally agree world series titles really suck.

They are both outspoken on Twitter for sure but Manoah isn't nearly as annoying for me as Stroman was. Stroman was constantly self promoting and pumping his own tires, and was a giant hypocrite to boot. When criticized on Twitter he would claim that it didn't bother him in the slightest but then proceed to block people for anything and everything. Manoah has confidence bordering on cockiness, but you can see how he is the ultimate team player in how he interacts with his teammates, celebrates their accomplishments etc. Stroman was reported to have feuded with his teammates on more than one occasion. Manoah is respectful with the media whereas Stroman would blow up at a reporter for asking a perfectly reasonable question. I'm obviously not around these guys personally but Manoah seems confident yet respectful of people in general, whereas Stroman displays a lot of narcissistic traits. Manoah can certainly rub the opposition the wrong way with how he carries himself on the field at times, but I think he's starting to tame that down a bit as he gains more experience and general maturity.

I typically push back against projections that are far too low as projection systems are typically slow to fully recognize when a player unlocks a new level of skill. This seems the opposite of that however in how overly high this projection appears. To Varsho's credit he did have a much stronger second half of the season offensively at it appears as though some mechanical changes have led to improved success at the plate.

Maybe the opportunity to rehab at a world class training facility helped sway Green towards signing with the Jays a bit

Belt's k rate was all of 0.2% higher in 2022 vs 2021 where he was still raking so I'm not overly concerned about that. If the knee is healthy and holds up I expect Belt to mash against RHP again.