Reflections on a series win; a look at the week ahead; the return of Scuttlebutt; Walker Speaks!
Series one is in the books, now it’s on to series two. Let’s talk Blue Jays baseball!
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The Blue Jays won their opening weekend series against the Yankees in the Bronx, and it felt absolutely great. All three of the games could have gone either way, and if the Jays had ended up on the losing end of the series there could have been a lot of positive to still take from it. But actual victories are so, so much better than moral victories, aren’t they?
Let’s take a quick look back by playing a little three up, three down — but with a twist! There is no room for down arrows after a series like that, so here’s three up, three up!
▲ T.J. Zeuch
I tried to be as positive as I could about T.J. Zeuch’s prospects in the lead-up to Sunday’s finale, but I don’t think I was exactly fooling anyone. My hopes were not high. And to his eternal credit, Zeuch proved me wrong for ever having doubted him.
For a day, at least.
Zeuch showed exactly why the Blue Jays felt he could handle a starting assignment against the Yankees, rebounding in a big way from a poor performance in his final spring tune-up. In that game, which was against the Phillies in Clearwater last Monday, Zeuch threw 65 pitches and managed to get a batter to swing and miss just once. In Sunday's start against the Yankees, that number jumped up to seven on 63 pitches — a needed improvement.
Still, his cutter isn't a blow-you-away out pitch. He doesn't have anything in his arsenal that he can rear back and throw past anyone, and that can lead to some difficult moments — like when he faced Aaron Judge with runners on first and second in the bottom of the third on Sunday. Knowing a hitter like Judge is going to be putting the ball in play in that situation is a bit deflating, because he's capable of inflicting some serious damage on a baseball.
But the cutter was good enough to keep the Yankees honest and a bit off balance all day. And, in fact, it was an 0-1 cutter — not the ground ball-inducing sinker — that Judge rolled over for an inning-ending double play.
It’s not like sinkerballers don’t have a long history of getting results, but I’m still skeptical of how often Zeuch is going to be able to make it all work. Sunday’s performance was about as good as you can expect from him, I’d say, and anything worse is going to be a problem. I still think he’s more a number nine starter on a good team than a number five. But he’s certainly earned another look.
▲ Marcus Semien
The Jays’ infield defence didn’t exactly have the best weekend, and I think it was probably a bit of a gift to them to have Zeuch on the mound on Sunday, because of the way it forced them to be constantly on their toes. Sunday definitely looked better, and hopefully will have helped to get things moving in the right direction — away from Saturday’s hesitancy, and from the calls from the peanut gallery to switch things around.
Excepted in all this is Marcus Semien, who looked all weekend like a shortstop playing second base. Which, of course, he is.
We knew coming into the season that Semien is the club’s best defensive option at shortstop, and that he wasn’t going to play there. None of that has changed after one weekend, and I don’t expect that it will anytime soon. Bo Bichette is going to get a long, long run at short, and I don’t imagine he’ll get a move to second base unless the Jays think it’s likely to be more or less permanent.
The Jays certainly have had their eye on next winter’s shortstop-heavy free agent market, so I wouldn’t rule out that happening. And, oh boy, is it nice that Semien will be right there, ready to slide over to short in the event that it does.
Add in a home run and a pair of stolen bases in a losing effort on Saturday and here we are.
▲ Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
The Summer of Vlad is officially on, as he carried his impressive spring training performance on into the spring. Though some cranks felt the need to harp the way his foot came off of first base on a run-scoring play in Saturday’s game, the far more notable thing about that effort was the agility he showed in doing the full-on splits as he stretched to receive a poor throw from Cavan Biggio — something the Vlad of 40 pounds ago surely couldn’t have done.
Sure, he’s still a work in progress at first base — a position he played for just the 37th time as a professional (i.e. in either the majors or minors) on Sunday — but the progress seems to be accelerating, and much of that it appears to be down to his conditioning.
His renewed core strength clearly seems to be paying off at the plate, too. He looks more balanced, quieter, and the results so far are speaking for themselves. He reached safely in six of his 12 plate appearances over the weekend, and continued to pound the ball all over the field — including a key opposite field home run on Sunday.
Helping to chase Domingo fucking German alone is would have been worthy of an up arrow, I think.
▲ Randal Grichuk
Randal Grichuk’s Blue Jays tenure hasn’t always been an easy one. He’s a streaky hitter who showed a ton of promise in the second half of 2018, only to go back to being his old self. This, generally, has been the trend for him throughout a big league career that has vacillated between nicely above average (a 138 wRC+ in 2015, 115 in 2018, and 109 in 2020) and merely average (a 102 wRC+ in 2016, 95 in 2017, 90 in 2019).
I wrote about this in a recent mail bag, in fact.
In his Blue Jays career, Grichuk has made 1,321 plate appearances and owns a 102 wRC+ and a .293 on-base. In his career as a whole he’s come to the plate 2,707 times and sports a 105 wRC+ and a .295 on-base. Those aren’t awful numbers, and it seems like every year he’s good for a hot streak that gives us hope that he’s finally figured something out, but the overall trends are getting pretty compelling. I think it’s safe to say we have a good idea of who he is at this point: he’s a decent outfield defender who makes too many outs but makes up for it by striking the ball reasonably hard and smacking a good number of pitches over the fence.
The fact that he — a player for the Toronto Blue Jays — got into it on Twitter with the White Sox’ Tim Anderson over a bat flip in early 2019 didn’t exactly add to his esteem in many fans’ eyes. And with the Jays’ addition of centre fielder George Springer this winter (and their near-addition of left fielder Michael Brantley), it looked like the team might be ready to move on from him as well.
Taking all that into consideration, then, it was a pretty great weekend for Grichuk.
First, he came out in support of MLB giving the middle finger to the diaper-wearing racist politicians in the U.S. state of Georgia who continue to push the “election fraud” lie. (An issue I wrote about over the weekend.)
Then he went out and, in Springer’s absence, had a great weekend with the bat, picking up four hits and two walks in 12 plate appearances, including a laser beam home run off German on Sunday to put the Jays up 3-0.
Springer isn’t exactly going to be fearing for his job because of this, but Rowdy Tellez might.
▲ The bullpen
I don’t think I need to say a whole lot about this, do I? The Jays’ bullpen was outstanding on Sunday, with Jordan Romano and Julian Merryweather, in particular, looking like a potentially lights out 1-2 punch in the eighth and ninth innings.
Could but won’t, one hopes.
As comforting as it would maybe be for the Blue Jays to be able to shorten games by deploying a traditional closer and setup man, and as well suited to those jobs as Romano and Merryweather appear, you definitely don’t want to get only 60-odd innings out of Merryweather when you could almost certainly get more.
The Jays have talked about using Merryweather in the hybrid type role he was used in last year, and that seems absolutely the right way to go. And if they’re going to overreact to a couple dominant outings, I’d rather see them try him as a starter than as a closer.
Either way, for a team that only just this weekend placed Kirby Yates, once their presumptive closer, on the 60-day injured list, the back end of the bullpen sure looks to be in exceptionally good hands. Tremendous news.
▲ 2 hours 41 minutes
Sunday’s game lasted just a brisk 2 hours and 41 minutes. Was Mark Buehrle pitching? I sure know that Rafael Dolis wasn’t!
However it worked, more of this please!
The week ahead…
The Jays are now in Texas next for a three-game set against the Rangers in Arlington, beginning here on Monday. Remarkably, despite the ongoing global pandemic of an airborne virus with especially frightening variants now spreading like wildfire, fans will be able to fill Globe Life Field to full capacity. Or, as Doug Ford would call it, a lockdown.
• MON, 4PM ET: Matz (LHP) vs. Foltynewicz (RHP)
• TUE, 8PM ET: Roark (RHP) vs. Dunning (RHP)
• WED, 2PM ET: Ryu (LHP) vs. Gibson (RHP)
• We've got an interesting Jays-related day of pitching coming up on Tuesday, with J.A. Happ going for the Twins against the Tigers at 1PM ET, Chase Anderson and the Phillies hosting Marcus Stroman and the Mets at 7PM ET, the Jays' own diesel engine facing the Rangers at 8PM ET, and then a pair of interesting nightcaps at 10PM ET: James Paxton versus Lucas Giolito as the Mariners host the White Sox, and Yu Darvish and his Padres hosting the San Francisco Giants and Aaron Sanchez.
• The Jays return “home” from Texas to Dunedin on Thursday for their “home” opener against the Angels. George Springer seems likely to make his Blue Jays debut in that one, which is a damn good thing because Mike Trout in TD Ballpark is a dangerous proposition, and the Jays will need as much firepower as they can muster to offset the best player in baseball. (They have another immense talent in Shohei Ohtani, who provided he turns out OK after his ugly exit from Sunday’s Angels-White Sox game.)
Scuttlebutt
• The Jays got a bit of good news on the depth front over the weekend, as they announced that both Breyvic Valera and Reese McGuire had cleared waivers. Both players were outrighted off of the team’s 40-man roster, and have been sent to the club’s alternate site. One assumes it won’t be long before they replace youngsters Riley Adams and Santiago Espinal on the taxi squad.
• Speaking of the taxi squad, the Jays made another small move on Sunday, sending right-handed reliever Joel Payamps to the taxi squad and bringing up lefty Tommy Milone from it. (Milone took the spot of Kirby Yates on the Jays’ 40-man after Yates’ aforementioned move to the 60-day IL). A soft-tossing lefty mop-up man in a bullpen that’s sure to see a lot of churn over the next few weeks, Milone’s time with the Jays is probably not going to last very long. When it does end, it will perhaps be interesting to see who ends up with that 40-man spot. (Yes, I’m thinking much too soon about Alek Manoah.)
• More good news on the injury front. In a pre-game Zoom session here on Monday, Jays manager Charlie Montoyo provided yet another positive update on the status of George Springer, telling reporters that he’s “doing really well” and will be taking live batting practice on Tuesday.
• The bigger bit of non-news from Monday’s series of Blue Jays Zoom sessions was the fact that Bo Bichette revealed that he found out during spring training that at some point, without realizing it, he’d had an asymptomatic case of COVID. He says that he’s been informed that he has “long-term antibodies,” and added that getting vaccinated is “not necessarily an immediate decision for me.”
The last statement caused some immediate “is Bo anti-vax?” waves on Twitter, but surely is no indication that he is. Some important context:
Walker Speaks!
Speaking of Zoom sessions, Jays pitching coach Pete Walker had a wide-ranging one with reporters prior to Saturday’s, providing injury updates and plenty of other thoughts. Some highlights:
• On T.J. Zeuch
Naturally there were several questions asked during session about T.J. Zeuch, who at the time was about to take the ball in the series finale against the Yankees. Walker’s confidence in his young starter certainly looks warranted in retrospect.
TJ, since the middle of the summer, I guess spring training 2.0, has really made some strides. Not only velocity. Command, action on his sinker, and his cutter. So his breaking stuff's been improved as well. We've always known he's had it in him. And with the ability of the sinker to play a little bit better now, I think that's a big part of his success. Getting the ball on the ground is a big part of baseball — keeping guys out of the air and hitting home runs — and that's something that he can do. But he's made some great strides, and that's why he's in the position he's in right now.
• On Steven Matz
I guess this shouldn’t be terribly surprising, but the Jays are quite excited about Monday’s starter, Steven Matz, it turns out.
We were real excited watching video of him in the past, and knowing what his ability level is and what he can do. Obviously this spring he's been great. The velocity's there, the command has been there, the spin on the breaking ball, the off-speed pitches. He can do a variety of things. He's a big, strong left-handed pitcher. So he checks a lot of boxes when you're talking about a major league starter. Really excited to have him, and he's had a really nice spring, he feels very good about where he's at right now, and moving forward he's got just a ton of potential that I think still hasn't been tapped, and I'm excited for him.
In a follow-up, Walker added:
He came in and obviously he's got, like I said, tremendous upside, and obviously just a few things from an approach standpoint I think will help him. He's been easy to work with, very receptive. He's the kind of guy that has all the stuff to perform very well at the major league level. It's just a matter of getting him to where he needs to be.
I’m not sure I would have called him a guy with “tremendous” upside, but kudos to the Jays for seeing it and, at least in spring training, helping him start to deliver on it.
Speaking of that, in a recent appearance on 619 CKTB’s Niagara Sports Report, Jays VP of international scouting, Andrew Tinnish, made specific mention of how impressed he’d been with Matz this spring.
Steven Matz was very impressive. Really, almost eye-popping stuff, as far as the ability to throw fastball-curveball-changeup with quality, quality stuff and throwing strikes and being able to sort of command at-bats. Obviously spring training is different than the regular season, but there's certain things that you see that you see where you kind of say, 'Whoa, wait a minute, that looks a little different than I thought it was going to look' in a positive way.
Let’s frickin’ go, as the club president would say.
• On Robbie Ray
Another guy that Walker has been very impressed with. It sounds like Ray isn’t very far off a return — great news for the Jays, provided he’s going to pitch the way he did throughout spring training.
I don't want to specifically give a date, but he feels great. He was totally built up, which is great. He missed a little bit of time, but he feels really good right now. So, we have a couple different plans ready to go. All I can say is that he feels great, his side session was electric, and we're real excited to get him back here. But he was built up — he got to his pitch count where we wanted him to be — so now it's just a matter of doing right by him and making sure he's ready when he gets back here.
• On Tanner Roark
Roark will make his debut on Tuesday in Texas and, well, we’ll see how it goes. In this case Walker seemed, if I may add my own subjective colour here, a little more cautiously optimistic than with some of the other guys.
I'm excited for him. I know he had a tough year last year, so I know the jury's out publicly, but he's worked really hard to get himself right. He's throwing the ball well. I like his stuff right now. His velocity is definitely up a little bit. He's a competitor, and I expect him to go out and compete and give us a chance to win, and that's what he's planning on doing. So he's a guy I'm excited to get out there and looking forward to his outing on Tuesday.
. . .
I think the velocity — I'm not a big velocity guy, but obviously it helps when you see the ball coming out of his hand, the spin on the ball, the carry on the ball — on his fastball. He's not overpowering, but he definitely has life on his heater. I think his breaking stuff is better. I think his curveball is sharp. So, he has pitches that can get major league hitters out. I think sometimes you just look at last season and the trend that he's been on and I guess the questions rise, but the stuff is still there, and he has the ability to get major league hitters out. He's worked hard for this opportunity. He wants to prove last year wasn't one of his best ones, and that obviously he has a lot more in the tank. So he's ready to go.
Referring to “the opportunity” Roark has to pitch in the rotation here, while technically correct, doesn’t make me feel like he’s got the strongest grip on his spot. Most Jays fans, I’m sure, will be very OK with that. I’m very OK with that. But he’s had some good seasons in the not-too-distant past an it would be great to see him prove us all wrong.
• On Rafael Dolis
A key reliever for the Jays last year, with some big expectations to continue that trend this year, Dolis didn’t look great in his first work of the season over the weekend. His pitching coach, however, doesn’t seem terribly concerned.
I look at the end of spring training for him and it was a little off with his routine. He missed an outing or two and we backed him off for a reason. But I think he was just a little off (Saturday), to be honest with you. I know there have been some walks in the past with him, and he seems to wiggle out of it because his stuff is so good — it's a 95 mph nasty sinker, and he has that split-finger fastball. He's the kind of guy that is going to run into some deep counts at times, and you know, Yankee Stadium (on Saturday) just kind of bit him a little bit by walking a few guys.
But he's a big part of that bullpen. Like I said, our main focus coming into the season was limiting walks, and I know we did that during spring training, and all of the sudden it's kind of cropped up again in the first couple of games in New York. But it's not an easy place to pitch. I think guys got away from what we've been doing a little bit, it's just a matter of getting back on track.
• On Nate Pearson
Clearly the Jays are being very cautious with their top pitching prospect, Nate Pearson, who is currently out with an adductor strain. The fact that Pearson will be limited in how much he can pitch this season anyway is hopefully the main reason for that.
Obviously we had a lot of conversations in Florida. I know he's frustrated. He wants to be here. We text back and forth, checking on him. He misses being here. His mind is ready to be here, it's just the body hasn't cooperated up to this point. But I'm sure it will. It will be exciting to get him back this year. He feels great right now. He's moving along nicely. You know, it's difficult when you feel like you're an impact guy and you're not able to impact the team the way you want to. He'll get over that, and once he's here and he gets rolling it will be a big plus for this team. So, we're anxious to get him back, but we want to do it the right way and make sure when he gets here he stays here.
• On Thomas Hatch
An update on another young arm that’s currently on the shelf.
Obviously Robbie Ray is really close, Nate will be off the mound soon, Thomas Hatch as well. He's feeling great. But obviously with the initial elbow issue there during the game we're going to be cautious. I'm excited that it's not more than what it was. I think we all are. So, we're going to make sure, again, take care of him, do everything right by him. He's a kid that we love and he's got a long major league career ahead of him. And he's a guy that's going to pitch a lot of big innings for us, I believe, over his career. So, again, we're not going to rush him, but we will have him back at some point for sure.
• On Tim Mayza
It wasn’t the greatest of returns from a long injury layoff for Tim Mayza over the weekend, but there was still a lot to like in his performance — and Walker definitely saw that and preferred to look on the bright side.
I like where he's at. I think his stuff is electric at times. He's got a lot of movement on his fastball, and it sits in the mid-90s, and his slider can be extremely effective and get under bats from right-handers. I think he's going to continue to improve over the season as well, and I think he's not just a left-handed reliever that gets lefties out. He's a kind of guy like Borucki, which I think is a luxury. We've got two power lefties that have the ability to get right-handers out, and I think that's important.
• On the working with the club’s starting catchers
Lastly, not that you wouldn’t expect it, but Walker had plenty of nice things to say about both Danny Jansen and Alejandro Kirk.
Danny's been great. Honestly. He's improved a lot behind the plate. His game-planning and the adjustments he's been making has gotten better. He's very intuitive and he's got good feel. He asks good questions. The pitchers love throwing to him. So, from a defensive standpoint, he's really doing a nice job. He throws well. He just has done a real nice job back there. I've seen him grow as a major league catcher for sure.
And Kirky, in a short amount of time, has improved. The conversations that we have are solid. He asks good questions, he's very composed and he's very confident, which is great. And the language barrier has decreased. We get along good, he's able to understand, and we communicate very well. So he's come a long way.
He's interesting because there's certain areas that Danny's very good at, and the same thing with Kirky. And there's also areas that they both can improve in. It's kind of a work in progress for Kirky, but his confidence is growing and that helps a lot when you're calling a major league game. When you're struggling mentally, not sure, there's some uncertainty, that can lead to some issues back there. And then the confidence with your pitcher. So we haven't run into that. All of our pitchers like throwing to both of them, which is a luxury these days. So we're very pleased with where they both are defensively right now.
Top image via @GlobeLifeField
Reflections on a series win; a look at the week ahead; the return of Scuttlebutt; Walker Speaks!
Interesting that Walker referred to Borucki as a luxury. I think I understand what he means but I think it’s a word that actually takes some shine away from how great Borucki has looked over the past year.
"Remarkably, despite the ongoing global pandemic of an airborne virus with especially frightening variants now spreading like wildfire, fans will be able to fill Globe Life Field to full capacity."
Texas Covid cases on a serious downtrend, outdoor atmosphere, masks required, way ahead of us as far as vaccinations go. Maybe it's not that big a deal? They had a thousand cases today and I think 30 million people live there. I am also 100 percent not a scientist. But neither is every smug Jays fan who is shitting all over this. Someone has to go first.