The Jays add four to their 40-man, claim a pitcher on waivers, plus: Walker speaks!
On the Jays' Rule 5 decisions, the addition of Shaun Anderson, plus Pete Walker on Robbie Ray, Nate Pearson, José Berríos, Hyun Jin Ryu, and more!
The Blue Jays have added four minor leaguers to their 40-man roster in order to protect them from exposure to the Rule 5 draft. They’ve also claimed a pitcher on waivers from the Padres. Plus! On Friday morning Jays pitching coach Pete Walker had some interesting comments on the radio regarding the club’s starting pitchers.
So let’s talk about it!
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The 40-man shuffle
With seven spots on their 40-man, the Jays had plenty of room to add Rule 5 eligible players to the roster in order to prevent them from being taken by other teams whenever that process eventually takes place (it is currently scheduled for December 9th, at the conclusion of the Winter Meetings, but the expectation is that the league will still be in a lockout at that point). They also added a player via waivers!
Let’s take a look at who was and wasn’t added.
The additions
• RHP Hagen Danner, Vancouver
Danner was a second round pick for the Jays in 2017 as a catcher, but struggled at the plate (.170/.254/.369) in his first taste of full season ball at Lansing in 2019. He switched to pitching this season — where he'd also shown talent as an amateur — and according to Steve Givarz of Baseball Prospectus in their recent top Blue Jays prospects piece he was especially exciting in fall instructional league, where he was “touching 100 and showing a hard 90-92 slider that was getting empty swings.” He has yet to reach the upper minors, but will likely start 2022 at New Hampshire, and only has 35 2/3 innings of experience on the mound, but clearly the Jays felt that a guy with his stuff would be attractive to other clubs — and, potentially, that he could be of use to them at some point next season.
• RHP Bowden Francis, Buffalo
Acquired from the Brewers in the Trevor Richards-Rowdy Tellez trade, Francis sits 90-93 with command and a decent low-80s slider, according a Baseball America piece at the time of the trade. His numbers weren't eye-popping after he moved into the Jays' system, as his strikeout rate sunk below one-per-inning, his walk rate rose, and he produced a 4.19 ERA and 5.65 FIP. However, the strikeouts had been there is previous years, and in early 2021 at Double-A, and starting pitching depth is obviously important and coveted. His grip on this spot might be tenuous, depending on what the Jays do the rest of the winter on the starting pitching front (they also have Thomas Hatch, Anthony Kay, Nate Pearson, and Trent Thornton as depth starters on the 40-man, plus the next guy we'll talk about), but obviously the club thought he might get scooped up.
• LHP Zach Logue, Buffalo
Logue was left unprotected in the Rule 5 last year, as he was coming off of a 4.10 ERA/4.61 FIP season at Double-A in which his struck out just 79 in 101 innings. According to Baseball America, however, this year he "saw his velocity jump by a couple miles per hour" and he "mixed four pitches well" on his way to a pretty impressive 3.32 ERA/3.56 FIP over 89 1/3 innings at Buffalo, with 93 strikeouts and just 20 walks. Again, maybe not a super exciting piece of the Jays' puzzle, but definitely someone with enough value that it would be tough to lose him for nothing.
• INF Leo Jimenez, Dunedin
Infielders as far away from the majors as Jimenez is are generally not terribly likely to be taken in the Rule 5 draft — or if they are it’s much tougher for them to stick on another team’s roster all season than guys who can just be stashed in a bullpen — so clearly this move is an indication of how highly the Jays think of him. Partly, though, it's also about the fact that Jimenez gets very good marks for his defence, and the fact that his plate discipline is so strong that another team might think he could really hold his own in the big leagues despite not turning 21 until May. The power isn't there yet, but this season Jimenez struck out just 14.5% of the time while walking 21.1% of the time, leading to an wonky .315/.517/.381 slash line. The Jays now have Jimenez, Breyvic Valera, Santiago Espinal, Otto Lopez, and Kevin Smith on the 40-man as infielders, in addition to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, and Cavan Biggio. Seems like a lot!
• RHP Shaun Anderson, San Diego
Anderson was a 2016 third round pick of the Red Sox who was sent to San Francisco for Eduardo Núñez in 2017. Last February he was traded to the Twins straight up for recent MVP vote-getter LaMonte Wade Jr. He was claimed on waivers by the Rangers in June, then by the Orioles in July, then by the Padres in August. Clearly there's something that teams like about him (presumably having to do with the 93.4 mph fastball and 86.9 mph slider combo he brings. Walks have been a problem in the past, strikeouts have occasionally been a strength, but overall in 2021 he had a pedestrian 15.3% strikeout rate and a 9.7% walk rate. He does have an option year left, so he could be a useful guy to churn between Buffalo and the majors to give the bullpen a little bit of cover in 2022, but that would require him sticking on the roster throughout the winter, which seems dubious. Otherwise: meh. (At least on the surface. Clearly, as we’ll see in the Pete Walker section below, the Jays have a lot of brainpower trying to figure out how to get the best out of these kinds of guys.)
The omissions
The most notable name not to be added to the Jays’ 40-man belonged to Samad Taylor. A breakout performance at Double-A — .294/.385/.503 (141 wRC+) with 16 home runs in just 87 games — wasn’t enough for Taylor to avoid exposure to the Rule 5 for a second straight year. The difference between him and Jimenez would seem to be in terms of defence (Taylor is much more a second baseman/utility guy, where Jimenez gets pretty good marks at short), and in terms of plate discipline, where Taylor's 29.4% strikeout rate in Double-A perhaps has made the Jays think that he's just a little too green for the big leagues at the moment. Still, somewhat surprising.
Other slightly surprising omissions were injured pitchers Joey Murray and Eric Pardinho, who may not make sense for a lot of teams because of the health concerns, as well as AFL standout Graham Spraker (who Sam Dykstra spoke about on this week’s Blue Jays Happy Hour, and who has a good fastball but maybe not enough of a secondary offering to be of use to either the Jays or the league). Miguel Hiraldo, long heralded as a top of the system type of prospect, is another one who missed, but his weak season in 2021 coupled with how far off he is from the majors (he played for Low-A Dunedin this year) probably made it unnecessary to protect him.
Walker speaks!
Blue Jays pitching whisperer Pete Walker whispered into a microphone on Friday morning in an interview with JD Bunkis, Ailish Forfar, and Blake Murphy for the Fan 590’s morning show, aptly titled The Fan Morning Show.
Here are the highlights!
On helping Robbie Ray get to the next level
We focussed on minimizing our walks with just about every pitcher on the staff. It was really a focus this year. The last couple years our walks kind of jumped up a little bit, after the '15 and '16 seasons, and we wanted to get back to, really, minimizing walks, not giving free passes, make sure we're attacking the zone. Robbie fell into that category.
Obviously coming from Arizona there were some issues there, and he had already started to work on his old arm stroke, trying to get that back. So we focussed on that. But for him it was really getting in the strike zone and getting strike one. So, you know, moving our catchers a little bit more on the plate for him made a difference, because he was a guy that, certainly with his kind of stuff, a two-pitch mix, can't be behind in the count consistently. And that's what was happening in Arizona — 1-0, 2-0. So getting strike one with his nasty stuff made a huge difference.
He started really commanding the baseball and dominating hitters because of that. And obviously with his work ethic and his offseason conditioning, coming into the season stronger than ever, made a huge difference. Having a little bit of hip turn in his delivery helped keep him over the rubber. And then it was really the consistency, and gave him that confidence again. And I think he was able to do that. But once he started getting strike one, it was basically over. With his nasty slider and 95 mph heater, he just came after guys and finished them off.
Definitely some generalities in here — avoiding walks is good, it turns out! — but I think you also see a bit of the craft from Walker, too. Especially when he talks about the work on the arm slot that Ray began to do in Arizona (where in 2020 he'd been trying to throw more over the top in an attempt to limit walks that clearly didn't work), and about the "hip turn" keeping him over the rubber. Would love to know more about these details!
What we do know is that part of what helped Ray wasn’t just Walker’s vaunted acumen, but his and the organization’s willingness to adapt to new technologies — and to help pitchers do the same. Back in February, Gregor Chisholm of the Toronto Star wrote about Ray’s decision to return to the Jays, and that was clearly part of it.
“Technology has gotten way better and we have slow-mo cameras. They can break down your delivery in very, very small increments of, like, frames per second,” he said. “So, it is a lot different now, and it’s really cool to see that technology and be able to go pitch-to-pitch and see the difference: OK, this ball was here and this is what my delivery looked like, and this ball was here and it looked different.”
Interestingly, in Joel Sherman’s piece this week for the New York Post about the Mets’ failure to retain Noah Syndergaard, he singled out the Jays as one of the top teams in the game when it comes to this stuff.
“For the best organizations these days preparing pitchers physically, for the season and for each game, is a collective effort across multiple departments,” he wrote. “There were efforts in the first year under Cohen’s ownership to bulk up these areas, but they still pale in comparison to clubs such as the Dodgers, Giants and Blue Jays, among many others.”
Walker deserves a ton of credit for being a leader on the pitching side for the Jays when great stories like this happen. He’s obviously an incredibly valuable guy within the organization. But it ain’t just one guy!
On communicating with the front office regarding acquisitions
There definitely is. Our front office, our analytics group, does a great job of pinpointing guys that we think we can work with there. You know, there are things that they do very well that maybe they aren't doing enough of, or there's an area to reassess their pitch arsenal, and what they're using in certain counts, and when they're using certain pitches. Or maybe utilizing a pitch more — or less.
We have a great group that we've developed and built in this organization. I consider us elite in that area. I think of the Dodgers, the Yankees, and other organizations have spent a lot of money in that area, and we've built a tremendous group that can pinpoint guys and find areas that we can improve. And then it's up to the coaching staff to do that. But, you know, it's a collaborative effort. Matt Buschmann does a great job in our bullpen with the pitchers as well, and we just have kind of come up with a good system that we trust and we work together on.
But, you know, Robbie, we knew — I mean, we definitely wanted to keep him. I fell in love with Rob the end of the previous season, just looking at his stuff and what he could potentially do, his work ethic, and I knew he was on a mission. So this season, to be honest with you, when we signed him back quickly, there was a reason. We felt very confident that he had turned things around and was going to continue to turn things around, and pounded the table to get him to stay and be with us. And I'm really not surprised he had this kind of a season.
Like I was saying!
Is it interesting that the Jays have yet to jump out with an offer for a similar starter with upside this winter? I’m not sure. Clearly the prior relationship the club had with Ray had a whole lot to do with their belief in him a year ago. There isn’t really a great analogue at the moment outside of Steven Matz, who they could have given a qualifying offer to this winter, but chose not to.
Frankly, with the prices that starting pitchers are getting so far, doing so might have made more sense than it did even a couple weeks ago. Get paid, Steven!
On Nate Pearson
We still see him as a starter, and obviously he can throw the ball 100 mph and he can spin the ball and has good breaking stuff. So, you know, it's just a matter of getting his confidence to a certain level. Obviously keeping him healthy is number one — the number one priority. But the more you see him pitch in the big leagues, even in a relief role, you're starting to see him getting comfortable this past season. And I think with him it's really just going to be innings and getting him as comfortable as quickly as possible at the major league level, trusting his stuff — which is, it's kind of crazy to say when you throw 100 mph, to trust your stuff.
But really, just to have a purpose behind each pitch, to understand what you're doing as a pitcher. And then game plan a little bit. But we still see Nate as a big piece to this puzzle where we think of winning a World Series next year and the years after. We consider him a frontline starter and someone that can really help us out.
These comments dovetail very nicely with Arden Zwelling’s excellent piece on Pearson for Sportsnet early on this week, in which Pearson admits to losing himself somewhat on the mound this season.
On Alek Manoah, who leapfrogged him on the Jays’ pitching depth chart, Pearson told Arden:
“Alek’s got amazing stuff. But what makes him so good is that he’s so confident. His mound presence is crazy to watch. I learned so much from him. I was like, ‘That's how I need to pitch. That's how I should be. I should be that bulldog out there.’ And I realized I’d kind of lost myself. I was like that and I lost it for a bit due to injuries and everything else.”
On this very subject, Walker continued:
Everybody learns at different rates, and for Alek, obviously, he just came in and took advantage of the situation, was totally confident in his ability, and was just unfazed. And everybody learns differently, and everybody breaks into the big leagues differently. Not everybody breaks in like Alek. But it is, as coaches, to come up an exact percentage is kind of strange, but 90% mental. I mean, it's just, it's about understanding who you are, understanding the situation, not trying to do too much. Just staying within yourself. All those crazy sayings, but they are so true when it comes to performing at the big league level, and in front of fans, and with the pressure that some of these guys feel. And once they can kind of relieve that and just go out there and just play the game and trust their stuff, it makes such a difference. But Alek is rare, Nate is more the norm where guys take a little while to break in and understand that.
But with Nate, as well, there's some physical things that have happened that have kept him from doing that. So once he is 100%, which I really feel he's going to be this year, I think we're going to see a different person.
I still believe!*
*For one more year
On José Berríos and working with someone new who is already very successful
It's always a feeling-out process. I think every pitcher is different, every personality is a little different, so as a coach you've got to figure out how to approach that person. Some are very open and ready to work, some just want to do their thing and kind of be left alone for a little bit, so you've got to treat everybody differently. I think that's a big mistake a lot of coaches make, you know, is that they treat everybody the same, and that's not how it works. So, with José coming over from Minnesota, obviously had a great track record, had a lot of success — and was a very personable, welcoming guy, too. But we kind of let him do his thing, and then there were some issues there that cropped up, and we discussed them, and he was very willing. He changed his delivery a hair, which I thought simplified things for him, and I think he really took off after making that adjustment.
But with him, he knows how to pitch. He's got a tremendous fastball, he can spin the ball, his breaking ball is as good as anybody's in baseball. So he's going to have success, period. But it's just a matter of getting him to that elite level, and I thought was saw that towards the end of the year.
That delivery change from Berríos, in case you don’t remember, was a hugely important part of the Jays’ season. Berríos had a couple good starts to begin his Jays career, but struggled badly in two of his next three. In his first five starts with his new club he surrendered 32 hits in 24 1/3 innings and had a 4.81 ERA as a Blue Jay coming out of his August 24th start against the White Sox. At that point he simplified his delivery, raising his hands to his belt during his windup instead of over his head, and over his next seven starts he pitched 46 innings, allowing just 32 hits, upping his strikeout rate, cutting his walk rate down, and pitching to a 2.93 ERA.
Might want to make a bet on Berríos for the 2022 AL Cy Young, folks!
On Hyun Jin Ryu's struggles
Lastly, Walker offered some thoughts on “ace” Hyun Jin Ryu, who struggled to a 6.21 ERA in August, and a 7.78 ERA in September after being his typically excellent self for the first four months of the season. (He had a 3.26 ERA and 3.79 FIP on August 1st).
We pushed him this year, there's no doubt, and it was kind of out of necessity. I think next year, we've already discussed some ways to make sure that he stays fresh — whether it's skip a start here and there, or build in some extra days for him. But I think it's the first time in his career that he's struggled towards the end, and we did see a little bit of a different Ryu. But I think it was more his arm slot had dropped a little bit. I think he was — I don't think he'll admit it, but I think the season wore on him a little bit. Obviously, also, being a veteran guy, going from Dunedin to Buffalo — it was really the first time he got to pitch in Toronto in two years — and I think the entire process wore him down a little bit.
But I think this year, we're going to definitely focus on scheduling him a little bit differently, making sure he is fresh, making sure that arm slot stays where it needs to be. Because once his arm drops a little bit the changeup gets a little flatter, the breaking ball doesn't spin quite the same. So keeping him fresh is critical for us. So, you know, maybe it won't be 33, 35 starts, it might be 28, 29, or 30. Just to find a way to keep him fresh, I think, is really important. But I think for him we expect him to get back to the same Hyun Jin Ryu he was the previous year, where he was so good for us. And, you know, I think that's really what we're going to look at and focus on.
I’m not sure the part about Ryu’s dropping arm angle necessarily tracks here, to be honest. His best September start by far was the one where his release point was at its lowest…
But, of course, carefully managing Ryu’s workload is nothing new. Of his 29 starts for the Dodgers in 2019, only seven came on regular rest. In 2021 he made 13 of 31 starts on regular rest. The Jays did indeed push him, and whether the chart above captures it or not, I think Walker is right about how best to handle him.
The Jays add four to their 40-man, claim a pitcher on waivers, plus: Walker speaks!
Superior coverage as ever my friend. Exciting notes on Jimenez. I was more lukewarm on protecting him, but those attributes are exactly what the Jays infield needs. A good defensive player with high OBP is a complement to this team. We really don't need more bat first players! And of course Jimenez' power is due to increase in any case.
It would be exciting to get Ray back if the right deal can be struck, but I'm certainly onboard with Berrios jumping to an elite level and Cy Young contention next year. As I read your notes on Ryu the intriguing prospect of starting the season feathering Pearson in to start in his slot on occasion to give him extra rest popped into my mind. I suppose waiting a whole extra rotation might be too much perhaps though.
A great read to go along with coffee on a Saturday morning, thank you