2023 Toronto Blue Jays Season Thread

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

61 runnners LOB in the last 8 games. That doesn’t seem great.

Wow, that's stunning

[ben voyonsdonc]

Ernie ####ing Clement has the same Fangraphs WAR as Vladdy. Seriously.

[Whynotnow]

Originally Posted by ben voyonsdonc

Ernie ####ing Clement has the same Fangraphs WAR as Vladdy. Seriously.

It has gotten bad, opposing teams really have no fear with him at the plate. With all the scouting and videos the holes in his swing are absolutely massive right now. He can’t hit anything near the outside and doesn’t do a good job of covering the plate well in terms of protection. He is way too eager early in the count so if you throw him junk early, especially low and away you are going to get the ground out you want. Even if you make a mistake he’s missing so often that you are still ok.

I had a small hope the home run derby would snap him awake, but he’s just getting worse as the season goes on. Physical? Mental? Both? If he was the 4-5 WAR minimum player he should be the Jays are comfortably in the wildcard.

[bluejays]

I think Vlad has effectively addressed his early on weight trajectory challenges. He can be effective at this weight if he maintains it, so I really don't think that's the problem. The problem is he had amazing early success where he was being told he was living up to his dad's HOF career, and based on his natural talent probably didn't adjust to develop his mental approach in different situations. He'll always be super super talented to hit hard and see the ball well decently, but he hasn't adjusted to opposing pitchers watching videos of him and pulling out stuff he struggles with. It's no different than other players having early success and the league adjusting and microfocusing on different theories until they find the inevitable hole and the keep focusing on that. Good players stay humble and work on their batting weaknesses. I don't think he's effectively done that along with focus on the thinking part of guessing what pitch may be coming next. He'll always be naturally talented where this is likely his bottom, but this off-season will be huge into getting him to adjust and making him his best self. With so much money made, I'm not certain he or most, have it in them to put in that work.

[bluejays]

One thing to consider about Vlad’s other drop off that nobody has discussed is the possibility that he’s fed up with the Hispanic teammates being dealt. Certainly the celebrations were over the top at bad times for a couple seasons but some of it was part of the Dominican culture of playing the sport. Getting rid of his friends to bring in the shining white knights with classic leadership styles may not have sat all that well.

[868904]

Originally Posted by bluejays

One thing to consider about Vlad’s other drop off that nobody has discussed is the possibility that he’s fed up with the Hispanic teammates being dealt. Certainly the celebrations were over the top at bad times for a couple seasons but some of it was part of the Dominican culture of playing the sport. Getting rid of his friends to bring in the shining white knights with classic leadership styles may not have sat all that well.

He was disappointing too last year when his two best buds were around.

It’s all on him. No need to blames others for his failure.

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by 868904

He was disappointing too last year when his two best buds were around.

It’s all on him. No need to blames others for his failure.

It’s mostly on him but there are reasons for things too. If my friends were dealt I’d be a bit annoyed. Agree that it’s largely on him though people have to look at the human factors too. I think they realized this somewhat with the re pursuit of Teoscar at the deadline. If they really believe in Vlad as a cornerstone of the future I think they need to break the bank and get a fellow Dominican star for him. Everyone talks about inclusiveness and all these buzz words but really it’s just comfort with your surroundings. I can’t see any of the guys brought in bring problematic, as they do seem like good guys, but DR has its own style vs. the North American one this team largely has. There’s perhaps a bit of room for both and perhaps we suddenly swung too far one way.

[flamingred89]

Woah. Vlad did something.

[flamingred89]

More two out rallies by the Rockies. The Jays will lose this game.

[GirlySports]

Play has resumed!

[GirlySports]

What is this? 3 two out hits!

[Jiri Hrdina]

Vladdy could learn a thing or two from Schneider

[GirlySports]

Another one! 5-3!

[flamingred89]

Rockies with yet another 2 out rally. Jays pitching staff came into this series as one of the best. They've now given up 22 runs in 23 innings.

[Karl]

Crap. Another GIDP....

[Jiri Hrdina]

Big hit Whit!

[KelVarnsen]

When did Mike McCoy get called up by the Jays?

[jayswin]

Woo-hoo, what a fun inning!

[flamingred89]

Schneider, Horowitz, and Clement have added a great spark to this offense. It's bringing some joy back to this incredibly frustrating season.

[browna]

This Lawrence guy is terrible, last night was worse than today but still he's got zero control and is just praying that is sweeping breaking ball will catch a corner.
Of course the Rockies are terrible but this guy is a special kind of bad.