2015-2016 Blue Jays Off-Season Thread

[Jason14h]

Sounds like hutch will be optioned to AAA to start the year

[JayP]

Originally Posted by TheAlpineOracle

Apparently got hit in the hand today against the Mets. X-rays negatives but knuckles bruised, swelled, and cut up.

I hope this guys' injury history was left behind in Denver. Hopefully it turns out to be nothing.

Hard to fault the guy's injury history when he gets hit in the hand with a fastball.

The good thing is that the Jays have really good depth at SS/2B, especially once Travis is healthy. This should give the new high performance department lots of options to give Tulo adequate rest to keep him healthy for the stretch run and, hopefully, playoffs.

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by JayP

Hard to fault the guy's injury history when he gets hit in the hand with a fastball.

The good thing is that the Jays have really good depth at SS/2B, especially once Travis is healthy. This should give the new high performance department lots of options to give Tulo adequate rest to keep him healthy for the stretch run and, hopefully, playoffs.

Some guys are just unlucky when it comes to injuries. Tulo is one of them. Injuries seem to always lurk in his shadow. Hope he's all healed up by Season opener. He's been an absolutely beast in the preseason. I can see him hitting 30+ home runs this year with a full year at Rogers Center.

[dying4acup]

Could 2-3-4-5 in the order put up 150 HR?

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by dying4acup

Could 2-3-4-5 in the order put up 150 HR?

yes. and if you expand it to 6 (Martin) and 7 (Smoakabello), you could make it possibly 200.

[RedHot25]

Looking like Sanchez has made it into the Jays starting rotation.

[ClubFlames]

Jays claimed C/1B Jesus Montero from the Mariners.

[Senator Clay Davis]

I remember a few years ago when the Yankees would never give Montero up for anyone. Now he's a waiver wire claim. Could be a bit of a project but obviously he must have had talent at some point so could be a good buy low option.

[flames_fan_down_under]

Originally Posted by ClubFlames

Jays claimed C/1B Jesus Montero from the Mariners.

Interesting move. I bet we see him in the line up at some point this season.

Edit: just realized Montero is out of options so he either stays with the Jays to start the season or they somehow sneak him into Buffalo.

[Jason14h]

One thing I don't get.

How can you claim a guy being sent to the minors/out of options and still assign to the minors?

[mrkajz44]

Glad to see Sanchez making it into the rotation. Word is they are limiting his innings though, so he'll probably only pitch up to 110 - 120 IP or so (my guess) and then move him to the pen. Wilner was talking on the broadcast today that the Jays would like to avoid a Strasburg situations, where he gets up to the innings limit and then just stops the rest of the year. Makes sense to me, but I think the Jays position in the standings when Sanchez gets to 100 IP will make the biggest difference in their decision.

[flames_fan_down_under]

Does limiting innings pitched, and 100 pitch pitch counts actually do anything?

This innings/pitch limiting philosophy has been adopted by a lot of teams. Has there been a notable reduction of injuries to pitchers because of this?

To me 100 pitches and 120 IP seem arbitrary.

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by flames_fan_down_under

Does limiting innings pitched, and 100 pitch pitch counts actually do anything?

This innings/pitch limiting philosophy has been adopted by a lot of teams. Has there been a notable reduction of injuries to pitchers because of this?

To me 100 pitches and 120 IP seem arbitrary.

Players who go from pitching X number of innings can only increase that total by 30% the next year or their chances of having an injury increases something like 10X or something equally severe. Typically pitchers just burn out after 100 pitches so it makes sense to get a fresh guy at that point. Some guys can do 120+ without problem though.

[JayP]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

Players who go from pitching X number of innings can only increase that total by 30% the next year or their chances of having an injury increases something like 10X or something equally severe. Typically pitchers just burn out after 100 pitches so it makes sense to get a fresh guy at that point. Some guys can do 120+ without problem though.

There's not really much medical backing behind those numbers though. What you're talking about is basically the Verducci Effect which was really just some reporter inventing something and now it's spiraled out of control.

Inning limits and 100 pitch counts are completely arbitrary. I've read that physically most pitchers actually start to fatigue after 70 pitches or so. 100 pitches is just a nice round number to set a limit at. And obviously every pitcher is a little different so there really shouldn't be any set rule - it should vary from pitcher to pitcher.

I would imagine (and hope) that the Jays new Performance Department is heavily involved in Sanchez's usage. This is really something that most MLB teams seem to still be sticking their thumb in the air and just picking an arbitrary innings limit that seems safe. I would like to see the Jays try something a little more progressive and do things like skip starts, pull Sanchez early in games if the Jays are blowing a team out, or just limit him to 70 pitches on occasion. Especially considering Floyd and Chavez are sitting in the pen and can easily pitch 3+ innings when required. I hate the idea of just throwing the guy out there like he's any other starter and then pulling the plug after some arbitrary inning limit.

[Parallex]

Looks like Estrada isn't quite ready yet. He'll start the year on the DL and since they have an off day the Jays will skip his first turn through the rotation and start the year with an 8 man bullpen.

Speaking of the bullpen Choate and Delabar are out so that means that, at least until Estrada and Loup are good to go, Venditte (Yay! Go Go Gadget Switch-pitcher) and Biagini are in.

Edit: I guess not quite yet... Tepera and Leon still in the bullpen mix for now. I'd just rather Venditte and Biagini.

Just gotta see who claims the 4th outfielder spot.

[Parallex]

Roster finalized...

Osuna named Closer (Boo. Should have been Storen)
Carrera named 4th outfielder (Boo. Should have been Ceciliani)
Leon, Biagini, and Tepera make Bullpen (Boo. Venditte should have been in there)

... don't really like any of those choices (except Biagini).

[flames_fan_down_under]

What is it about Ezequiel Carrera that this team loves so much?

I am surprised Storen is not the closer.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

I don't mind Osuna closing, if he struggles Storen can just slot in there.

Didn't catch much spring training but sounded like Venditte did ok. Disappointed he didn't make the cut, but that just may be because I wanted to see a switch pitcher on the Jays

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by flames_fan_down_under

What is it about Ezequiel Carrera that this team loves

Better MLB record then Lake and Ciciliani has options left. I'm more the opinion that they should just take the best players north regardless of options.

[Roof-Daddy]

Starting Lineup (9)
Edwin Encarnacion, DH
Russell Martin, C
Chris Colabello, 1B
Ryan Goins, 2B
Josh Donaldson, 3B
Troy Tulowitzki, SS
Michael Saunders, LF
Kevin Pillar, CF
Jose Bautista, RF

Bench (4)
Josh Thole, C
Darwin Barney, IF
Ezequiel Carrera, OF
Justin Smoak, 1B/DH

Starting Rotation (4)
Marcus Stroman, RHP
R.A. Dickey, RHP
Aaron Sanchez, RHP
J.A. Happ, LHP

Bullpen (8)
Roberto Osuna, RHP
Drew Storen, RHP
Brett Cecil, LHP
Gavin Floyd, RHP
Jesse Chavez, RHP
Ryan Tepera, RHP
Joe Biagini, RHP
Arnold Leon, RHP