Captain_Obvious

Kikuchi's off speed pitches looked good. Hopefully his fastball catches up during the rest of ST.

His pitches looked good for his first inning in ST.

Why not watch it on mlb.tv? It is free.

SN and free on MLB.TV

No. It will be a pitch clock violation.

Gabriel Martinez is one of Fangraph's six sleeper hitters in 2023. https://blogs.fangraphs.com/lets-identify-some-hitter-sleeper-candidates/ Gabriel Martinez, LF, Toronto Blue Jays Relevant Stats: Martinez isn’t old enough to purchase alcohol in the United States yet (he’ll turn 21 this July). Despite his young age, he shredded A-ball and High-A last year, to the tune of an aggregate .299/.358/.485 line. He did so despite missing a month with injury, and in his first extended playing time as a professional to boot. Defensively, he’s corners-only in the outfield. What I Like: Hitting. I like hitting, and Martinez does too. Working through two minor league levels at age 19 is impressive, and he did it not with some ludicrous BABIP but by controlling strikeouts and hitting for extra bases. Unlike many of the players on this list, he even hit some homers in a major league park (ish), since he played the majority of the season in Dunedin, the sometimes home of the 2021 Jays. Most players his age playing against advanced competition would be overmatched, which is easiest to see in their strikeout rate, but Martinez only struck out 16.4% of the time. Sure, the offensive bar to clear is higher as a corner outfielder, but he looked phenomenally good for his age and environment, which gives me hope that he can reach that bar. Warning Signs: He’s another guy whose raw power numbers fall short of what you’d expect based on his production, and he’s on the clock to boot. He was Rule 5 eligible this past offseason, but I think it’s reasonable that no one took a chance on him; he’s just too raw to put on your major league roster without worrying about his long-term development. That does make 2023 a key season, though; he’ll be trying Double-A for the first time while also auditioning for a 40-man spot. That’s a lot of pressure, and might lead the Jays to push him too aggressively, though I think his skills are up to the challenge.

He led the league, or was one of the leaders in popping up. This is why his BABIP was terrible.

I agree but I would go further and say even the smaller list is not that close. Every player on the list had at least one more thing going for them. This shows in the wRC+ where Olervis is last by a mile. I am not saying that Olervis is a lost cause. He remains very promising still. However, he needs to make major adjustments. Luckily, he is young enough that he has a higher chance to succeed than the average prospect.

Interesting. I will guess Gabriel Martinez is one of them. Low K%, OK BB%, good contract, pretty big jump in power, and very young for his level. Statistical models probably love him.

Doesn't Fattist mean that I am an advocate for fat people? Like feminist is an advocate for feminism, and fascist is an advocate for fascism.

I am preparing myself mentally for a very fat Kirk. However, I have some hope that becoming a father has motivated him to train hard to reach the peak of his potential.

Kirk is probably behind in his preseason preparations. He has not reported to Spring Training as he is expecting his new child soon. Luckily, we will have the best catcher in 2023 in Danny Jansen. I hope Atkins gets off his ass and extends him already. https://www.mlb.com/bluejays/news/danny-jansen-alejandro-kirk-2023-catching-tandem The Blue Jays haven’t seen Kirk yet this spring, though, making Jansen even more important. Kirk has been delayed arriving as he and his partner expect a child any day, but with him planning to play for Mexico at the upcoming World Baseball Classic in March, the timeline is starting get awfully tight. “We’re getting to the point where it will be a little meticulous,” said manager John Schneider. "We had a plan in place for him for the WBC for a while, so we’ve got to feel it out when he gets here with how it looks and how he feels. He’s doing everything in his power right now to be at, or maybe a little bit below, where the guys are now who have been here.” Schneider added that “conversations are ongoing” about Kirk and the WBC. Just how well Kirk has trained at home this offseason will surely factor in, but regardless, it’s Jansen who is in camp working with the club’s new arms every day, taking steps ahead when it comes to their preparation. The hope is that Kirk is able to arrive soon, but that remains a day-to-day situation.

Not going to happen. He is a Boras client and will test free agency unless he is offered a ridiculous contract.

That depth will not be anything more than AAAA pitchers. The Jays depth is fine. You cannot expect a sub 4 ERA in every spot.

Wait. You mean we can't have 8 $20M per year starters with 3 of them being in Buffalo? Fire Atkins!

6 WAR season incoming.

Other than injury history, the other items are a non-factor. The way I look at it, if you want to trade Jansen with the hypothetical contract, would teams give you good offers. So it comes down to this: What is likely to result in higher return in 2024? 1- Danny Jansen with 1 arbitration year remaining? 2- Danny Jansen with 3 years of control @ 10M each. For me, it is easily 2.

Yea. This is the point. He is very likely to get more expensive and quickly as time goes by.

The biggest mistake made this off season was not extending Danny Jansen.

So many insensitive posters. Do you guys realize how much weight people put on when they're expecting a child?!?!?

f***

Kirk is looking good.

Wasn't this his batting stance?

They can easily delay a couple of months with some BS reasons. The Orioles likely lost over $15M in value by being stupid. The whole point here is that this CBA rule is counterproductive to teams and players. It incentivizes teams to keep good players in the minors for at least half of the season if they do not start on the MLB roster. It should be fixed so that teams are rewarded or not penalized for doing the right thing.

I don't think that matters. You do not get the high draft pick if he is not on opening day roster yet you still lose the year of control if he finishes top 2 in RotY. Noncompetitive teams are better off waiting until July or later to promote good prospects if said prospects start the year in the minors. It is in the team's interest to minimize their players' chances of winning RotY in this scenario.