The Blue Jays keep rolling
PLUS: A double dose of "Atkins speaks!" and more!
The Blue Jays are out there winning games out on the west coast, so (before they have to face Ohtani here on Thursday) let’s talk about it!
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Oh right, that Boston series…
I didn’t end up writing about last weekend’s games against the Red Sox, but does that mean I didn’t immensely enjoy them? It absolutely does not! The end of the Jays’ first Toronto homestand since September 2019 was as brilliant and uplifting and inspiring as the first part. It would be nice to see some of their recent wins translate to more movement in the AL East standings — the Jays have won 13 of 17 since the start of the Boston series that ended the day before the trade deadline/homecoming, yet have only gained one game on the Yankees and two games on the Rays (they’ve gained seven on Boston at least) — but simply keeping pace matters too. Especially when keeping pace means getting to witness a Marcus Semien walk-off home run and a George Springer season-changer on back-to-back days? To witness moments like these?
Yeah. It was a good weekend.
OK, time for some real three up, three down…
Tuesday (Game 1)(Jays 3 - Angels 6)
There will be enough up arrows in the next two games. Here’s three down…
▼ Vladimir Gurerrero Jr.
A rare down arrow for Vlad, but despite making huge strides defensively at first base this year, he did lose a pop-up in the sun, which resulted in a pair of unearned runs being scored (though the second of those was somewhat dubious given the way Vlad recovered to throw a bullet to home plate that resulted in a replay review to see whether or not Justin Upton had been safe). He’s also somewhat undeniably been slumping a little bit lately. Or, honestly, more than just lately, as Vlad has posted just a 113 wRC+ since June 30 — a good mark for ordinary hitters, but Vlad is obviously not one of those. He struck out three times in this one — just the third time that’s happened in 112 games. (Fortunately for the Jays, George Springer has been right there to pick up the slack, contributing a 186 wRC+ over the same span. Though in this one Springer unfortunately grounded into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded in the fourth. You can’t win ‘em all, I guess.)
▼ Not a pitching staff that walked Reese McGuire twice
Two gifts! Two gifts the Jays get and they can’t make the Angels pay! Granted, McGuire’s walk rate in August so far has been 24%, so lately it hasn’t been quite as absurd as I’m making it seem to see him get some free passes. Seems like a bad idea considering what the top of the Jays’ lineup looks like, but they let the Angels off the hook here.
▼ Trent Thornton and Rafael Dolis
I’ll admit that this one is unfair. Thornton came in to help clean up Steven Matz’s two-out walk and single in the fifth, then was on the mound for Vlad’s miscue. In the sixth he was hurt by Breyvic Valera’s fielder’s choice on a tough double play ball that ended up resulting in no outs, but then managed to get a double play of his own before being lifted for Dolis. Dolis then intentionally walked Shohei Ohtani, which would have been fine if he had any intention of paying attention to him as a baserunner. Instead Ohtani easily stole second on Dolis’s third pitch, and scored on a two-run single by Phil Gosselin (or maybe Paul Gosselin? Mark-Paul Gosselin? I don’t know). Neither pitcher was awful, I’d say, but they were the ones standing on the mound when four of the Angels’ six runs came across the plate in this one, and it sure seems like bad things have tended to follow these two around all season, doesn’t it?
Tuesday (Game 4)(Jays 4 - Angels 0)
Now this is more like it. Here’s three up, three down…
▲ Trevor Richards and Adam Cimber
Getting more than one inning of shutout work from one of these guys is generally big. On this day, because of Ross Stripling being forced from the game after two innings because of an injury to his oblique, the Jays asked for two innings each from this pair, and they absolutely delivered. Richards has put up an unsustainable strand rate (97.6%) and BABIP (.167) since coming over in trade from Milwaukee, so there's going to be regression at some point for sure. Even so, his 3.55 FIP and 3.46 xFIP, and 2.85 SIERA for his time with the Blue Jays would seem to believe it's not just pure luck — and the fact that he's struck out 36.7% of the batters he faced is a testament to it. And Cimber, of course, has somehow been even better. It’s tough to ask so much of those guys, because it means they were both unavailable on Wednesday at the very least, but it was worth it. They got the job done.
▲ Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
The Jays lead was more precarious than it looks now in retrospect when Lourdes Gurriel Jr. stepped to the plate with the bases loaded in the sixth inning of this one. Up by just two, with the club's best relievers already having combined for three innings of work and the Angels having two more shots to tie it up (this being, of course, a seven-inning doubleheader game). We'd especially see why the following inning, when soon-to-be MVP Shohei Ohtani managed to get to the plate with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh. While there have certainly been bigger hits this season, and even this week, when Gurriel lined that ball into left-centre to score a pair of extra run it was pretty important in its own right.
Gurriel continues to be a frustrating player who lately has alternated between good months and bad ones. But August so far has been good. So was June, meaning that despite his poor July he's now posted a respectable 121 wRC+ since June 1.
▲ Getting that momentum back
The bad vibes from a game one loss sure didn’t last long, did they?
It's a good time for the Jays to have some momentum, too. After visiting the Angels the Jays go to Seattle, who have sputtered a bit since a disappointing trade deadline. Then it's a visit to Washington, who traded whatever wasn't tied down at the deadline. The next homestand sees them face Detroit (interesting potential spoilers but on pace for just 78 wins) for three then the very good White Sox for four. Then it's a quick trip to the Motor City to face the Tigers again before a homestand against Baltimore and then an Oakland A's team the Jays are chasing in the wild card race. After that, the Jays finish out the season with a schedule that will see them face either the Yankees or Rays in 13 of 27 games, and either the Orioles or Twins in the other 14. Could be worse!
▼ Losing Ross Stripling
We didn’t get much of a prognosis out of the Jays regarding Stripling’s injury, only that he will definitely not be making his next start. The rotation has been a stabilizing force for the club lately, and Steven Matz has been better than we’ve seen him at times this year since the All-Star break (he has a 2.92 ERA over his last five starts), but Stripling has been important for this club too. Moving from a six- to a five-man rotation is ultimately probably for the best, but the team is now one starter slipping down some stairs away from us seeing Thomas Hatch starts down the stretch, and I don’t think anyone wants to see that. Don’t say it couldn’t happen!
▼ Jordan Romano
Romano got out of a real mess in the bottom of the seventh inning by striking out Ohtani, but it was a mess of his own creation. That sort of thing has been happening a little more often than I, personally, care for lately. It will bite the Jays soon, and while that’s just sort of how the sport works, the margins are getting so thin — and the Jays have already experienced so many bites — that I fear for the health of their playoff chances if at any point it gets to be a bigger problem than it already is.
▼ Watching the great Ohtani play with a bunch of chumps
And just imagine. If Mike Trout was healthy we’d be watching him play with a bunch of chumps too. Woof.
Oh, hey, but at least we’ve already got big time media crying poor for the owners of this waste of a club!
Wednesday (Jays 10 - Angels 2)
Shohei Ohtani did it again, blasting his MLB leading thirty-eighth home run as the Angels lost 10-2. No down arrows here, baby!
▲ Alek Manoah
The sample size is small, and the stat is noisy, but right now among starting pitchers with over 50 innings this season, Alek Manoah's 2.59 ERA ranks 12th in baseball — just ahead of Tyler Glasnow, Max Scherzer, John Means, Kyle Gibson, Marcus Stroman, Robbie Ray, Jack Flaherty, Joe Musgrove, and Thursday's Angels starter Shohei Ohtani.
Manoah will have to be very good going forward if he's going to keep up with that crowd, but after another outstanding start in Wednesday's game — just two runs (thanks to Ohtani's homer) on five hits and two walks over 6 2/3 innings with 11 strikeouts — the questions about whether he can do it get quieter.
Uh… is that good? How about this?
Hell, or how about this?
▲ Teoscar Hernández
Mid-2017: The Blue Jays send Francisco Liriano to the Houston Astros in exchange for Teoscar Hernández and (in order to make the finances work) Norichika Aoki.
Mid-2021:
That trade was only made possible by the fact that the previous year the Jays had moved Drew Hutchison to Pittsburgh for Liriano (and his hefty salary) plus Reese McGuire and Harold Ramírez. And there are still people out there who think Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins are bad and don’t know what they’re doing. LOL.
Anyway, Teoscar hit a grand slam in this one to make it an absolute laugher. Hernández had a tough month of May this year, but otherwise has basically been a stud ever since the All-Star break back in 2019. Over that span he has been the 15th best hitter in the majors by wRC+ with a mark of 137.
▲ Santiago Espinal, George Springer and Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
Yes, I’m sort of cheating by picking three players here, but it’s for a good reason. While the night belonged to Hernández and Manoah, the contributions of these guys deserve being highlighted as well. Espinal continues to play extremely well, and managed a key RBI single to retake the lead for the Jays in the the fifth, cashing in a Gurriel double (before, a few batters later, being overshadowed by Teoscar’s slam). Gurriel added a home run to lead-off the third and an RBI single in the eighth. The red hot Springer, meanwhile, also hit a home run in the third, added another one in the eighth. He walked and scored on the fifth-inning grand slam as well.
Springer played just four times before June 22nd. He already has 16 home runs on the season. On Monday it was announced that he had been named American League Player of the Week for the second straight week — the first time a Blue Jays player had ever taken home the award in back-to-back weeks. At this point, a third one isn’t impossible.
Atkins Speaks!
We’ve got a double dose of Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins for you this time, as he stopped by for an inning in Sportsnet’s radio booth with Ben Wagner back on Sunday, as well as with the guys on TSN’s OverDrive on Wednesday evening. Here are the highlights!
From Sportsnet during Sunday’s game
• On the build-up toward the moment of being back at Rogers Centre
It was incredible. There wasn't much build-up because it was the trade deadline, so I was wiped out. Our entire operations office was wiped out from the weeks leading up to that day, and then the next thing you know we were starting a ballgame. But to watch the emotion on our players' faces, the emotion in the stadium, the genuine, just, heartfelt greeting and welcome from the fans was one of the best memories I've had in baseball. It was an incredible day. I knew it would be special, I knew that these fans would embrace this team, and just couldn't wait to see it happen. It was a very special feeling.
A question that obviously needed to be asked (in both interviews!) but one that doesn’t necessarily interest me all that much if I’m being perfectly honest. It was nice! A bet he says it was nice.
• On watching background staff, such as Marnie Starkman, become known among fans given all they've accomplished logistically this year and last
Yeah, it has been. It's been an all hands on deck. I saw individuals of our business team cleaning the stadium today. All of us have just enjoyed that and embraced it. There hasn't been anything other than what's the challenge in front of us, how can we help, how can we contribute in some way to push things forward and try to get a little bit better every day. And Marnie's team has been remarkable. I'm not surprised they — you know, it's never simple, but there are some intangibles that, working in any field, but especially in the sports field, if you're passionate and you love the game, and you have a strong work ethic and you're collaborative, it's amazing what you can get done.
Hmm. I mean, maybe the billionaire media conglomerate should spring for some cleaners, but otherwise this is also nice.
• On identifying José Berríos as a trade target
Well he's easy to target early. And he was obviously very high on everyone's list because of the track record, the character/teammate, and, you know, the very effective ability to get major league hitters out. So he was very high on our list. You do have to discipline yourself and ensure that you don't become entirely fixated on three to ten players. You have to understand the entire landscape and every player that's potentially available and how that could impact your team. But he was exciting for us to talk about, and exciting for us to think about adding to this group. I think — I'll let you chime in on that piece of the baseball game before I get too long-winded.
But I think one of the things that was so attractive, and it's really subjective but so fun about our game, is how well I've felt he would fit in with this young group. Not just because he's a young Latin player, but his love and passion for the game. I think he's going to absolutely love Toronto and we love adding young starting pitching to the organization. So I was just excited about the talent and teammate fit, but as well as the personality fit. I'm confident he's going to fit in just fine.
If there is one thing I’ve learned in transcribing these chats with Atkins, especially of late as the team has given themselves the luxury of thinking beyond just straight-up adding talent to the organization, it’s that this Blue Jays front office is absolutely not lying when they say they think about culture all the time. And if there are two things I’ve learned, the second one is that they are doing an inordinate amount of background work before they’re getting to the point of making deals. Kinda makes you appreciate why teams aren’t just trading for relievers in May because they need an arm right then and there — because presumably most other organizations, to some extent or another, are out there doing something similar. (Well, not the Rockies, but otherwise!)
• On Adam Cimber
Yeah man, he has been awesome. I think not just against right-handed hitters. He's always been extremely effective against right-handed hitters, but his stuff has ticked up over the last year. Is a little bit more velocity, a little bit more bite to all of his weapons, and the upshot fastball to left-handed hitters, I shouldn't be talking about it, I hope he's not just surprising people with it, but he has been really incredible for us.
Given the amount of footage of players and coaches watching video of at-bats in game, I think it’s pretty safe to say that the league knows what Cimber has been up to lately. So I assume Ross is in the clear on that. He’s certainly not wrong about Cimber, though, or his stuff ticking up — which makes one think there’s some belief in the front office that what we’ve seen here is a bit more durable and a bit less fluky than it may look from the outside. You also understand why the Jays maybe went out and targeted him early, before the rest of the league caught on as well.
Speaking specifically about Cimber’s improvements, Atkins added:
One of the least effective pitches in baseball is a sinking fastball to a left-handed hitter, because of the way that their swing plane works with that pitch that is going away. You have to be near perfect with it. So he had to adjust and find the inside attack and also something that was elevated.
Seems to me like he’s figured it out!
• On relievers and leverage/usage
I think one of the things that's really important is trying to put everyone in positions to be successful, and thinking about how different things could play out over the course of a game. And then there's a trust factor for whether or not the level of leverage. And that's where Charlie, that's where he makes those decisions, and decides who's going into what role. And where we try to contribute is where we think they'll be the most successful, in what types of situations, against what types of hitters. They go through, he and Pete, along with John Schneider, Matt Buschmann, every day. They go through several scenarios on what could potentially unravel. These guys — like, Trevor Richards, he's really stepped up for us. And Adam Cimber has really just, it's been quiet but they've both been very quietly effective. Both of their stuff is better than at the start of the year, which is extremely encouraging.
Obviously putting the right reliever in the right spot has been a challenge for the Jays, and for Charlie in particular, this season. But while the manager does ultimately have to wear those decisions when things go awry, I think it’s important to point out stuff like this where we get to see a little bit of what’s going into those calls. Namely, that it isn’t just Charlie pulling names out of his ass.
• On Marcus Semien
I use too many adjectives and say too much every time I talk about him just because I have just been blown away at the professionalism, the consistency, the tone that he sets. Same exact human every day. Exceptionally tough. And he's obviously performed exceptionally well. He's been a well above average defender at second, he's a threat every single time at the plate with an incredible at-bat. So rare that you see him give away any pitches. He never does, one, because of mental lapses, it's just sometimes these are really effective. But I can't say enough good about him.
Remember earlier in this post when I noted where Teoscar ranked among MLB hitters since the 2019 All-Star break? Well, Semien was just behind him with a wRC+ of 135. He’s also first in WAR (albeit only because Mike Trout is nearly 500 plate appearances behind him over that span).
I’ve said it before, I think the Jays are definitely keeping their options open this winter, so I’d be surprised if we saw an extension for Semien get done before he’s able to test the market. But it sure would be great to see him back, and obviously the Jays seem to think that too — assuming you believe Atkins is being sincere here. The guy really seems to check a lot of your self-made boxes, Ross!
Speaking of which…
• On when off-season planning begins
Well we've started that a long time ago. We've been thinking about this upcoming off-season for a couple of years. We've been thinking about how we build the best team and keep them here for the longest time for a number of years. And we'll continue to. And never stop thinking about the player, and putting the player at the centre of everything and putting the player first, and making sure they feel respected and valued here.
Mmm-hmm…
• Extensions for younger players?
If we had it wouldn't be something I was talking about on the air. But, listen, like I said, we always try to put the player in the centre of everything we're doing and make sure that they feel respected and valued and understand how much we would like to keep this group together.
I concur!
• On locking guys into spots in the batting order
Ideally no, ideally you don't want guys to be set into those specific spots. It was really cool to see George when he first got here. He said, 'Hey, hit me anywhere. Wherever you want to put me is fine.' Over the last few weeks he's obviously embraced being back in that lead-off role. Was also exceptionally impressed by Marcus Semien saying, 'Hey man, no problem,' moving. He was obviously having a monster year and was fine making the adjustment, and it didn't seem to set him back one bit. And that's not easy, because there's a rhythm to everything they're doing throughout a day. So the adjustments at noon need to change when you're changing the lineup, how you're preparing, how you're thinking about the information you'll have when you get to the plate. These guys have embraced it from a teammate standpoint.
Normally not a question I would have highlighted here, but I do love that praise of Marcus Semien. Also, I think the stuff at the end is kind of interesting, too. I saw some fans rolling their eyes last week when Sportsnet’s Kevin Barker had supposedly claimed that Justin Smoak didn’t like hitting second because he had to get off the field too quickly after the top of the first inning to get ready to hit. Seems weird, for sure, but we see all the time how much this game is about preparation and information. It may be true! And if so, Atkins’ comments get at why.
• On Breyvic Valera
He's fun to watch. He's a good player. So happy for him. He's had a tough couple of years. He wasn't able to get into the country a year ago.
Ross is always positive about his players, obviously, but the tone of this little bit of praise definitely stuck out to me — especially because I’ve heard that the Jays really do like him (which some of their actions over the last couple of years seem to back up; i.e. he’s still here).
Atkins offered some insight into his recent trip to the family emergency list, too. And confirmed that his family have remained in Buffalo! (At least as of Sunday.)
Yeah, and his baby actually, he was here and had to go back and be with his child for a couple of days to make sure — just had a very mild health scare and everything is fine — but man, he is stoic. It is interesting, the different cultures and environments, and just every individual, how they handle whether it be stress, challenges, what's been in front of them. But he is hard to rattle.
Low pulse. They definitely love that!
• On outfield depth
Specifically, this one was about Josh Palacios and Forrest Wall.
Yeah, those guys have been great. Will be good to get Josh back into the fold here and be an option for us potentially. He's recovered well and should be becoming, again, like I said, an option for us. Forrest Wall's back from an injury, and they both had incredible spring trainings. Feel very good about Jordan Groshans and Gabriel Moreno, Orelvis Martinez. Our international department — Gabriel Moreno, Alejandro Kirk, Pardinho, obviously Orelvis Martinez, Hiraldo — they've done an incredible job. These aren't players that potentially could just contribute, they're very high impact, high ceiling players that are identified by the industry.
Atkins here has done the fan thing and kind of brushed aside Palacios and Wall a little bit in order to get to the “real” prospects, to which I say: hell yeah bud.
(Also, presumably “identified by the industry” means “teams couldn’t stop asking about them ahead of the trade deadline last month”, right?)
• On the ETA for Gabriel Moreno
Turns out that a GM’s job isn’t always as complicated or full of well-planned machinations behind the scenes as we sometimes think!
You know, it's so funny. Like, your guess is as good as mine. Like, you can see the track record, the age, the position. Obviously had an injury setback. And then think about, 'OK, who is he taking off of the team?' So, but man, he's special.
WHO IS HE TAKING OFF THE TEAM THOUGH?
From TSN’s OverDrive
We now move on to highlights from the second, and shorter, of Atkins’ radio appearances this week. To wit…
• On fan expectations down the stretch
They should be high. We've continued to push in and we want to be more than just a team that is competitive, we want to be a team that is contending. Obviously we want the fans to believe in this team and believe that is what should be occurring — that we should be contending. That's been our intent the whole time, is just continue to make the organization better without losing sight of the future, so it can be something that's lasting and not something that is an exciting year here or there but more for several years and years to come, a team with names that they're familiar with that they can be very proud of and feel very good about pulling for. And what that means in terms of winning championships is just so hard to define or say anything with certainty. But it certainly is our goal. There's only one reason we do this and it's to win, and it's to win the World Series.
You don’t trade Martin and Woods Richardson for 1.5 years of Berríos and then immediately rule out the point-five. Let’s do this!
• On Berríos
It is never easy, and obviously you would like to acquire players where the price doesn't sting. But to acquire someone of José's calibre, you know it's going to sting. You know that going into it. The only team that was going to get him would be an organization that had enough depth to make the move in a way where it didn't set the organization back. We feel like this sets the organization forward, so that's why we made the decision. With all the respect in the world for Austin Martin and Simeon Woods Richardson, and (we're) huge fans, and I will be pulling for them. And I hope that they have great careers. Those are the best deals, when it's a win-win. On the José front specifically we just felt, obviously the pitcher, the durability, the three-pitch mix, the ability to haul innings and just be so durable year in and year out. And maybe the biggest piece of the equation is just how well he complements us from a personality and teammate perspective. Or fits in, even, as much as complements.
He devours innings. Can’t get enough innings! Bong-loads of innings. Just fuckin’ rips the shit out of innings and then doesn’t even cough!
• On the rotation quickly becoming a strength
All of the credit goes to the four individuals that you just brought up (Ray, Ryu, Berríos, Manoah), and I think there's others that are involved, but when you're talking about those levels of contributions, I can't say enough about each of them. Robbie Ray has been, from the day that he got here, to the off-season that he had, from day one of spring training, with a minor setback with a fall he had at the end of spring training, he just has been lights out. And a huge influence on our team. Right from the start our team really celebrated his confidence and his competitiveness, and just how much confidence they had when he was on the mound. It is very, I can say, when he's taking the mound I feel very good. I feel very good about the level of intensity, the level of competitiveness, and just how aggressive he's going to be in the zone. And is just a year removed, he wasn't throwing as many strikes, so I just can't say enough about the adjustment, his commitment to that, and very happy for him and what that means for him and the Blue Jays.
Ray is maybe an even weirder free agent case this winter than Semien. Though I think there’s something to idea of basically saying to him: “Go do it again without Pete Walker and see how that goes.”
Atkins continued:
As it relates to how that occurred quickly is nothing really occurs quickly (laughs) right? It's over time. There's drafts and there's free agent strategies and trades that occur. You eventually, when you have enough of those pieces of those of the equation, you're going to have some good stories somewhere. So we need to continue to do that, we need to continue to think about how we can continue to build upon that depth.
Good stories: they’re good.
• On trying to sign Ohtani back in 2017
Topical! Also, I had definitely heard that the Jays were very, very interested in Ohtani back then. I’d joke about how this means we at least know their scouting department has eyes, or something like that, but there were lots of doubters. It does not appear as though the Jays were among them.
Listen, I think that all 30 teams were in. And I think that, I don't know for sure, but the consensus or the feeling was, the sentiment was, that the west coast had a bit of an advantage. And I don't know, to the day, if that is absolutely true. But I do feel as though Shohei authentically considered us because of the work that our business team, our baseball operations teams, our marketing team did in presenting this city and this country and this organization to him as a great place for him to continue his career. I do feel good about our process. In hindsight are there things that we could have done differently? I think maybe they would have been five or six years prior; if there are things that you could have done differently and better it would have been knowing the player before anyone else did, and I can't say that we were first to the game there. I'm not sure who was. But that's typically where hindsight comes in when it comes to identifying talent and scouting talent, it's knowing the players the best because it matters to the team, obviously, and how well you understand the talent coming in, but it matters in a significant way to the player.
OK, now this sort of makes me think they’ve definitely got some free agent targets this winter that they’ve been waiting on for years. If that’s really the case, I suppose that’s OK by me. They’ve done pretty well on that front so far. Speaking of…
• On George Springer
Specifically, Atkins was asked here about what he’s liked the most out of Springer now that he’s back (or something to that effect).
It's the competitiveness. All these guys are so competitive, right? Like if you went and played golf with any of them, even if they weren't any good, you're going to pick up on a very sincere competitive streak. But what that means at the biggest moments, and what that means day in and day out, and what that means when they're not feeling their best and how they're able to find every potential way to help a team win, he really does demonstrate that level of elite competitiveness on a daily basis. If I had to pick one thing it would be that.
Not the dancing?
• On Vladdy's slump and a young team not used to the rigors of 162
It's a big part of why we wanted to make sure we acquired guys like Robbie Ray, Hyun Jin Ryu, George Springer, and Marcus Semien. And even Corey Dickerson. Recently these guys have all been through that, and there's no better shared experience than from someone who has genuinely shared it. Those guys are so glad already to have the teammates that they do, and will no doubt in my mind benefit from having them around and tap into them from that perspective. On whether it's feeling a little bit fatigued, or dealing with less than ideal success in any moment, and how do you turn the page as quickly as possible?
As noted during the question, Vlad himself had mentioned last week that he was feeling a bit tired at this stage of the season, which… fair enough. It’s easy to forget that Vlad only played 123 games between the Jays, Buffalo, and Dunedin in 2019, so he’s headed toward uncharted territory. Still, I think the safe bet is that he’ll be fine.
Vladdy is definitely looking frustrated with some of his at bats. Slammed and broke his bat the other day. I think his slump started before, but I wonder if that pitch he took flush on his hand (even with a protector) affected him? I think it was earlier in that game that he hurt one of his hands fielding as well. I dunno....just searching for answers I suppose. Every batter goes through slumps.