Blue Jays Discussion: post-deadline, back-at-home edition

[hockeywiz542]

 

[The Nemesis]

Just to clarify, he said Valera wasn't a good complement to Espinal not because he sucks but rather because his strengths and weaknesses against certain pitcher types are similar to Espinal, whereas Smith does well against pitcher types that Espinal struggles against and vice versa.

That's nice, Charlie. Shouldn't you be planning for tomorrow's game?

 

[weems]

Pretty good interview with Atkins and Bobcat:

Some highlights:

- Thinks payroll can go to 200 mil, but may be a gradual process.
- Will focus more on the bullpen in the offseason
- All in-game decisions are made from the bench...said they'd be breaking the rules otherwise
- Thinks Biggio struggled offensively because of his troubles at third. Sounds like that experiment is over.
- Thinks Espinal and Smith are a great complement to eachother at 3rd. While they hit from the same side, they each excel against different types of pitchers. Sounds like this may be our solution at 3rd next year. Said Valera is not as good of a complement to Espinal.
- Feels Trent Thorton is atm their best long relief candidate (for those who were wondering why he replaced Berrios the other night)

That was a great interview and the most candid I've seen Atkins.

Most encouraging part was what you first outlined and it actually went like this.

- He first mentions how excited he is to "add" to this young core
- Then say's how Mark has done such an excellent job at communicating to Edward Rogers what this entire plan might actually cost
- Then Bob says he see's no reason why they cant have a 200 million dollar payroll and Atkins says " I hope so"

The Jays becoming a top 3-5 spending team during the Vladdy/Bo years would be extremely exciting.

 

[Kurtz]

That's nice, Charlie. Shouldn't you be planning for tomorrow's game?

I don't follow.

 

[Discoverer]

I've mentioned this before, but even though Valera isn't good, I don't think it's hard to see what they like about him. He seems like at least an ok defender at 2B and 3B, has really good numbers against lefties so far in his career (126 wRC+ in an admittedly tiny sample), doesn't strike out (literally the lowest K-rate in the league among players with at least 10 PA this year).

He definitely shouldn't keep getting regular playing time over Espinal, but I don't hate having him on the roster as a utility guy. He's what they wanted Panik to be.

 

[Suntouchable13]

I've mentioned this before, but even though Valera isn't good, I don't think it's hard to see what they like about him. He seems like at least an ok defender at 2B and 3B, has really good numbers against lefties so far in his career (126 wRC+ in an admittedly tiny sample), doesn't strike out (literally the lowest K-rate in the league among players with at least 10 PA this year).

He definitely shouldn't keep getting regular playing time over Espinal, but I don't hate having him on the roster as a utility guy. He's what they wanted Panik to be.

Your 25th and 26th guys are not expected to be all-stars, so I am fine with him being around. He is definitely useful.

 

[Hoverhand]

The Bob Rae for Cy Young movement is growing stronger by the day

 

[canucksfan]

 

[MS]

The Bob Rae for Cy Young movement is growing stronger by the day

It should really be a 2-horse race between him and Lance Lynn.

Ray is leading in WAR (a full 10% ahead of Lynn) and #1 in K, #2 in ERA. #3 in IP. His problem is that he only has 9 wins because of his atrocious run support in the last month.

Lynn is leading in ERA ... but has thrown far fewer innings which has limited his overall value.

Gerrit Cole would be the #3 guy but I can't see voters lining up to give him the award in a year where he admitted to cheating, unless his numbers were miles clear of the other guys.

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[TGB]

Springer looking good to come back on time, although he'll probably DH a bit at first until they're certain he's good to go.

And I see we're at that part in the programming where people take credit for my links and begin parroting everything I say but pass it off as their own insight, lol. Man, you guys are easy to predict.

 

[Man Bear Pig]

Springer looking good to come back on time, although he'll probably DH a bit at first until they're certain he's good to go.

And I see we're at that part in the programming where people take credit for my links and begin parroting everything I say but pass it off as their own insight, lol. Man, you guys are easy to predict.

Well this post escalated quickly.

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[Brock Boeser Laser Show]

Young has insane splits. I wonder if it’s time to give up hitting right handed and just focus on batting left handed.

maybe a potential platoon/4th outfielder in a few years

 

[dredeye]

Springer looking good to come back on time, although he'll probably DH a bit at first until they're certain he's good to go.

And I see we're at that part in the programming where people take credit for my links and begin parroting everything I say but pass it off as their own insight, lol. Man, you guys are easy to predict.

What a wonderful world of make believe you live in. What are you even talking about?

 

[Man Bear Pig]

What a wonderful world of make believe you live in. What are you even talking about?

I used to drink rye. I still do, but I used to, too.

 

[Marshy]

I used to drink rye. I still do, but I used to, too.

RIP Mitch Hedberg.

 

[phillipmike]

Future stars? Projecting top prospects in '23

Blue Jays: Orelvis Martinez, SS/3B (No. 3/MLB No. 48)

Martinez has been pegged as a potential future No. 1 prospect for the Blue Jays since he signed for $3.5 million back in July 2018, and he’s backed that up with his performance in his first full season. The 19-year-old infielder’s carrying tool remains his power with 24 homers in 90 games between Low-A and High-A this season, and that could grow even more by 2023 as he continues to grow accustomed to more experienced pitching.

 

[zeke]

Austin Martin closing in on 100pa now with the twins.

w/Jays: 250pa, 14.8bb%, 5.6hbp%, 21.2k%, .368babip, .281avg, .424obp, .102iso, 132wrc+
w/Twins: 94pa, 14.9bb%, 8.5hbp%, 21.3k%, .314babip, .236avg, .415obp, .111iso, 123wrc+

With his babip dropping to a more normal level, he's unsurprisingly seen his batting average sink accordingly - he needed a great babip to put up a decent average, and with a mediocre babip that drops to a poor average. The gap between his babip and average remains around 80-90pts in both cases. Note that I wouldn't even say his .236avg with the Twins is worse than his .281avg with the Jays - to me, it's showing the exact same skill level, just with different babip luck.

His lack of power is unchanged - .102iso to .111iso - pretty much the identical lack of power.

Both his BB rate and his K rate remain identical - his BB rate is legit great, while his K rate is mediocre to poor considering his lack of power.

Hilariously, his already incredible hit by pitch rate with the Jays has only increased with the Twins. This has allowed him to maintain a similarly great OBP despite the big drop in batting average. I have no idea if that is sustainable but I doubt it. HBP is not a carrying tool as far as I know.

So so far his profile remains the same with the twins as it did with the Jays - a guy who is only showing one tool so far - the ability to lay off pitches and draw walks.

 

[FreeBird]

Future stars? Projecting top prospects in '23

Hitting below 200 in high A

 

[The Nemesis]

Hitting below 200 in high A

With an impossibly low BABIP.

Part of it seems to be that he's hitting an extreme amount of fly balls, but he can't likely maintain this level of glove luck long term.

Also it's less than 100 plate appearances, so small sample size.

It's definitely something worth watching, but it's not worth getting concerned about yet.

 

[stickty111]

Hitting below 200 in high A

How is Martin doing?

 

[canucksfan]

 

[phillipmike]

Always liked Dyson. Left bat, great CF defense and he can steal a bag. A good 4/5 OFer. I guess this means Springer is the DH for the rest of the season.

 

[hockeywiz542]

How is Martin doing?

Austin Martin Stats, Fantasy & News | MiLB.com