Blue Jays Discussion: Alright, no more discontent. Just baseball | ST in Mtl: StL @ Tor | Mar 26/27 7pm ET/4pm PT

[TF97]

Against Felipe Rivero, Vladdy Jr had an infield single and then Bo followed that up with a homer just inside the foul pole in right.

 

[supermann_98]

Just saw Bo hit a dinger in the boxscore, only hitting .500 now, can’t keep up with Vladdy’s .750 tho

 

[canucksfan]

While Bo did hit the homerun, he struck out three times.

Deck McGuire has had a great spring.

 

[canucksfan]

 

[phillipmike]

After he was finishing licking his lips I believe Callis has compared Vladdy' s ceiling to that of Miguel Cabrera. I can see that.

Sickels has a Jeter type ceiling on Bichette. I really dont see that.

But if they can come up together that could be a Cabrera/Hanley type left side... to bad they didn't have a longer overlap.

Note: Senzel and Tatis Jr. has posted some encouraging comments on Bo's instagram - get it done Atkins!!!

 

[Hoverhand]

(thanks a lot Alex for a terrible Tulo)

Dealing with what that Tulo contract right now is a lot less of a headache than dealing with that Reyes situation would've been.

 

[Hoverhand]

Deck McGuire has had a great spring.

Deck McGuire has to be the most baseball name you can possibly have, its fun having him back.

 

[Nineteen67]

29k% / 5bb% pretty damn good.

That’s good, but it’s all the hits and runs that worry me.

 

[Gargyn]

Not sure what more Hernandez needs to do to get himself a spot on the big club. Guy has been the Jays best player during preseason. Too bad Morales or Pearce couldn’t be moved. An outfield consisting of Hernandez, Pillar, Grichuk and Granderson with Alford in the minors ready to fill in if needed is ideal.

 

[phillipmike]

I think both Pearce and Morales will be on short leashes to start the season. Moreso Pearce as he is easier to move.

 

[Kurtz]

Not sure what more Hernandez needs to do to get himself a spot on the big club. Guy has been the Jays best player during preseason. Too bad Morales or Pearce couldn’t be moved. An outfield consisting of Hernandez, Pillar, Grichuk and Granderson with Alford in the minors ready to fill in if needed is ideal.

I think we could move Pearce if we really wanted to.

 

[Hoverhand]

I hate having 3 different 1B/DH types on the roster even if Pearce plays an outfielder on TV.

Best Hernandez can do is rake in AAA and wait until Pearce gets one of his annual injuries.

 

[zeke]

That’s good, but it’s all the hits and runs that worry me.

if you care about any spring training stats, care about walks and strikeouts....for pitchers and for hitters.

 

[zeke]

Not sure what more Hernandez needs to do to get himself a spot on the big club. Guy has been the Jays best player during preseason. Too bad Morales or Pearce couldn’t be moved. An outfield consisting of Hernandez, Pillar, Grichuk and Granderson with Alford in the minors ready to fill in if needed is ideal.

eh he's striking out way way too much.

 

[Nineteen67]

eh he's striking out way way too much.

It is bad......17K in 46 AB

 

[BlueForever75]

When Hernandez becomes more selective at the plate he will blossom further as an MLBer. They need to continue to work with his hitting approach and only then will he become a legit player and dangerous one. I agree he strikes out way too much.

Bautista and EE were like this prior to becoming Jays. They worked with them and their approach changed at the plate, that is when they became everyday players. Same has to happen with Hernandez

 

[Discoverer]

It would be exciting for Hernandez to get a spot, but he's not clearly better than the other options to the point where it doesn't make sense to start him in Buffalo.

Give him a little time to see if he can work out the whiff problems. If he can, great. If he can't, eventually you just call him up and accept that that's just part of his game.

 

[BlueForever75]

It would be exciting for Hernandez to get a spot, but he's not clearly better than the other options to the point where it doesn't make sense to start him in Buffalo.

Give him a little time to see if he can work out the whiff problems. If he can, great. If he can't, eventually you just call him up and accept that that's just part of his game.

Agreed. Best case scenario is he goes to Buffalo and continues to rip the cover off the ball and lowers his strikeouts. Pearce excels with the Jays to the point where he has value so he can be traded, or Morales/Pearce get released or traded. You bring him up.

 

[Hoverhand]

Agreed. Best case scenario is he goes to Buffalo and continues to rip the cover off the ball and lowers his strikeouts. Pearce excels with the Jays to the point where he has value so he can be traded, or Morales/Pearce get released or traded. You bring him up.

I mean if Pearce starts raking id keep him and just drop Morales.

Pearce is my ideal DH he just is physically incapable of playing 100 games a season.

 

[Diamond Joe Quimby]

It would be exciting for Hernandez to get a spot, but he's not clearly better than the other options to the point where it doesn't make sense to start him in Buffalo.

Give him a little time to see if he can work out the whiff problems. If he can, great. If he can't, eventually you just call him up and accept that that's just part of his game.

I think with the Power/Speed/Defense combo, you'd be ok with him at just under 30% k rate. Obviously, you'd prefer something closer to his minor league numbers (low 20's). I imagine he's up as soon as there's any kind of injury.

People put a lot of stock into who breaks camp on the big league roster, but it doesn't hold much impact on the season as a whole. Tommy Pham and Chris Taylor were in Triple-A opening day 2017.

 

[theaub]

Yup opening day rosters don't mean much at all. Shoutout to 2015 with opening day starter Drew Hutchison, closer Miguel Castro and CF Dalton Pompey.

Things change quick.

 

[Canada4Gold]

Dealing with what that Tulo contract right now is a lot less of a headache than dealing with that Reyes situation would've been.

I think I disagree. When we traded Reyes he was a 32 year old SS with 2.3 years left on a deal paying him 55 million(22+22+4 mil buyout + 7 mil pro-rated for end of 2015). He was a 1 fWAR player to that point in the year. 3.5 the prior year, 2.2 the year before that. Tulo is a 33 year old SS with 3 years left at 58 million(20+20+14+4 mil buyout), was a 0 fWAR player last year. 2.9 and 2.4 the 2 years prior.

If you don't believe that this Tulo is the real Tulo then I guess you hope it's better, but he hasn't been vintage Tulo for 3 years now. What we see is probably what we get unfortunately, and it's probably worse than what we had left with Reyes who was younger, owed less money for less time, and had better results leading up to that point.

I really don't want to believe that we're to that point yet, but we might be.

 

[Discoverer]

I think I disagree. When we traded Reyes he was a 32 year old SS with 2.3 years left on a deal paying him 55 million(22+22+4 mil buyout + 7 mil pro-rated for end of 2015). He was a 1 fWAR player to that point in the year. 3.5 the prior year, 2.2 the year before that. Tulo is a 33 year old SS with 3 years left at 58 million(20+20+14+4 mil buyout), was a 0 fWAR player last year. 2.9 and 2.4 the 2 years prior.

If you don't believe that this Tulo is the real Tulo then I guess you hope it's better, but he hasn't been vintage Tulo for 3 years now. What we see is probably what we get unfortunately, and it's probably worse than what we had left with Reyes who was younger, owed less money for less time, and had better results leading up to that point.

I really don't want to believe that we're to that point yet, but we might be.

I think he was referring to the off-field stuff with Reyes.

 

[BlueForever75]

I think I disagree. When we traded Reyes he was a 32 year old SS with 2.3 years left on a deal paying him 55 million(22+22+4 mil buyout + 7 mil pro-rated for end of 2015). He was a 1 fWAR player to that point in the year. 3.5 the prior year, 2.2 the year before that. Tulo is a 33 year old SS with 3 years left at 58 million(20+20+14+4 mil buyout), was a 0 fWAR player last year. 2.9 and 2.4 the 2 years prior.

If you don't believe that this Tulo is the real Tulo then I guess you hope it's better, but he hasn't been vintage Tulo for 3 years now. What we see is probably what we get unfortunately, and it's probably worse than what we had left with Reyes who was younger, owed less money for less time, and had better results leading up to that point.

I really don't want to believe that we're to that point yet, but we might be.

I really think Tulo has had some tough luck with injuries since coming to the Jays. First running into our 2B and fracturing his collarbone, then running to first base and turning his ankle. Both plays were him playing all out and were fluke injuries. I still believe he provided more for us the past 3 seasons then Reyes ever would have. And I still believe that he will contribute at a better then average level when he returns to heath for the duration of his contract. It looks bad yes because he hasn't been on the field. But I do believe there still is value in him being on our team moving forward. And he will have a Tulo like season this year when he returns. I have a feeling.

 

[phillipmike]

Hernandez reminds me of Grichuk a little - Grichuk is a better defender and base runner but Hernandez could potentially bring more power.

https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.a...am=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=10243,13066

Even if Hernandez can keep his hitting profile of striking out a lot with power; his defense and base running will bring him up to a 1.5 WAR player at the very least which isnt anything to blink at considering our recent history in the OF.

In the last 10 years we only had five 1.5 WAR or better outfielders that werent named Wells, Bautista, Pillar or Rios and those guys were Rasmus, Lind, Cabrera Inglett, and Saunders.

Toronto Blue Jays Leaderboards » 2017 » Outfielders » Dashboard | FanGraphs Baseball

So even with his hitting profile Hernandez' youth will be a huge asset with his speed, defense and power. Hernandez had a better hitting profile in Houston from a K/BB standpoint so im of the opinion he is an adjustment away from being much more than just a 1.5 WAR player - same with Grichuk. Even if Hernandez brings his Houston K/BB from 2016 it would be a huge improvement.