Blue Jays Discussion: Joe Panik: the hero we deserve

[Cloned]

lol.

Jays should have everyone play in a bubble. And I don't mean the COVID kind.

 

[canucksfan]

Wonder who they will call up for Rowdy?

 

[Dr.Funk]

Wonder who they will call up for Rowdy?

Probably activate Joe Panik.

 

[Canada4Gold]

Mild strain with IL only being a good chance rather than a certanity seems rather optimistic to me compared to when I saw it. When it happened I was thinking ok is this just a couple weeks or is this going to be a 60 day IL sort of injury. Him being back 3 days from now seemed quite unlikely.

 

[PanniniClaus]

Not sure what Kelly Hrudey would think of all these injuries..

Hoping Dolis and Merryweather can get back before more go down.

 

[trellaine201]

Not sure what Kelly Hrudey would think of all these injuries..

Hoping Dolis and Merryweather can get back before more go down.

Thought Merry was on the 60?

 

[Discoverer]

Probably activate Joe Panik.

That was my guess, too. The only oher non-injured position players on the 40-man are Adams (off to a brutal start in Buffalo) and Moreno and Lopez (both absolutely crushing it in AA, but unlikely as call-ups).

We're all probably better off if we just accept that Panik is coming back and he's going to play almost every day.

 

[Cloned]

That was my guess, too. The only oher non-injured position players on the 40-man are Adams (off to a brutal start in Buffalo) and Moreno and Lopez (both absolutely crushing it in AA, but unlikely as call-ups).

We're all probably better off if we just accept that Panik is coming back and he's going to play almost every day.

To be fair though Panik might actually be a better option at the plate than Tellez right now.

 

[phillipmike]

Boy do I love having Vladdy prove me wrong.

 

[phillipmike]

 

[Cor]

So damn impressive.

 

[weems]

Boy do I love having Vladdy prove me wrong.

Vladdy is the only player in the top 10 of OPS that has walked more than struckout.

 

[canucksfan]

Not sure what the hot sheet is but impressive stats from both

 

[PanniniClaus]

Thought Merry was on the 60?

He is...eligible for mid June...I guess i'm hoping he actually meets that target

 

[Cor]

Not sure what the hot sheet is but impressive stats from both

I am super high on SWR. Manoah looks really good.

If Nate Pearson can get comfortable at the big league level, our future rotation is looking quite sick.

Those are 3 amazing arms to have.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

We are a good team this year. Should be playing meaningful games late into the season. This next wave of prospects coming is going to be what propels us into that next tier of teams that contend for titles year in year out. Some will break through with us and others can be used to trade to add onto our team but either way I have never seen the Jays set up for long term success like they are right now in my lifetime.

 

[BertCorbeau]

Boy do I love having Vladdy prove me wrong.

His amazing start after an off-season of committing to lose weight/get in shape should only keep fuelling him to keep working hard in the off-season. And if he keeps that up ... Oh boy.

 

[Blitzkrug]

I think it all depends on if the pitching holds up. If they're going anywhere this season they need Matz and Ray to continue to pitch around the same level they're at now for the Jays to seriously consider themselves in the mix. Because God knows you're not getting anything out of the bottom half of the rotation with how it is right now and you cant realistically expect the bullpen to bail you out almost every night.

As of now I'm cautiously optimistic. I didn't expect the Jays to seriously contend this year (mostly because even in the winter that rotation was Ryu and a bunch of maybes) and honestly wouldn't be too upset if they fall short since they're still a really young group.

The pieces of something special are definitely there though. Now it's just a matter of when, rather than if they join baseball's elite.

 

[Suntouchable13]

I think it all depends on if the pitching holds up. If they're going anywhere this season they need Matz and Ray to continue to pitch around the same level they're at now for the Jays to seriously consider themselves in the mix. Because God knows you're not getting anything out of the bottom half of the rotation with how it is right now and you cant realistically expect the bullpen to bail you out almost every night.

As of now I'm cautiously optimistic. I didn't expect the Jays to seriously contend this year (mostly because even in the winter that rotation was Ryu and a bunch of maybes) and honestly wouldn't be too upset if they fall short since they're still a really young group.

The pieces of something special are definitely there though. Now it's just a matter of when, rather than if they join baseball's elite.

Jays can easily stay in the race for at least a wild card all season even with the rotation as is, and that would be a great thing.

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[Discoverer]

I think it all depends on if the pitching holds up. If they're going anywhere this season they need Matz and Ray to continue to pitch around the same level they're at now for the Jays to seriously consider themselves in the mix. Because God knows you're not getting anything out of the bottom half of the rotation with how it is right now and you cant realistically expect the bullpen to bail you out almost every night.

As of now I'm cautiously optimistic. I didn't expect the Jays to seriously contend this year (mostly because even in the winter that rotation was Ryu and a bunch of maybes) and honestly wouldn't be too upset if they fall short since they're still a really young group.

The pieces of something special are definitely there though. Now it's just a matter of when, rather than if they join baseball's elite.

I had really high hopes for the Jays coming in, but I don't think even I would have expected them to be this good given everything that's gone wrong for them so far. We're almost at the quarter mark and they've:

- faced easily the toughest schedule among the AL East competitors
- had Springer for less than four games
- seen all of their starters except for Matz spend time on the IL
- never had more than one or two of their top 5-6 high leverage relievers available at the same time and ultimately had to turn to waiver claims and recent call-ups to give them key innings
- gotten absolutely garbage production out of Rowdy, Gurriel, and Jansen (while also losing Kirk to injury)

It's absolutely remarkable that they're sitting in the second Wild Card spot right now and just a game and a half out of the division lead.

As for the rotation, I think I'm more confident than you because I believe Manoah will be up really soon (with SWR getting the call to AAA by mid season) and there's a lot of opportunity to add a big piece (or even just another Ray/Walker type like last year) at the deadline.

 

[Puckstuff]

I had really high hopes for the Jays coming in, but I don't think even I would have expected them to be this good given everything that's gone wrong for them so far. We're almost at the quarter mark and they've:

- faced easily the toughest schedule among the AL East competitors
- had Springer for less than four games
- seen all of their starters except for Matz spend time on the IL
- never had more than one or two of their top 5-6 high leverage relievers available at the same time and ultimately had to turn to waiver claims and recent call-ups to give them key innings
- gotten absolutely garbage production out of Rowdy, Gurriel, and Jansen (while also losing Kirk to injury)

It's absolutely remarkable that they're sitting in the second Wild Card spot right now and just a game and a half out of the division lead.

As for the rotation, I think I'm more confident than you because I believe Manoah will be up really soon (with SWR getting the call to AAA by mid season) and there's a lot of opportunity to add a big piece (or even just another Ray/Walker type like last year) at the deadline.

I see Ryu as a #1, Ray as a #3, Matz is playing as a #4 and Manoah, Pearson, Hatch will figure out #5 but even for now Stripling/Kay can be mediocre number 5's when you look league wide half of the teams don't have a component #5. A Walker at the deadline would give this team a big boost.

The big 3 in the rotation and the big 5 starters (Semien, Bichette, Vladdy, Teo, Grich) have been great. With Biggio and Gurriel back in form hopefully soon and a healthy Kirk and Springer look out...

 

[Blitzkrug]

I had really high hopes for the Jays coming in, but I don't think even I would have expected them to be this good given everything that's gone wrong for them so far. We're almost at the quarter mark and they've:

- faced easily the toughest schedule among the AL East competitors
- had Springer for less than four games
- seen all of their starters except for Matz spend time on the IL
- never had more than one or two of their top 5-6 high leverage relievers available at the same time and ultimately had to turn to waiver claims and recent call-ups to give them key innings
- gotten absolutely garbage production out of Rowdy, Gurriel, and Jansen (while also losing Kirk to injury)

It's absolutely remarkable that they're sitting in the second Wild Card spot right now and just a game and a half out of the division lead.

As for the rotation, I think I'm more confident than you because I believe Manoah will be up really soon (with SWR getting the call to AAA by mid season) and there's a lot of opportunity to add a big piece (or even just another Ray/Walker type like last year) at the deadline.

I do agree with the end part there. If the Jays prove to be in the mix towards the deadline and the opportunity to improve the rotation is there, I would hope they pull the trigger. Gotta reward their efforts

 

[Morgs]

I think we're too hard on Stripling too. He might not be the high-end starter he was looking like there was potential to be in 2018-19:

2018 - 21 starts(33 games), 3.02ERA/3.42FIP, 2.2fWAR
2019 - 15 starts(32 games), 3.47ERA/3.47FIP, 1.8fWAR

But it's looking like he's bouncing back from the atrocious lines he had last season. His overall FIP/xFIP look like a solid 5 to start the year and it's not like he's faced any remotely easy competition to start the year. He got lit by the Yankees and Astros, two (obviously) very strong lineups and had an okay game against the Angels. He's pitched very well against Atlanta twice and I like the fact that he's at least started trending in the right direction.

 

[phillipmike]

It amazes me that Stripling and Kay have a higher fWAR than Ray;

Ross Stripling: 0.2 fWAR
Anthony Kay: 0.1 fWAR
Robbie Ray: -0.1 fWAR

Then look at bWAR:

Robbie Ray: 1.0 fWAR
Ross Stripling: 0.0 bWAR
Anthony Kay: -0.3 bWAR