Blue Jays Discussion: Confirmed: Vladimir Guerrero Jr is still good at baseball

[phillipmike]

‘Big League Atmosphere’ coming to Dorchester, Ont. this summer

As soon as the weather turns, construction of a new state-of-the-art baseball stadium will begin in Dorchester, Ont.

london.ctvnews.ca

Old Skydome turf in Dorchester Ontario Field of Dreams Complex. New field under construction.

 

[Discoverer]

Not sarcastic. Maybe the sound makes a difference (I only watch things like this on mute), but Bum mocked the opposing bench and got checked a few times over which suggests that either the ump found something or he was being told to calm the hell down by the ump who was making it look like a hand check.

The ump was entirely trying to piss off/taunt Bumgarner. He's touching his hand but never once looks because he's staring at him the entire time. He's 100% trying to goad him into reacting, which Bumgarner does because he's Bumgarner, and the ump immediately tosses him.

 

[hoglund]

The ump was entirely trying to piss off/taunt Bumgarner. He's touching his hand but never once looks because he's staring at him the entire time. He's 100% trying to goad him into reacting, which Bumgarner does because he's Bumgarner, and the ump immediately tosses him.

The ump needs to be disciplined.

 

[tmlms13]

Please, for the love of God, can someone explain why the majority of baseball players don't wear jocks when playing? Seriously, they're not uncomfortable whatsoever and you don't even notice it once you get used to it after a minute. Why risk "groin soreness" like that? All it takes is one instance like this for it to hit home (no pun intended).

If I wasn't a catcher in my playing days I probably wouldn't.

 

[tmlms13]

The ump was entirely trying to piss off/taunt Bumgarner. He's touching his hand but never once looks because he's staring at him the entire time. He's 100% trying to goad him into reacting, which Bumgarner does because he's Bumgarner, and the ump immediately tosses him.

In my opinion Bellino was trying to stick up for his rookie ump behind the plate. MadBum was giving it to him pretty hard during the inning. Maybe MadBum said something or did something ejection worthy during the inning or walking back to the dugout before the hand check started but the plate ump didn't toss him so Bellino did it for him.

Ryan Willis is one of the AAA call ups. He might only have like 20 career plate jobs. Rookies get nervous too and when to eject is the toughest thing to learn as an umpire. He may not even have an ejection at all in MLB. Couple that with someone like MadBum,

It could have easily just been a I'm going to stare at you so you get the picture to lay off my Rookie, then MadBum said the magic words instead of just taking that message walking away. Remember him and Joe West and their stare down? No words were said there they both nodded at eachother and moved on, no ejection.

 

[Waveburner]

The ump was entirely trying to piss off/taunt Bumgarner. He's touching his hand but never once looks because he's staring at him the entire time. He's 100% trying to goad him into reacting, which Bumgarner does because he's Bumgarner, and the ump immediately tosses him.

Are you a mind reader? You have no idea what the ump was thinking. This sounds like a petulant rant from someone who just hates umps no matter what, which is pretty immature.

I will agree with the general idea that umps need to have a thicker skin about tossing players, but your post is just inventing a narrative that you can't possibly know is true.

 

[Bjindaho]

The ump was entirely trying to piss off/taunt Bumgarner. He's touching his hand but never once looks because he's staring at him the entire time. He's 100% trying to goad him into reacting, which Bumgarner does because he's Bumgarner, and the ump immediately tosses him.

Again, Bum blatantly taunted his opponents, which the umps were ready to let go. It's entirely possible that the Umpire was nervous about having to hand-check a pumped-up jackass and didn't register the result on the first pass. It's also possible that Bum subtly tried to pull away, or that he said something.

It's easy to blame an ump when there is a clear problem, but in this case, Bum is the only problem.

Imagine if you give a Jays starter two passes instead of one. Do you think any does anything other than walk off the field?

 

[Canada4Gold]

A substance check that usually takes 2 or 3 seconds and actually looking at the hand is taking about 10 seconds with the ump not doing what he's actually supposed to be doing but just staring at the pitcher's face the entire time. Then immediately ejects the pitcher once he says something about what is now a very strange and awkward situation where he's holding Bumgartner's fingers for 4 times as long as he should be but not actually doing anything and then tosses the guy when he questions what is happening.

I don't care what the intentions were that's completely off limits. Do your job.

 

[Morgs]

There's no question he was goading him, how you can perceive that any other way is insane lol

 

[Bjindaho]

A substance check that usually takes 2 or 3 seconds and actually looking at the hand is taking about 10 seconds with the ump not doing what he's actually supposed to be doing but just staring at the pitcher's face the entire time. Then immediately ejects the pitcher once he says something about what is now a very strange and awkward situation where he's holding Bumgartner's fingers for 4 times as long as he should be but not actually doing anything and then tosses the guy when he questions what is happening.

I don't care what the intentions were that's completely off limits. Do your job.

It's also a completely different ump for the two checks.

I still struggle to believe that he wasn't being warned to behave himself (again, blatantly taunting his opponents would have been a decent reason for him to be tossed)

 

[dredeye]

I don't see a problem. The ump touched the first pitcher's hand which was presumably smooth and dry and knew that there was no problem. He touched Bum's hand which presumably wasn't (therefore he checked to see if the difference was due to a foreign substance or just sweat).

He was staring straight at him the whole time which he did not do the first time. He also never said a word to him if he did suspect a foreign substance. How you think it’s anything more than an ump making a power move is beyond me

Our old friend Rowdy Tellez is leading the Brewers with a .267 avg, 7 hr, 21 RBI's through 24 games.

Would be nice to have that bat right about now

 

[dredeye]

Are you a mind reader? You have no idea what the ump was thinking. This sounds like a petulant rant from someone who just hates umps no matter what, which is pretty immature.

I will agree with the general idea that umps need to have a thicker skin about tossing players, but your post is just inventing a narrative that you can't possibly know is true.

What are you talking about. He’s 100% correct with what he said. Literally watch the video. You don’t need to make anything up. It’s plain as day

 

[dredeye]

Are you a mind reader? You have no idea what the ump was thinking. This sounds like a petulant rant from someone who just hates umps no matter what, which is pretty immature.

I will agree with the general idea that umps need to have a thicker skin about tossing players, but your post is just inventing a narrative that you can't possibly know is true.

What are you talking about. He’s 100% correct with what he said. Literally watch the video. You don’t need to make anything up. It’s plain as day

 

[Eyedea]

Orelvis really heating up now

 

[Dr.Funk]

 

[stickty111]

Our potential gets limited with Montoyo as manager

 

[Discoverer]

Our potential gets limited with Montoyo as manager

He really needs to get it going with the bat.

 

[Discoverer]

Are you a mind reader? You have no idea what the ump was thinking. This sounds like a petulant rant from someone who just hates umps no matter what, which is pretty immature.

I will agree with the general idea that umps need to have a thicker skin about tossing players, but your post is just inventing a narrative that you can't possibly know is true.

You're right. The key to finding a foreign substance on someone's hand is solid, consistent eye contact.

 

[Eyedea]

There was some chatter in the GDT about Collins and I just wanted to bring that discussion over here. What interests me about him is that he’s making an awful lot less contact than he did last season, but when he hits the ball, he hits it hard. Ks are drastically higher, walks drastically lower, but overall his numbers are career highs in the majors because he’s tapping into his power. Yes he’s quite literally doing his best JP Arencibia impression and it’ll be interesting to see how his stats shift over a larger sample.

 

[Morgs]

It's fake, but still hilarious.

 

[Morgs]

There was some chatter in the GDT about Collins and I just wanted to bring that discussion over here. What interests me about him is that he’s making an awful lot less contact than he did last season, but when he hits the ball, he hits it hard. Ks are drastically higher, walks drastically lower, but overall his numbers are career highs in the majors because he’s tapping into his power. Yes he’s quite literally doing his best JP Arencibia impression and it’ll be interesting to see how his stats shift over a larger sample.

It's so interesting because he's simply not hitting the ball softly... at all. 3.8% on the season. His Medhit% has skyrocketed and his hard hit% has only gone down marginally.

The walks and strikeouts going the wrong way is concerning, but it doesn't even look like it's his profile either. He's chasing marginally more, he's swinging marginally less. It looks... sustainable? Like there's potential for improvement??

It would be great if he could cut the Ks and increase the walks to his career averages, but even without it he's been like 20% better than the average hitter. 3rd for "catchers" above 50PA. Imagine if he didn't focus at all on catching (because he f***ing stinks at it) and became a primary DH/some 1B to only focus on hitting? There's something there.

 

[Bjindaho]

There was some chatter in the GDT about Collins and I just wanted to bring that discussion over here. What interests me about him is that he’s making an awful lot less contact than he did last season, but when he hits the ball, he hits it hard. Ks are drastically higher, walks drastically lower, but overall his numbers are career highs in the majors because he’s tapping into his power. Yes he’s quite literally doing his best JP Arencibia impression and it’ll be interesting to see how his stats shift over a larger sample.

His batted ball profile is intriguing. His swing and miss is alarming.

Looking a little deeper, he isn't swinging at significantly more pitches outside the zone, he is actually missing a lot more of them (along with 5% more pitches in the zone), which is presumably contributing to the shifted batted ball profile (contact on balls outside the zone are more likely to lead to soft contact).

If he can foul off more of the pitches he is currently missing to draw walks, this suddenly shifts from intriguing with warts to actually good (which if memory serves correct is part of what led to Teo's emergence)

It's so interesting because he's simply not hitting the ball softly... at all. 3.8% on the season. His Medhit% has skyrocketed and his hard hit% has only gone down marginally.

The walks and strikeouts going the wrong way is concerning, but it doesn't even look like it's his profile either. He's chasing marginally more, he's swinging marginally less. It looks... sustainable? Like there's potential for improvement??

It would be great if he could cut the Ks and increase the walks to his career averages, but even without it he's been like 20% better than the average hitter. 3rd for "catchers" above 50PA. Imagine if he didn't focus at all on catching (because he f***ing stinks at it) and became a primary DH/some 1B to only focus on hitting? There's something there.

When Teo comes back, Heineman goes down and he is stuck as backup catcher (which I am fine with). When Jano comes back, we have a tougher decision (if it is this month, because the roster limit changes again near the end of the month and will force us to swap a pitcher for a position player).

 

[Morgs]

His batted ball profile is intriguing. His swing and miss is alarming.

Looking a little deeper, he isn't swinging at significantly more pitches outside the zone, he is actually missing a lot more of them (along with 5% more pitches in the zone), which is presumably contributing to the shifted batted ball profile (contact on balls outside the zone are more likely to lead to soft contact).

If he can foul off more of the pitches he is currently missing to draw walks, this suddenly shifts from intriguing with warts to actually good (which if memory serves correct is part of what led to Teo's emergence)


When Teo comes back, Heineman goes down and he is stuck as backup catcher (which I am fine with). When Jano comes back, we have a tougher decision (if it is this month, because the roster limit changes again near the end of the month and will force us to swap a pitcher for a position player).

I don't see how you don't keep him up over one of Tapia/Zimmer. He's the only one of the three with a semi-respectable bat, let alone the fact he's been the 3rd best hitter on the team this year.

 

[Bjindaho]

I don't see how you don't keep him up over one of Tapia/Zimmer. He's the only one of the three with a semi-respectable bat, let alone the fact he's been the 3rd best hitter on the team this year.

But that could mean a demotion for a couple of weeks at most, if he's the 4th bench guy we use (there is currently an exemption allowing 14/12 (which we are using), which goes away.

 

[GreytWun]

One of the catchers is getting traded at the deadline. We have Jansen, Kirk, Collins and Moreno knocking at the door.