2023 Toronto Blue Jays Season Thread

[KelVarnsen]

Ffs

[KootenayFlamesFan]

I love having the slowest runner in the majors on the team.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Woooooooooooooooooooooooo

Lukes thatta boy

[KelVarnsen]

Lukes!

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

I love having the slowest runner in the majors on the team.

Sorry, tuned out but I thought Jansen was the starter today? Why was Kirk pinch running???

[KelVarnsen]

Originally Posted by bluejays

Sorry, tuned out but I thought Jansen was the starter today? Why was Kirk pinch running???

Jansen is the DH

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Originally Posted by bluejays

Sorry, tuned out but I thought Jansen was the starter today? Why was Kirk pinch running???

He didn't pinch run, was the last out at bat in the 9th so was the runner to start in extras

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Well, that was unexpected and excellent. They really needed that.

[flamingred89]

Holy crap. That was certainly unexpected. The first 8 2/3's was some of the worst hitting I've ever seen. And that was after being no hit yesterday. Clutch Jano and Clutch Lukes.

Hopefully the All-Star break can wake the bats up.

[Party Elephant]

Woo hoo!

[ben voyonsdonc]

Sometimes wins are a masterpiece and sometimes wins are scribbles from a drunk monkey. But a win is a win.

[ForeverFlameFan]

What a clutch HR by Jansen, hit by Lucas, and save from Romano.

[Party Elephant]

Feels much better going into the ASB having won 5/6 rather than having lost back to back.

[Blaster86]

Kirk is just getting slaughtered because of his lack of Spring.

[Roof-Daddy]

Mayza with the sparkling 1.17 ERA

Quite a season he is having

[ben voyonsdonc]

Originally Posted by Blaster86

Kirk is just getting slaughtered because of his lack of Spring.

That excuse can’t last until the all star break. I could get it for a few weeks at the beginning of the season but definitely not now. He clearly came into this season very out of shape and unfocused. He has had lots of time to get things back on track but he’s going into the all star break with an OPS+ of 80 which is extremely unacceptable.

I’m not trying to fat shame him but he plays the most physical position by far on the team…he doesn’t need to be the fittest guy on the team but unfortunately, he’s about 85 pounds overweight and that just isn’t conducive to being a long term contributor as a catcher. His joints simply can’t take the stress.

The margin in mechanics between being good/great and awful as a hitter in the MLB is extremely thin and, like Manoah, he probably isn’t even aware of exactly what is going on. Despite his awful final at bat he still has bat to ball skills but I can’t imagine doing the work that he is doing at the weight that he is doing it at? isn’t starting to catch up with him.

[ben voyonsdonc]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Mayza with the sparkling 1.17 ERA

Quite a season he is having

Him and Richards are competing for the title of “low key MVP”. They’ve both done so much great work.

[Roof-Daddy]

So 50-41 at the ASB, 89 win pace

I think they were 50-43 last season at the ASB

They are in OK shape as far as playoff picture goes. Just frustrating with that despicable 7-20 record vs the AL East, and especially the 0-7 vs the Red Sox. Really feels like they left a few wins on the table and something like 53-38 would feel a lot better right now

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by ben voyonsdonc

That excuse can’t last until the all star break. I could get it for a few weeks at the beginning of the season but definitely not now. He clearly came into this season very out of shape and unfocused. He has had lots of time to get things back on track but he’s going into the all star break with an OPS+ of 80 which is extremely unacceptable.

Here's the thing, I used to follow that line of thinking. Now I'm of the mind that it takes a lot more ramp up time to get going when you're trying to do it in season. Someone who isn't in great shape will take even longer, if they can catch up at all.

You and I agree that he probably needs to drop some weight if he wants to have any sort of semblance of an extended MLB career. But I think if he gets Spring Training he's not anywhere near as ####ed as he currently is. That being said, if you know you need that run way missing it is probably a bad idea.

[ben voyonsdonc]

Oh yeah. He definitely needed pre-season. Baseball hasn’t quite caught up to hockey in that hockey players seem to come into camp in great shape and are there to largely familiarize themselves with systems and get game ready.

The thing about Kirk is that, if he lost 50 pounds, he’d still be clinically obese (using BMI which is a ####ty metric I know). I don’t think we are really seeing the effects a guy who missed camp but a guy whose body is just kind of wearing out and he’s only 24. The good news is that he is only 24 and he can get things back on track but the Blue Jays really need to have some really important conversations about what it takes to be a professional and establish a long term career in this game. He can only ride his nearly elite bat to ball skills for so long and I worry that he’s ridden those skills to the end of their natural progression.

As a guy who has to squat for hours 3-4 times a week, that weight will definitely impact his lower joints which will, in turn, absolutely impact his ability to drive the ball at the plate.