The Jays got a very good start from their starter. Once again the offence was anemic.
The offence needs to show up to support their pitchers if they want to make the playoffs. Right now they aren’t a playoff team. Both in terms of the standings and the actual team.
If Vlad played for the Yankees he would be getting eviscerated by the media, he has one homer and 4 doubles in the last 26 games. This season is nothing short of a complete disaster for him, i don’t think I have been a fan of a team with a player whose made this drastic of a fall this early in his career. Idk if its an organization thing or a mental thing. He has all the physical tools but seems that his pitch recognition that seemed to be elite 2 years ago is now a massive weakness. At the very least he should be hitting for power. It’s truly remarkable. He has been a complete non factor in almost every game vs the Orioles while Mountcastle, Santander, Henderson have all stepped up and won them games. That’s the difference.
If Vlad played for the Yankees he would be getting eviscerated by the media, he has one homer and 4 doubles in the last 26 games. This season is nothing short of a complete disaster for him, i don’t think I have been a fan of a team with a player whose made this drastic of a fall this early in his career. Idk if it’s an organization thing or a mental thing. He has all the physical tools but seems that his pitch recognition that seemed to be elite 2 years ago is now a massive weakness. At the very least he should be hitting for power. It’s truly remarkable. He has been a complete non factor in almost every game vs the Orioles while Mountcastle, Santander, Henderson have all stepped up and won them games. That’s the difference.
What about Alek Manoah?
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The Jays batting philosophy has taken such a different (horrid) approach this season as past years
In the past there was a lot of swing and miss and a lot of power . This year there is a lot of weak contact and putting the ball in play
But you know what else there is ? A lot of weak contact at balls out of the strike zone .
This is an issue for two reasons - One it is almost always an out . Two sometimes it is better to miss a pitch that’s not a strike completely (especially if not strike 3)
How many times have we seen weak contact in a 2-0 or 3-1 count ? It is better to take an aggressive extra bases swing in these situations and completely miss the ball then put it in play weakly.
Now my theory on the Jays hitting “well” with no runners on and so poorly with RISP - The other teams know what their approach is . They will allow them to get weak contact and put the ball in play early in an inning . A single ? Oh we’ll no damage . Next batter can also put it in play weakly. Can get quick double plays or quick outs . They know relatively speaking the Jays aren’t hitting for power or stealing. You can allow some weak single , opposite field singles . They don’t hurt you .
Roy Halliday strategy . Force a team to string 3 singles in a row (or 4 if Kirk starts it off)
Then when runners get into scoring position the pitchers bare down and exploit our hitters weaknesses.
I have never seen a team miss so many good hittable pitches in my life . And my only explanation is the hitters are being too defensive to put the ball in play Vs attacking to do damage
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^ Great Gibby podcast this week where his guest was Davis Schneider. The discussion about about his approach at the plate (starts at 26:30) was exactly this(look to do damage for his pitch on 0 & 1 strike counts rather the just contact). End result is he hits more XBH, walks more, but also strikes out more. Belt apparently gave him confidence that his approach would work at the MLB level too. Funny how it's those two players who have been responsible for a lot of the offense recently.
Sounds like Manoah will report to AAA after undergoing a variety of "medical examinations" over the last couple of weeks. I hope he'll just finish the season down with the Bisons and work towards next year.
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Good to read the comments today from Gausman about the team needing more urgency in the playoff push.
Feels like good leadership. Not sure how the structure works between the pitchers/batters. But it sure feels/looks like our SPs are busting their humps and been wearing their hearts on their sleeves all season.
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