On Springer's scare, a broken offence, Ryu's return, a hopeful Saturday, Jano!, Teo!, Manoah, adjustments, Robbie Ray, Joey Votto, prospects, a fresh Blue Jays Happy Hour, and more!
First, one of the issues last year was that we had troubles scoring in the later innings right? I can't remember if that got better or not towards the end of the season, but there's been some talk that this year we've had to deal with the highest velocity pitches or something like that? Could the two be related? I know we've had some roster turnover, but perhaps our lineup doesn't cope well with high velocity and in particular, late inning relievers with high velocity? And the opposition has figured this out (so they try and line up their hardest throwing starters for us as well?).
Second, if the ball is indeed a bit 'deadened' this year, wouldn't we be one of the teams to suffer the most based on how many home runs we hit last year and how much our offence relies on them to generate runs? I dunno...have we had more deep fly outs than most other teams?
Third, who are some of these people playing for the Rays? I've never heard of most of their infield! Where do they get these guys and how do they keep winning?
Finally, and most important, I look at the Yankees record and their 'no long hair and facial hair' policy and then I look at our record and our team's hair, which is mostly fantastic. Why is nobody talking about how much time our team spends on their hair and grooming when they should be focussing on their game?
I don't think it's necessarily that the opposition is lining up harder throwers for the Jays, because it's difficult to reorganize a rotation like that, but they definitely have faced some very good pitching given all the games against the Yankees, Astros, Red Sox, and now some with the Guardians and Rays, too. The Jays are in the middle of the pack in terms of team wOBA against higher velocity pitches, which is different from last year when they were one of the better teams at 96 and 97 and above (though they dropped back at 98+), but they're really just not hitting anything!
As for the dead ball thing, the Jays aren't the only team relying on home runs. And, percentage wise, they're in the middle of the pack in terms of the number of outs on barrels/solid contact to the outfield. and on the percentage of outs on balls with a projected distance above 300 and 350 feet. There's probably a more precise way to look at that, but I think it's probably affecting them the same as everybody else! The issue seems to be with approach more than anything.
Seriously, what is going on with the offence. Ugh.
Actually, a couple of random thoughts.
First, one of the issues last year was that we had troubles scoring in the later innings right? I can't remember if that got better or not towards the end of the season, but there's been some talk that this year we've had to deal with the highest velocity pitches or something like that? Could the two be related? I know we've had some roster turnover, but perhaps our lineup doesn't cope well with high velocity and in particular, late inning relievers with high velocity? And the opposition has figured this out (so they try and line up their hardest throwing starters for us as well?).
Second, if the ball is indeed a bit 'deadened' this year, wouldn't we be one of the teams to suffer the most based on how many home runs we hit last year and how much our offence relies on them to generate runs? I dunno...have we had more deep fly outs than most other teams?
Third, who are some of these people playing for the Rays? I've never heard of most of their infield! Where do they get these guys and how do they keep winning?
Finally, and most important, I look at the Yankees record and their 'no long hair and facial hair' policy and then I look at our record and our team's hair, which is mostly fantastic. Why is nobody talking about how much time our team spends on their hair and grooming when they should be focussing on their game?
I don't think it's necessarily that the opposition is lining up harder throwers for the Jays, because it's difficult to reorganize a rotation like that, but they definitely have faced some very good pitching given all the games against the Yankees, Astros, Red Sox, and now some with the Guardians and Rays, too. The Jays are in the middle of the pack in terms of team wOBA against higher velocity pitches, which is different from last year when they were one of the better teams at 96 and 97 and above (though they dropped back at 98+), but they're really just not hitting anything!
As for the dead ball thing, the Jays aren't the only team relying on home runs. And, percentage wise, they're in the middle of the pack in terms of the number of outs on barrels/solid contact to the outfield. and on the percentage of outs on balls with a projected distance above 300 and 350 feet. There's probably a more precise way to look at that, but I think it's probably affecting them the same as everybody else! The issue seems to be with approach more than anything.
Lol. The other stuff, I'm with you on!!
Thanks for the quick reply and analysis - I have no idea how to look up that stuff. So really it comes down to their hair.
Revising the dead ball thing a little bit. Will be in a piece I'm hoping to have up shortly!