On an ugly loss, an uglier loss, John Schneider's job-worthiness, a puzzling call-up, waiver fever, a surprisingly long Atkins Speaks! section that could have been its own post, and more!
1. I think that one of the reasons we are having problems 'tying the runs together' is a batting order problem. Vladdy is hitting into too many double plays to bat 3rd.
2. If for some secret reason you don't want to have Mason McCoy pinch run, you could have Yusei Kukuchi or some other speedy pitcher whom you wouldn't need to pitch, do it, no?
Keegan Matheson did a hit on 590 today where he made the point, rightfully, that the Jays (and every other organization in baseball) are process driven and that's fine, but there's got to be some wiggle room and the Kirk stuff was a good example of that. Much like the bunt debacle on Sunday, it just feels like something being overthought and overanalyzed and thinking a move or two ahead while making it less likely you'll get to that move in the first place if you limit your odds/chances in the moment.
On the whole, the season has been incredibly frustrating and sometimes its hard to see past a bad at-bat or game. Still, while it's obviously not ALL on him - Kirk, Springer, Manoah have all been underperforming to various degrees - psychologically so much of it does come down to Vlad's struggles when evaluating the team and hoping for the last month. At the beginning of the year - and last year too - much of the hope in the team and its potential comes down to projecting Vlad as one of the best players in the game. When he's not that - or even close to it - it's hard to get excited. It's probably unfair to look at it that way or put all that on one man, but (and especially with Bo out again) when you look at the lineup and don't see the kind of murderer's row in the middle we had all hoped for, it gets pretty despondent as soon as they get down.
Twenty more homers from Vlad over the course of the season - which we know he's capable of, and more - could easily be the difference between being comfortably in the first wildcard and contending for the division, and on the outside looking in, like we are now.
Manoah's implosion has been incredibly sad, but it's hard to say that better pitching would have done much to change our season. The pitching has been excellent. Springer is getting older and it's only natural to expect less of him each year. KK, Belt, Whit have all been great. Varsho has been a bit of a disappointment, but there's room to grow and every reason to think that move will still pan out.
Which is to say: agree, it sucks to put the disappointing season on Vlad alone, but basically this team was built around him, we needed him to perform, and he hasn't, and that's made all the difference.
1. I think that one of the reasons we are having problems 'tying the runs together' is a batting order problem. Vladdy is hitting into too many double plays to bat 3rd.
2. If for some secret reason you don't want to have Mason McCoy pinch run, you could have Yusei Kukuchi or some other speedy pitcher whom you wouldn't need to pitch, do it, no?
So we're struggling with injuries at the moment, but we had a glorious healthy run most of the year. And we didn't take advantage of that.
Keegan Matheson did a hit on 590 today where he made the point, rightfully, that the Jays (and every other organization in baseball) are process driven and that's fine, but there's got to be some wiggle room and the Kirk stuff was a good example of that. Much like the bunt debacle on Sunday, it just feels like something being overthought and overanalyzed and thinking a move or two ahead while making it less likely you'll get to that move in the first place if you limit your odds/chances in the moment.
On the whole, the season has been incredibly frustrating and sometimes its hard to see past a bad at-bat or game. Still, while it's obviously not ALL on him - Kirk, Springer, Manoah have all been underperforming to various degrees - psychologically so much of it does come down to Vlad's struggles when evaluating the team and hoping for the last month. At the beginning of the year - and last year too - much of the hope in the team and its potential comes down to projecting Vlad as one of the best players in the game. When he's not that - or even close to it - it's hard to get excited. It's probably unfair to look at it that way or put all that on one man, but (and especially with Bo out again) when you look at the lineup and don't see the kind of murderer's row in the middle we had all hoped for, it gets pretty despondent as soon as they get down.
Well said.
Twenty more homers from Vlad over the course of the season - which we know he's capable of, and more - could easily be the difference between being comfortably in the first wildcard and contending for the division, and on the outside looking in, like we are now.
Manoah's implosion has been incredibly sad, but it's hard to say that better pitching would have done much to change our season. The pitching has been excellent. Springer is getting older and it's only natural to expect less of him each year. KK, Belt, Whit have all been great. Varsho has been a bit of a disappointment, but there's room to grow and every reason to think that move will still pan out.
Which is to say: agree, it sucks to put the disappointing season on Vlad alone, but basically this team was built around him, we needed him to perform, and he hasn't, and that's made all the difference.
Can’t disagree with any of that!