A look at how the hitters on each team have done so far this year.

Starters (from best to worst):


1B Guerrero (27): 115pa, 147wrc+, 5.1war650 --- 1B Contreras (34): 115pa, 131wrc+, 5.7war650
SS Gimenez (27): 100pa, 113wrc+, 5.2war650 ---- RF Abreu (27): 113pa, 127wrc+, 4.6war650
2B Clement (30): 113pa, 111wrc+, 1.7war650 ---- CF Rafaela (25): 97pa, 108wrc+, 2.7war650
LF Sanchez (28): 89pa, 107wrc+, 2.2war650 ----- LF Anthony (22): 101pa, 91wrc+, 1.3war650
3B Okamoto (30): 108pa, 102wrc+, 2.4war650 --- 2B Mayer (23): 76pa, 66wrc+, 1.7war650
CF Varsho (29): 96pa, 88wrc+, 2.0war650 ------- C Narvaez (27): 60pa, 62wrc+, 3.3war650
DH Springer (36): 62pa, 86wrc+, -1.1war650 ---- 3B Durbin (26): 100pa, 47wrc+, 0.0war650
RF Lukes (31): 56pa, 70wrc+, 0.0war650 -------- DH Duran (29): 98pa, 45wrc+, -0.7war650
C Alejandro (27): 22pa, 58wrc+, 3.0war650 ----- SS Story (33): 119pa, 40wrc+, -2.2war650

UT Barger (26): 23pa, -15wrc+, -5.7war650 ----- UT Casas (26): 0pa
OF Straw (32): 42pa, 128wrc+, 3.1war650 ------- OF Yoshida (32): 56pa, 109wrc+, 1.2war650
IF Schneider (27): 53pa, 68wrc+, 0.0war650 ---- IF Gonzalez (29): 0pa
C Heineman (35): 44pa, 27wrc+, -1.5war650 ---- C Wong (30): 39pa, 120wrc+, 5.0war650

UT Jimenez (29): 29pa, 122wrc+, 2.2war650 ----- UT Monasterio (29): 45pa, 97wrc+, -1.4war650
OF Pinango (24): 2pa, 187wrc+, 0.0war650 ------ OF Campbell (24): 0pa
IF Sosa (26): 60pa, 40wrc+, -3.3war650 ---------- IF IKF (31): 35pa, 29wrc+, 1.9war650
C Valenzuela (25): 35pa, 8wrc+, -1.9war650 ---- C

Why is Sanchez starting against Suarez (and near the middle of the order)? He has a career 41 wRC+ against LHP, and Suarez is a good LHP.

I can't wait to get Springer back soon. This Sosa at #5 thing just has to end (and why did it begin exactly anyway?? Jays saw someone with a career 80 WRC+ and were like "Let's hit him 5th!).

So far the lineup is offering very little resistance. They talk about pitchers having “no hit stuff”. This lineup looks like it has no hit stuff tonight.

Suarez is Corbining the Jays right now (and I mean that as no insult to Patrick Corbin). Batters aren’t picking up the release point or the movement or both, and the result is a lot of confused off-balance swings. Annoying when you’re the one it’s happening to.

What the hell man…. that’s infuriating

It won’t matter tonight but that was a terrible defensive play by Sosa in the 7th.

Don’t tell me we’re going to have to start glazing the Red Sox again!

NYY up 3-0 on Texas. Rice with a two-run home run, now hitting .330/.450/.761. More of that April luck I guess…10 home runs so far this month.

Ben Rice is good. Who cares? Why does he keep getting brought up? I don't get it. Jays offense is super weak right now. This defensive setup is pretty weak too.

lol i thought the explanation for the awful lineup was because varsho needed a rest or something - but varsho comes in and pinch hits with 2 outs and nobody on in the 9th anyways.

That offensive performance was predictable from the 2nd/3rd inning on. Completely submissive and inept.

He keeps bringing Rice up I think to try to show that he was right to wonder who was better between Rice and Vlad even though he stopped bringing Rice up as Vlad clearly was the better player last year. Now it's the same thing so he's taking the opportunity I guess to remind us why he tried making that argument last year in the first place. The problem is he never could just say "Ben Rice is a good player," instead choosing to compare him to Vlad and question who was more valuable.

I didn't buy the argument last year but this year Rice is at it again and it's at least debatable in my mind, which is what I said to GF. Nobody else responded. I think we will keep getting updates from Greenfrog until we definitely give him credit for correctly identifying that Ben Rice is a good hitter, which nobody has ever doubted and is obvious at this point. I think he thinks that O don't think Rice is a good player because I counter his Rice love-in with the opinion that Vlad is the better player.

No more Rice updates please, not sure what your point is anymore if you're no longer arguing he's more valuable than Vlad.

Ranger Suarez just pitched well tonight. This team is missing Kirk, Springer, Santander and Barger. They aren't suppose to be in top form. I actually think they've been pretty good considering with 5 wins of their last 8 games.

Davis Schneider... not sure he's going to get any run when he can't seem to get on base.

Feels like a whole lot is riding on this Trey start tonight.

April brings showers & manager/coach firings. From the Athletic/NY Times:

The Phillies on Tuesday fired manager Rob Thomson, the owner of the highest managerial winning percentage in franchise history who guided them to four postseason appearances in four years, but now bears the brunt of a nightmarish beginning to the 2026 season.

Bench coach Don Mattingly was promoted to interim manager. The club will turn to Mattingly, whose son Preston is the Phillies’ general manager, to find the answers Thomson couldn’t. There may not be any answers.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7233764/2026/04/28/phillies-manager-rob-thomson-fired-mlb/?source=athletic_thewindup_newsletter&campaign=17828401&userId=13728190

Clement 0.7 WAR 4.6MM

Stanton 0.2 WAR 29MM
Grisham -0.1 WAR 22MM
McMahon -0.1 WAR 16MM
Chisholm 0.2 WAR 10.2MM

We had to hear about Travis Bergen for months on end, dalimon5. It's a long season.

FYI Firefox isn't letting me check anything on the site. Getting a certificate error.

https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20260427190520372#comments

Peer’s certificate has an invalid signature.

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Certificate chain:

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Amen 92-93

I brought it up because of the backlash for much of last season from some posters, correcting me and highlighting how mediocre Rice was.

I get that it’s a ego blow to be proven wrong in such dramatic fashion. In any event, carry on and enjoy the season. I’m taking a break as I have other priorities.

You were crowing about his 165erc+ April last year too. And then you stopped. Why do you only update us when he's hot?

I wouldn't be overemphasizing Yesavage's return. He will hopefully help but his rehab outings haven't been great and it may take a while for him to get back up to speed. And, frankly, the offense is a bigger problem. The Jays are 27th in RS/game.

Nigel I feel like that's Ugly's point. The offense is very weak right now and it seems to me at least that the Jays need 6+ innings from Yesavage and strong bullpen performance to get another 2 run win without giving up more than 3 runs. I think that's why it feels like a a big start for Yesavage tonight. Big because we need playoff Yesavage to help keep this team afloat for another week until Berrios returns to help. Also, a big start is needed tonight to ensure there is bullpen help for tomorrow's start.

Timing of this start tonight is everything, especially with the Red Sox threatening to pass you in the standings this week for 4th place.

In shorter words - the Yesavage start tonight is a big deal because of the weakness of the offense and timing of where this team is at right now.

lexomatic, that's not normal, but most importantly that's not the certificate we ship. It looks like that's a certificate that NordVPN generated for battersbox.ca; we use a Let's Encrypt certificate that validates basically everywhere. You probably want to turn off whatever setting let Nord man-in-the-middle you.

lexomatic, that's not normal,
Thanks, I'm going to keep an eye on it. I turned troubleshooting mode on, then restarted a 2nd time and everything was fine. Posting normally now. I posted that when I thought it was JUST BB. 

feels big to me Nigel. we're getting closer to a point where our record is a legit worry.

with Ponce and Bieber seemingly write-offs at this point, Yesavage looks like our only real hope of adding a 3rd legit good SP beyond the top-2. (Corbin/Lauer/Berrios should be fine for depth tho).

and we're all worried about a sophomore slump or even the league figuring him out this year - he doesn't have to be awesome tonight, but him showing at least flashes of his strikout stuff fooling hitters would be a very big relief. him looking very hittable will.

as for the offense, i sure didn't expect to be fielding lineups where we had Sosa and Jimenez as middle of the order hitters, so we're all just waiting for the injured guys to return before panicking there too much.

Feels like any other April game to me.

I'll be thrilled if Yesavage can reach his projections which seem to be around 110-120 innings of 3.90era ball.

I guess I just don't see it as such a massive game. The team has a host of problems and one player who projects to be league averagish or slightly better isn't likely to move the needle in some massive way. It will help and, more importantly for tonight, I enjoy watching him pitch so I'm definitely happy to see him back.

well, we disagree, but i'm pretty sure the mood of the fanbase and media could swing pretty heavily based on how Trey looks.

Taking out Scherzer and putting in Yesavage is an upgrade. If he's anything like last year then it's a massive upgrade. If he's league average then I see your point that it's not a huge deal, but that kinda proves Ugly's point that this is a massive start tonight. Which Trey do we get to see and will it be "wow we can have a legit top 3 rotation, RIGHT NOW, rest of the way," or "Okay so we have Gausman and Cease and nobody else..."

That's what makes this a big start. I know I'll feel a lot more optimistic if the Jays have a three headed monster for their rotation. Trey Yesavage was pitching last year with the benefit of the league not having the tracking system for his pitches. Personally I think he will be closer to the projections than to his rookie performance.

Bieber apparently is on track for June return.

To me 5+ IP is a major success tonight. Ideally with 3 or fewer runs allowed. I'd be surprised if he did what he did in the playoffs though (K'ing more than a guy an inning and no hitting Boston for 5 innings).

Ugh. Looking at the Jays hitting stats via FanGraphs...

• C: 26th in WAR, last in wRC+ with a 21. We need Kirk back.
• 1B: 8th in WAR, 7th in wRC+. Vlad is good, Sosa dragging it down in both offense and defense.
• 2B: 14th in WAR, 12 in wRC+ at 111. All Ernie. Schneider doing poorly there, Sosa with negative wRC+ but 1.1 runs on defense (Ernie negative on defense there at this point - small sample size).
• 3B: 18th in WAR, 19th in wRC+ (90). Okamoto fine (97 wRC+ 0 on defense), Ernie 37 wRC+ slight positive on defense
• SS: 15th in WAR, 18th in wRC+ at 98 - better than expected on offense, 12th on defense is far lower than hoped though with Ernie negative and Gimenez +2.1 on defense. Boy Clement is having a bad year on defense everywhere isn't he?
• LF: 11th in WAR, 8th (!) in wRC+ at 110 via Sanchez mostly with Schneider and Lukes dragging it down.
• CF: 12th in WAR, 9th in wRC+ at 96, Varsho meh at 88 wRC+, Straw 170 (!) in CF (but negative on defense oddly enough), Lukes 0 for 2.
• RF: 20th in WAR (-0.1), 28th in wRC+ (52) via Barger being negative wRC+, Sanchez just a 64 there, Lukes 71, and Straw 76. It is like playing RF makes them forget how to hit. Weird.
• DH: 23rd in WAR, 20th in wRC+ at 85 - Springer just an 86 at DH, Eloy 101, Vlad 108, rest had 14 PA total (mostly Sosa).

Of the 17 hitters used Vlad is the only one over 115 wRC+ at 140. Gimenez and Straw in the 110's, 100+ for Eloy, Ernie, and Sanchez. So those guys are hitting OK. 90's are Okamoto and Varsho. 80's Pinango & Springer - those 2 groups are OK - a hot game or two would get them to 100+ at this stage. 70 on the nose is Schneider and Lukes - one climbing before getting hurt, the other crashing. Kirk 58, Sosa 28 (yikes, why did they trade for him again? Oh yeah, his bat). Heineman 18, Valenzuela 8 (was here purely for defense), Barger -15 before getting hurt.

IMO Sosa has to be cut ASAP, there is no role for a guy with his bat who is a bat first guy unless he is showing something behind the scenes we can't see that will lead to a big improvement soon. Eloy has no future as a pure DH with Springer here soon so I suspect he'll be cut first. When Kirk returns it is obvious Valenzuela will be sent down to work on his bat - but dang does that kid have an arm on him (2 runs from framing, 1 from throwing already in 89 innings) if he can get to a 70 wRC+ he'll be a solid ML catcher. Big if.

Bigger challenge is what to do when Barger & Lukes return - Pinango the easy choice to send down, Schneider is popular in the clubhouse but has these streaks when he looks like he forgot which end of the bat to use, but whichever of Eloy and Sosa are still here when that time comes has to be dumped then.

not a lot of hard contact thru 2 but only one swinging strike and not very good command.

I think this is about what you would expect given his rehab outings. His FB velocity looks good and about the same as last year but he can really only throw his FB for strikes. The splitter and slider he can't control.

Yesavage pitching like a guy with a need to conserve pitches. Making full use of his defense. Nice as a change of pace after so many seem to be K or super hard hit ball on the staff.

Sac bunting in the 3rd with your leadoff hitter is definitely interesting.

Jose Berrios has given up five runs, two home runs, through four innings for Buffalo.

Yesavage looked way better that inning. Very promising.

looking more like himself now.

one more inning would be nice. 2 more would be great.

i love this kid.

attaboy.

welcome back, kid.

A+ performance. 16 outs on 74 pitches, and as was common last season, he seemed to get better and more locked in as the game went on. I felt like we were rushing him back after his last start, but the stuff was definitely there tonight.

i like this new ace setup guy.

Love how Hoffman K'd 2 of 3 batters but his K/9 went DOWN from 19.29 to 19.18 in 12 2/3 IP with 27 K's. Best K/9 since 1977 for 10+ IP is 18.24 by Rafael Martín 2015 Washington in 12 1/3 IP. Chapman in 2014 had 17.67 K/9 over 54 IP for Cincinnati. For 100+ IP it is 13.82 by Garrett Cole 2019 for Houston (212 IP). Jays only 10+ was 14.29 by Tim Mayza 2017 (17 IP), the guys with a higher K/9 for the Jays are Ryan Dull 2019 with 20.25 K/9 in 1 1/3 IP (3 K), Brian Tallet 2011 and Ken Dayley 1993 who K'd everyone they got out, Tallet 2 guys, Dayley 1.

So yeah, Hoffman's K rate is insane.

new closer ain't bad either!


felt like a big game coming in and that was a big game performance all around. apparently George is back tomorrow.

Just like they drew it up.

Wouldn't mind a Jays offensive outburst tomorrow and at least 5 from Lauer

Great win and can be a turning point for the season.

Is it true what they said on the broadcast - that Yesavage and Rogers' pitches can't be replicated with the batting practice pitch tracking simulator machine thingy?

Poor Rob Thompson seems to have been fired not only for the Phillies record but also so that Dave could hire his old manager from Boston. Cora turned down the offer from Dombrowski though but reports say he may take the job next year after spending time being a dad.

Craig Breslow didn't seem very popular before and appears less popular now. Seems like he's running the Red Sox like a Driveline organization.

Is it true what they said on the broadcast - that Yesavage and Rogers' pitches can't be replicated with the batting practice pitch tracking simulator machine thingy?

That's what Kike Hernandez said during the offseason: https://www.mlb.com/news/blue-jays-adding-more-angles-to-pitching-staff

It also can't get as low as Tyler Rogers.

George activated.

Eloy DFA.

following June's lead....

wRC+ by position

1B 144wrc+ (#6)
LF 111wrc+ (#7)
2B 112wrc+ (#10)
CF 95wrc+ (#11)
SS 99wrc+ (#16)
3B 89wrc+ (#19)
DH 81wrc+ (#23)
RF 56wrc+ (#28)
C 17wrc+ (#30)


Not shocking that the 3 positions the starters have been injured are the three that are hurting us the most.

Even then, though, that catcher number is ridiculous. I didn't expect much from heineman or valenzuela but i expected more than that. this seems like a problem in need of a solution tbh.

The RF number is crap, but given that the LF number is good and the two positions are fairly interchangeable on our roster, I wouldn't actually isolate RF/LF like that. Still, though, health from barger and Lukes should help there (despite the poor early numbers for both).

"new closer ain't bad either!"

A few posters absolutely despised the trade. The way he pitched the balance of the season did little to prove them wrong. But he's been dominant this year - 0.9 bWAR, 1.0 fWAR. That fWAR value ties him with Mason Miller as the best reliever in the majors so far. Don't know if or for how long he can keep it up, but he's been an absolute lifesaver.

I kinda wish schneider wouldn't use varland as the go-to closer yet, but I'm pretty sure he will.

So now we just have to hope he can handle the pressure well. I think he has the right makeup for it, but i've seen a bunch of different personality types both succeed and fail in the role so who knows.

A big part of his dominance so far this year is that his "new" changeup seems to be working real well so far - he's doubled his changeup usage and the pitch is grading as super elite so far.

with yesavage back and berrios kinda close, Lauer kinda needs to have a statement game here.

the rare 4-single 2-out rally to take the lead. nice.

and Pinango adds a 5th!

Fisher has been nails this year.

Springer of George!

Love how happy Springer looked after he hit that, and how happy Vlad was too - the two of them really feed each other in positive ways.

two feel good wins against a hated rival, with nice returns for two super key guys Yesavage and Springer. meanwhile, both Yanks and Rays lose.

sunny days are here again?


hopefully we can get back to .500 over the weekend. Though I just noticed that we didn't get back over .500 for good last year until May 30, so yeah, long season.

The Red Sox players don't seem very happy.
Managers who don't win aren't popular with the fans, but Cora was loved by his players.

The players and ownership/front office had a meeting and the message to the players was shut up and play.

The one insider story I saw was that Breslow wasn't happy that Cora had Story hitting second for the first week and a half and that he wanted Hamilton to play more.

It looks like Bello just dissed the new manager.
Or am I missing something?

Little by little, and bit by bit, this team is starting to resemble the one we expected.

Three straight series wins. Really feels like once the team gets a couple of hitters back, they'll be in good shape again.

Much more fun when the team is winning. Yesavage returning means we have a solid top 3 starters - with Corbin surprisingly being a solid #4 (not too much of a shock, that is what he has been mostly - 93 ERA+ lifetime, 4 years of 1-3 WAR, 2 4+'s (one was a 5+), 6 more in the 1 to -1 range (5th starter territory), and 2 nightmares (below -1). So a 4/5 who sometimes has 'wow' years (very unlikely now) and sometimes has nightmares (more likely now).

Hopefully we get Berrios back soon - I don't have much trust in Lauer and Scherzer. Bieber isn't here until June probably, maybe later. Sigh. Such is life.

The pen is getting organized too - Varland closing - Rogers solid setup - Hoffman also solid setup/backup closer - Fisher a solid middle man - Fluharty has had his issues but seems OK as a LH setup - Miles has been a fantastic find as a rule 5'er - Mantiply seems to now be the #1 LH reliever. That gives us 7 relievers we can more or less count on. Nance I don't feel good about, 35 year old's rarely hold improvements made at 34 and I expect him to be cut soon. Rogers also is 35 but he was damn good from the day he came up at 28 so his holding on isn't a shocker - plus he has a goal, to have the most holds ever and he has a real shot - 246 is the record, Rogers at 161 and has had 30+ a few times so 3 more and he is there. 41 is the record (Watson 2016 and Peralta 2013) and he has a real shot at that this year imo.

Varland looked nasty yesterday. Elite. If he can maintain that then look out. Now I really want the Jays to get Bieber back (healthy), Santander and Kirk and then trade for another ace bullpen arm (left side).

Springer
Lukes
Vlad
Okamoto
Santander
Kirk
Varsho
Clement
Gimenez

Gausman
Bieber
Cease
Yesavage
Lauer/Berrios

Fisher
Varland
Hoffman
Rogers
Garcia
Fluharty
Miles

"Wouldn't mind a Jays offensive outburst tomorrow and at least 5 from Lauer"

Close enough.

Santander is not coming back, and if Bieber is healthy and good in 2026, it is unlikely the two will be performing as Jays in the same game.

Even before Santander's injury, folks here were hoping for another bat. It is a bigger reach, especially at the deadline, but if there is a choice, the team needs another bat.

I won't speak in absolutes but what makes you think Bieber and Santander's returns are mutually exclusive?

Why don't you think Santander is coming back? He has 3+ years left on his deal. In 2025 he played through a labrum injury. In 2024 when he was healthy he put up 44HRs. The Blue Jays said in February he will need 5-6 months to return which means a return in July, August or September.

My question is, if you don't plan to bring him back this season or at all then how do you justify bringing in and playing someone else instead if he's healthy?

By the time Santander returns he would have effectively missed the better part of two consecutive seasons in his early 30's. Santander returning is not the issue, whether he will be any good ever again is the real problem.

I'll try to map out plausible best lineups for hitters AND pitchers though i find pitchers trickier to do with the numbers due to starter/reliever decisions.


Plausible best using Past 1 Calendar Year Stats


1. DH Springer (R): 557pa, .387obp, 159wrc+, 5.1war650
2. RF Lukes (L): 450pa, .318obp, 101wrc+, 2.6war650
3. 1B Guerrero (R): 685pa, .394obp, 145wrc+, 4.5war650
4. CF Varsho (L): 376pa, .293obp, 115wrc+, 4.7war650
5. C Alejandro (R): 444pa, .356obp, 123wrc+, 6.6war650
6. 3B Barger (L): 501pa, .298obp, 103wrc+, 2.6war650
7. 2B Schneider (R): 265pa, .355obp, 121wrc+, 3.7war650
8. LF Sanchez (L): 545pa, .303obp, 96wrc+, 1.6war650
9. SS Clement (R): 644pa, .320obp, 105wrc+, 3.6war650

B. UT Okamoto (R): 119pa, .303obp, 93wrc+, 2.2war650
B. OF Straw (R): 305pa, .306obp, 86wrc+, 3.0war650
B. IF Gimenez (L): 359pa, .294obp, 82wrc+, 2.5war650
B. C Heineman (S): 194pa, .306obp, 76wrc+, 4.0war650

X. UT Santander (S): 111pa, .288obp, 70wrc+, -2.3war650
X. OF Clase (S): 108pa, .299obp, 76wrc+, -1.2war650
X. IF Sosa (R): 508pa, .283obp, 94wrc+, 1.2war650
X. C Valenzuela (S): 39pa, .231obp, 59wrc+, 3.3war650

X. OF Pinango (L): 5pa, .400obp, 128wrc+, 0.0war650



RH Gausman: 32gms, 6.1ip/gm, 79era-, 74fip-, 82xfip-, 4.8awar32
RH Cease: 32gms, 5.3ip/gm, 99era-, 80fip-, 79xfip-, 3.1awar32
RH Yesavage: 4gms, 4.9ip/gm, 57era-, 52fip-, 86xfip-, 6.0awar32
RH Bieber: 7gms, 5.8ip/gm, 88era-, 106fip-, 80xfip-, 2.7awar32
LH Corbin: 31gms, 5.0ip/gm, 108era-, 99fip-, 100xfip-, 1.8awar32

LH Lauer: 34gms, 3.9ip/gm, 91era-, 103fip-, 107xfip-, 1.4awar32
RH Berrios: 25gms, 5.3ip/gm, 102era-, 107fip-, 106xfip-, 1.3awar32
RH Scherzer: 21gms, 4.8ip/gm, 145era-, 128fip-, 115xfip-, -0.3awar32


RH Varland: 75gms, 1.0ip/gm, 62era-, 61fip-, 66xfip-, 1.6awar65
RH Rogers: 81gms, 1.0ip/gm, 48era-, 72fip-, 79xfip-, 1.5awar65
RH Fisher: 67gms, 1.0ip/gm, 59era-, 72fip-, 88xfip-, 1.3awar65
RH Nance: 43gms, 1.0ip/gm, 74era-, 53fip-, 72xfip-, 0.9awar65
LH Fluharty: 60gms, 0.9ip/gm, 117era-, 92fip-, 92xfip-, -0.1awar65
RH Hoffman: 73gms, 0.9ip/gm, 130era-, 124fip-, 90xfip-, -0.9awar65

RH Rodriguez: 56gms, 1.1ip/gm, 68era-, 93fip-, 107xfip-, 0.9awar65
RH Miles: 9gms, 1.7ip/gm, 69era-, 89fip-, 82xfip-, 0.7awar65
LH Little: 69gms, 0.9ip/gm, 106era-, 84fip-, 84xfip-, 0.1awar65
LH Mantiply: 12gms, 1.1ip/gm, 128era-, 111fip-, 64xfip-, 0.0awar65
RH Estrada: 3gms, 3.8ip/gm, 137era-, 105fip-, 84fip-, -1.1awar65
RH Garcia: 10gms, 0.9ip/gm, 221era-, 154fip-, 119xfip-, -2.3awar65








Using Fangraphs Combined Depth Chart Projections:


1. DH Springer (R): 502pa, .339obp, 116wrc+, 2.2war650
2. RF Lukes (L): 211pa, .335obp, 105wrc+, 2.5war650
3. 1B Guerrero (R): 553pa, .387obp, 147wrc+, 4.6war650
4. LF Sanchez (L): 348pa, .317obp, 107wrc+, 2.2war650
5. C Alejandro (R): 288pa, .348obp, 115wrc+, 6.1war650
6. CF Varsho (L): 491pa, .295obp, 100wrc+, 2.6war650
7. 3B Okamoto (R): 462pa, .325obp, 113wrc+, 3.1war650
8. SS Gimenez (L): 508pa, .315obp, 96wrc+, 3.2war650
9. 2B Clement (R): 513pa, .310obp, 98wrc+, 2.8war650

B. UT Barger (L): 297pa, .313obp, 105wrc+, 2.0war650
B. UT Schneider (R): 240pa, .330obp, 104wrc+, 2.7war650
B. OF Straw (R): 148pa, .299obp, 75wrc+, 0.9war650
B. C Heineman (S): 172pa, .297obp, 73wrc+, 2.3war650

X. UT Santander (S): 23pa, .309obp, 103wrc+, 0.0war650
X. OF Pinango (L): 74pa, .294obp, 80wrc+, 0.0war650
X. IF Sosa (R): 131pa, .279obp, 86wrc+, 0.5war650
X. C Valenzuela (S): 73pa, .273obp, 69wrc+, 1.8war650

X. OF Schreck (L): 11pa, .320obp, 93wrc+, 0.0war650
X. OF Clase (S): 11pa, .291obp, 79wrc+, 0.0war650
X. IF Kasevich (R): 17pa, .297obp, 74wrc+, 0.0war650
X. C MacIver (R): 5pa, .292obp, 81wrc+, 0.0war650



RH Cease: 25gms, 5.6ip/gm, 3.44era, 3.37fip, 3.40avg, 3.8awar32
RH Gausman: 25gms, 5.9ip/gm, 3.79era, 3.70fip, 3.73avg, 3.2awar32
RH Bieber: 26gms, 3.9ip/gm, 3.74era, 3.68fip, 3.71avg, 1.9awar32
RH Yesavage: 26gms, 4.1ip/gm, 3.93era, 3.90fip, 3.91avg, 1.7awar32
RH Berrios: 43gms, 2.9ip/gm, 4.32era, 4.37fip, 4.34avg, 0.8awar32

RH Scherzer: 26gms, 3.2ip/gm, 4.60era, 4.69fip, 4.64avg, 0.6awar32
LH Corbin: 22gms, 2.8ip/gm, 4.90era, 4.57fip, 4.73avg, 0.3awar32
LH Tiedemann: 9gms, 1.8ip/gm, 3.87era, 4.07fip, 3.97avg, 0.4awar32


RH Varland: 55gms, 1.0ip/gm, 3.30era, 3.39fip, 3.34avg, 1.2awar65
RH Hoffman: 51gms, 1.0ip/gm, 3.30era, 3.45fip, 3.37avg, 0.9awar65
RH Rogers: 60gms, 1.0ip/gm, 3.81era, 3.93fip, 3.87avg, 0.4awar65
RH Fisher: 51gms, 1.0ip/gm, 3.80era, 3.91fip, 3.86avg, 0.4awar65
LH Fluharty: 46gms, 1.0ip/gm, 3.82era, 3.90fip, 3.86avg, 0.3awar65
RH Nance: 44gms, 1.0ip/gm, 3.79era, 3.78fip, 3.78avg, 0.3awar65
RH Garcia: 39gms, 1.0ip/gm, 3.58era, 3.66fip, 3.62avg, 0.2awar65
LH Lauer: 43gms, 1.3ip/gm, 4.47era, 4.59fip, 4.53avg, 0.1awar65

LH Mantiply: 17gms, 1.0ip/gm, 3.82era, 3.71fip, 3.76avg, 0.0awar65
RH Rodriguez: 9gms, 1.0ip/gm, 3.81era, 3.97fip, 3.89avg, 0.0awar65
LH Little: 36gms, 1.0ip/gm, 3.81era, 4.04fip, 3.92avg, 0.0awar65
RH Lee: 31gms, 1.0ip/gm, 4.08era, 4.15fip, 4.11avg, 0.0awar65
RH Miles: 42gms, 1.0ip/gm, 4.13era, 4.21fip, 4.17avg, 0.0awar65
LH Macko: 16gms, 1.0ip/gm, 4.06era, 4.35fip, 4.20avg, 0.0awar65
RH Estrada: 24gms, 1.3ip/gm, 4.53era, 4.50fip, 4.51avg, 0.0awar65

Looking for some opinions. Anthony was the last batter of the game. Miles struck him out on a 3-2 count with a called strike at the bottom of the zone. It was probably a strike, but not definitely to my eyes at least. Red Sox still had both challenges left. Yeah, they are down 7 and nobody on, but why not challenge the call? It seemed defeatist that he just walked back to the dugout.

How does not challenging that call help him in the long run?

It was probably a ball but hitters can be fooled if they are sitting on a different quadrant. I think he was expecting something away.

If a hitter thinks it was a strike then by challenging they just look dumb to the umpire which could hurt them in the future with that ump. Umpires are human too and don't like being challenged I'm sure, especially at the end of a blowout when everyone just wants to get home.

Ronald Acuna just struck out looking to end the game, and challenged the call with the ball being almost entirely in the zone. It would have been silly not to have done so.

The Red Sox players probably just want the games to end as quickly as possible right now.

If a baseball player had to pick one of two options. A) develop a reputation of high success rate when challenging a call or B) challenge because there is no downside to doing so in the game (but your personal success rate will likely go down) then I am sure most would choose option A unless it was a situation where the challenge could dramatically impact the outcome of the game.

I thought there was an earlier pitch they could have challenged succesfully that at bat or at least that inning.

Springer back and leading off tonight, Pinango in LF batting 7th. Yohendrick gives me Melky vibes at the plate.

I definitely see that. I think my subconscious was also slowly developing that idea yesterday when I saw him for the first time, but you've accelerated that idea into a full form idea I endorse.

Ronald Acuna just struck out looking to end the game, and challenged the call with the ball being almost entirely in the zone. It would have been silly not to have done so.

That is a winner mentality. Winners don't just want to get home. As for the ump the hitter can tell him he thought the call was correct, but hey, I gotta try.

I mostly watched Melky as a Blue Jays
There was the All-in 2013 season in which he was mostly injured and contributed nothing and the not-gonna-try 2014 in which he played well on his way to earn another contract somewhere else.

Terrible memories.

Santander would have to be a the early end of his timeline and have no set backs and show enough to be a useful player, especially if the Jays are competing in September with those on the roster. That's a lot of ands... without even considering that Bieber might not even be healthy enough.

I hope I am wrong, Santander might turn out to be among the worst signings in Blue Jays history. Perhaps there is a narrative that his signing helped Vladdy to agree to stay, but that's a stretch. Maybe Springer gets hurt and Santander gets in a DH.

At any rate, the team needs a bat. A thumb injury isn't a green flag for Kirk. We have all already seen the 2024 vibes emerge this year. Sanchez and Barger are OK, but it'd be nice to truly get a hitter in one of the corners.

Nothing too shocking here really, many here wanted Tucker. All I'm really doing is betting that Santander will be anywhere near as useful as that or whoever they could pay for in $ and prospect capital at the deadline.