Jays 2023

[maurice93]

They been do that for way more then a few years..lol. They've been doing that since 2017.

I thought that was a shitty move to DFA Jay Jackson to make a spot for Wes Parsons. They had other options.

I think any person would agree with the premise that using your playoff roster pitchers for 8 innings yesterday would make no sense, unless you intend to pitch Jay Jackson and Ryu (on zero rest) for a combined total of 4 to 5 innings. So you had to demote one of your 14 pitchers to bring in an inning eater as 14 pitchers is the max you can carry.in September.

For those claiming there were better options, which option was better for demotion. Do you do DFA Ryu, Cabrera or Richards?
Perhaps I am overlooking something here.

To me Jackson was merely a victim of a very healthy staff for this time of year, and one with a lack of young pitchers who are easily demoted.

 

[maurice93]

Teoscar and Pina Jr have .ops's of under .800 this year - on deep, good quality, competitive teams. They're not going to change that much if they come back.

The real problem is the regression of Vladdy and Kirk, and that Springer is having a so-so year.

I am mystified why tf they brought in Varsho, a guy with a career BA of under .230 and a career .ops of under .700. No one belongs in a starting lineup with those stats. And Belt had limited impact.

Regading Varsho, the issue is that he regressed a lot this year -- he was not simply who he was this year He had OPS+ of 102 and 108 in his first 2 full seasons in MLB. I think it was reasonable to expect him to finish the year with an OPS+ between 100 and 115 based on that trend. Instead he took a big step back with a big regression down to 86.

If he can only return to those early career levels (say OPS+ of 105) he can be a high quality starter given his outstanding defensive prowess - not enough to justify trading Moreno for him but that is another point.

I think he is worth having some hopes for next year if only he can return to his Arizona levels. He is one of the few players on the team who has consistent great effort, is always smart, and doesn't run the bases like a total jackass. If he could only hit better.

 

[Insidious Von]

Varsho may have been the victim of first year jitters with a new team, it happens frequently. He'll be much more relaxed next year and he doesn't run the bases like a total jackass, he runs them like Steven Seagal.

Kevin Gausman stayed away from the champagne during the celebration. Wise, sparkling wine levels you with a much longer hangover than beer. He wants to be sharp for Tuesday's start.

Hazel Mae was so sweet as the players focused on getting her thoroughly soaked in the celebration.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/WUHMC_dDf-8

 

[Darts]

"Bo finishes 3rd in AL batting average and 4th in AL hits. Is anyone else surprised only 4 batters in the AL finished over .300."

Carl Yastremski won the batting with a .301 b.a. in 1968. I think .301 is the low water mark for a b.a. champion.
List of Major League Baseball batting champions - Wikipedia

 

[black booty lover]

I think any person would agree with the premise that using your playoff roster pitchers for 8 innings yesterday would make no sense, unless you intend to pitch Jay Jackson and Ryu (on zero rest) for a combined total of 4 to 5 innings. So you had to demote one of your 14 pitchers to bring in an inning eater as 14 pitchers is the max you can carry.in September.

For those claiming there were better options, which option was better for demotion. Do you do DFA Ryu, Cabrera or Richards?
Perhaps I am overlooking something here.

To me Jackson was merely a victim of a very healthy staff for this time of year, and one with a lack of young pitchers who are easily demoted.

I mean if they were going to DFA him, they could have just let him start and see how far he could go. I mean Parsons only lasted 4 innings so...

I mean I get it, he wasn't going to be on the playoff roster, so they essentially be a free agent a day sooner, but this game was sort of meaningless.

 

[black booty lover]

and doesn't run the bases like a total jackass. If he could only hit better.

lol. Jays base running this year was pathetic.

Another point on Varsho, if they ever decide to move him back to catcher, those stats would be quite decent for a catcher, and we have him under control for a while. Also, I think they wanted another left handed AB, and get LG jr. out town and try and break up the clown show a bit as Varsho is a bit more old school and acts like a pro.

The problem is the ring leader of the clown show is still here (Vlad) so it continues a bit. God I hope they can move Vlad and get a decent return.

If I was GM of the Jays, first thing I would do is try to move Vlad and see what I could get back for him.

 

[The Oracle]

And before Stieb they said that about Steve Rogers of the Expos (1973-1985).The Expos were a week team during his early years (6 straight seasons below .500). He ended up with a 158-152 record, 3.17 ERA, 129 complete games, 37 shutouts, ERA leader in 1982, 5× All-Star, and 3x top 5 Cy Young votes.

Goddamn Rick Monday....

 

[The Oracle]

The problem with this playoff run is that I have zero hope of them winning it all. In 2015 , 2016 and last year I believed those teams could win it all. Even the 2021 team that missed the playoffs by 1 game, I felt had they have gotten in, they were so hot they could win it all. I have zero confidence that this team can even get to the finals never mind win it so I'm not quite as excited as I usually am when the Jays are in the play offs.

The Royals won it all in 2015 with elite defense and a great bullpen....The Jays are more than capable here.
I say they take out the twins and make it to the second round.

 

[Toronto Passions]

Atlanta is like a brick wall LOL ain’t nothing getting past them…. Even though I’m rooting for the Dodgers in the National League.

Philip

 

[tml]

Atlanta is like a brick wall LOL ain’t nothing getting past them…. Even though I’m rooting for the Dodgers in the National League.

Philip

How many people said that about the 2022-23 Boston Bruins?

 

[tml]

"Bo finishes 3rd in AL batting average and 4th in AL hits. Is anyone else surprised only 4 batters in the AL finished over .300."

Carl Yastremski won the batting with a .301 b.a. in 1968. I think .301 is the low water mark for a b.a. champion.
List of Major League Baseball batting champions - Wikipedia

As I mentioned in a previous post, remember 1968 was the last year of the 15 inch pitcher's mound. It was a notoriously low scoring year in the history of baseball.

 

[tml]

Some more interesting tidbits:
--the 2023 AL East set a record for highest winning percentage by a division(5 teams or more) since divisional play started in 1969.
--the 2023 AL East set a record for highest winning percentage by a division outside their own division(5 teams or more) since divisional play started in 1969.
--Both records were previously held by the 2022 AL East.
--the Minnesoto Twins batters swung less than any other team's batters at Kevin Gausman's splitter. There's actually a stat for that.

Question: Theoretically, is a division's record within it's own division always .500?

 

[shack]

Question: Theoretically, is a division's record within it's own division always .500?

Logic would say "yes", but there must be a trick. LOL.

 

[Darts]

As I mentioned in a previous post, remember 1968 was the last year of the 15 inch pitcher's mound. It was a notoriously low scoring year in the history of baseball.

1968 was when I thought someone won the b.a. title hitting under .300 but looks like .301 was the lowest ever.

 

[Ref]

Atlanta is like a brick wall LOL ain’t nothing getting past them…. Even though I’m rooting for the Dodgers in the National League.

Philip

Atlanta is one of the strongest hitting/offensive teams in many years. Their pitching is average and good pitching will shut down good hitting. They had a great regular season but the play-offs are a different story.

If a team can shut down their hitting, they are average at best.

 

[maurice93]

lol. Jays base running this year was pathetic.

Another point on Varsho, if they ever decide to move him back to catcher, those stats would be quite decent for a catcher, and we have him under control for a while. Also, I think they wanted another left handed AB, and get LG jr. out town and try and break up the clown show a bit as Varsho is a bit more old school and acts like a pro.

The problem is the ring leader of the clown show is still here (Vlad) so it continues a bit. God I hope they can move Vlad and get a decent return.

If I was GM of the Jays, first thing I would do is try to move Vlad and see what I could get back for him.

We certainly agree on the baserunning part. The team is idiotic out there at times, and I'm going to include Luis Rivera in that - worst baserunning stats in the American League. Poor fundamentals. The articles at the beginning of the year claiming the Jays were going to focus on and automatically become a smarter baserunning team in retrospect are humourous.

They somehow took a step back this year -- despite replacing two players who were very prone to bad baserunning in Teoscar and Lourdes and replacing them with 2 guys who play smart in KK and Varsho,

Not sure I want to put Varsho as catcher. You are very correct that his offensive performance relative to position is much stronger at catcher.-- acceptable in fact. I'm not sure though if his defence at catcher is anywhere near elite, like his fielding in LF. His fielding in LF and CF is not just elite, but highly elite due to his unmatched ability to effectively read and go back on balls. It would be an interesting analysis to compare the value of both. At least it does offer the Jays some flexibility in moving forward.

I'm not for moving Vlad, but I'm not necessarily very happy with him either.

 

[maurice93]

Atlanta is one of the strongest hitting/offensive teams in many years. Their pitching is average and good pitching will shut down good hitting. They had a great regular season but the play-offs are a different story.

If a team can shut down their hitting, they are average at best.

They would have had a strong top 4 starting rotation that could have matched up with anyone -- but now are banged up with injuries. Fried and Morton might come back in the playoffs, but not immediately it seems. Depth in their 13 man pitching staff was always a bit iffy so its a bigger problem now.

That being said there have been some good hitting, iffy pitching teams that have done well recently in playoff times -- its usually some bullpen guys who for some reason step up their game in that October.

 

[black booty lover]

We certainly agree on the baserunning part. The team is idiotic out there at times, and I'm going to include Luis Rivera in that - worst baserunning stats in the American League. Poor fundamentals. The articles at the beginning of the year claiming the Jays were going to focus on and automatically become a smarter baserunning team in retrospect are humourous.

They somehow took a step back this year -- despite replacing two players who were very prone to bad baserunning in Teoscar and Lourdes and replacing them with 2 guys who play smart in KK and Varsho,

Not sure I want to put Varsho as catcher. You are very correct that his offensive performance relative to position is much stronger at catcher.-- acceptable in fact. I'm not sure though if his defence at catcher is anywhere near elite, like his fielding in LF. His fielding in LF and CF is not just elite, but highly elite due to his unmatched ability to effectively read and go back on balls. It would be an interesting analysis to compare the value of both. At least it does offer the Jays some flexibility in moving forward.

I'm not for moving Vlad, but I'm not necessarily very happy with him either.

Don't get me wrong, Varsho going back to catcher is extremely far fetched, but I mean if they ever get in a situation where ther is a log jam in the outfield, and the other guys have significant better offensive numbers, it would be food for thought.

 

[tml]

Logic would say "yes", but there must be a trick. LOL.

Reminds me of some of the questions on my exams in school back in the day.

 

[shack]

Reminds me of some of the questions on my exams in school back in the day.

Yeah. They never ask you about the basic concepts of how things work. They always ask you about the exceptions to the rules.