Toronto Blue Jays 2011
- Thread starter plyrs99
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I think he will. He currently has 148 hits in 492 AB. With 7 games left he has around 28 AB left. If he can go 8 for 28 he'll wind up exactly at .300.
A more intriguing question would be whether or not he hang onto the HR lead? He hasn't had a HR or RBI in his last 7 games.
A more intriguing question would be whether or not he hang onto the HR lead? He hasn't had a HR or RBI in his last 7 games.
And that is why AA is going to have to sign a decent bat or two to protect him. When he comes up in a critical situation with runners on, either intentional walk or they pitch him away and give him nothing to hit. A decent bat behind him and he would be 50 plus HR again and the RBI's much higher. I believe his intentional walk total is around 19 and climbing.
Lind sure hasn't been the answer this year. While Lawrie may be next year,he may also have a lot of adjustments to
make as teams see more of him. Do they want to add more pressure to him although, to this point, he doesn't seem bothered by anything.
I thought EE might be the solution but he is streaky. So far I don't see any candidates in the system.
I wouldn't give up on Lind yet... this was his first season being an everyday player. I don't think it's a coincidence that his numbers dropped as the season wore on.
Too late, he's been signed to an extension. Besides which, he heard there were guys in Toronto and area who won't move their vehicles when in a no parking zone so that others can get out of their parking spot without backing up.
I wouldn't give up on him either. He just hasn't done the job as a clean up hitter. He sure didn't protect Bautista. 19 intentional walks says the opponents aren't afraid of Lind's bat.
It would be easy to give up on Colby Rasmus. Offensively he is lost, defensively I like him, but in order for him to be an everyday CF he is going to have hit for average with some power.
Adam is so quiet, I didn't realize he is married. He is back in Toronto awaiting the birth of his (first?) child.
The Blue Jays outfield sucks! There is no communication and hasn't been all year. I have never seen so many catchable balls fall in. Coaching has to be blamed for a good portion of the problem as the problem has been on going. It doesn't seem to matter which players are out there the outfielders appear lost. Similar incidents have occurred between the infielders and between outfielders and infielders. I would expect better results from pee wee house leaguers.
Lind has played 123 games this year. The past two, he has played at least 150 games.
The past two seasons, Adam Lind played solely DH. I think the point Prof. Plum was trying to make that this is the first time in a long while that Lind had to play defence as well as hit and that as a result, he was less fresh in the second half.
While I don't necessarily buy that, I do think his trip to the DL for back problems in May-June are probably the cause of his second half decline. Worth watching to see if it's a long-term issue, as backs can be tricky. Then you also have to ask if playing first base, with the bending and twisting, is causing/exacerbating the back issues. If so, do they move Lind back to DH full-time/most of the time?
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I forgot to mention this earlier this week, but I have to say that even though the Jays ended up winning in extra innings, I HATED the call in the bottom of the ninth vs. the Angels on Monday:
Runners on first and second, nobody out and the Jays call on Brett Lawrie - arguably their 2nd best hitter at the time - to sacrifice bunt with Rasmus (Molina pinch hit), Arencibia and McCoy the next three hitters against a tough lefty reliever in Downs. Suffice to say, in the slavish devotion to "small ball" that didn't work out too well.
Look, I'm all for situational small ball when matchups are in favour and a weak hitter is being sacrificed. I just hate taking the bat out of the hands of a top hitter just because small ball doctrines call for it. And I'm not even really a stat-head.
/rant
Beat me to it.
I think it's a legitimate argument. I'm not saying he would be hitting .300 with 35 HR and 100 RBI if he wasn’t playing first but I do think being the everyday first baseman for the first time has hurt his offensive production.
I have a different take on Lind. While playing a position full time for the first time in his ML career may have had a negative affect on his hitting, I believe the biggest problem was hitting clean up. He chased a lot of bad pitches and I don't see where playing first would cause that. If he was tired his power would have dropped off.He just looked lost at times.Unfortunately there was no one else.
I also think that teams started pitching around him/pitching him tougher and going after the weaker 5-hole hitter - mostly Encarnacion, who in turn saw his numbers improve in the second half. The onus was on Lind to lay off the bad stuff and battle a little better - difficult enough to adjust your swing on the fly at the MLB level, even harder with a bad back.
Also, Lind's swoon coincided with Bautista's second half fade - which itself was partially a function of injury and a lot of swing tinkering. Bautista wasn't getting on base as much and pitchers could bear down on or pitch around Lind.
It was a bit of a ripple effect on the lineup.
Also, Lind's swoon coincided with Bautista's second half fade - which itself was partially a function of injury and a lot of swing tinkering. Bautista wasn't getting on base as much and pitchers could bear down on or pitch around Lind.
It was a bit of a ripple effect on the lineup.
