2011 Blue Jays/MLB Thread

[maplesyrup]

Cooper is kind of a forgotten about prospect in my opinion. It'll be interesting to see what his future holds in this orginization.

 

[TML fan]

I can't wait for next year when the Jays hitting sucks but their pitching is amazing.

 

[Erndog]

Also, I think it's a little misleading to say that the A's went "nowhere" in the playoffs. The '03 A's, who the movie is probably going to focus on, got knocked out in the ALDS but took the Red Sox, a team that more than doubled their payroll, to the full five games, losing the three games by a combined 4 runs.

But, again, that's another of the criticisms that doesn't really seem applicable to what the book is about. What Beane was noted for was for building the most competitive team possible with the comparatively limited resources at his disposal. I can't think of anyone who's done a more successful job of that in the history of Baseball.

I just re-read Moneyball and to your first point, they felt even in that offseason that they should have won against the Red Sox.  Even the worst teams in baseball win a third of their games.  Given a 5 game series, any team in baseball can beat any other team.  It's not really indicative of who is a better team.

As for your second point?  I agree.

 

[Erndog]

Morrow is a funny case.  Most of his numbers (at this point) aren't far off from last years.

2010:  IP: 146.1
2011:  IP:  158.1

2010:  Opp AVG = .248
2011:  Opp AVG = .246

2010:  K's:  178
2011:  K's:  179

2010:  BB:  66
2011:  BB:  59

2010:  WHIP:  1.38
2011:  WHIP:  1.33

2010:  Hits:  136
2011:  Hits:  151

There's really not a lot there separting the years.  It mostly comes down to his Home Runs (11 last year, almost double this year with 20) and, I'm guessing, extra base hits. 

 

[Kin]

There's really not a lot there separting the years.  It mostly comes down to his Home Runs (11 last year, almost double this year with 20) and, I'm guessing, extra base hits.

Last year's Opp SLG was .389 and this year's is .411 so I don't even know if it is a matter of that many more XBH aside from the homeruns. His WHIP and Opp OBP are both better this year.

Something to consider is that the Jays defense is, I think, significantly worse this year. They downgraded at 1B, C, LF and CF and had the weird situation at 3B for most of the year. Morrow's FIP and DIPS are strong.

 

[bustaheims]

One of the things Morrow appears to be doing this year more than last year is easing up a little when he gets moderate run support. Last season, when he received 3-5 runs in support, he had an ERA of 3.11, a WHIP of 1.20 and an opponents OPS of .661 with 85 Ks and only 26 walks in 72.1 innings. This season - ERA of 6.14, WHIP of 1.44, OPS of .809, with 87 Ks and only 23 walks in 66 innings. It looks like he's really losing focus when he gets a little run support and relies too much on his talent rather than working hard enough to take advantage of his talent.

 

[Derk]

Just flipped on Yahoo to check the score of the game this afternoon. Sox lead 3-2 in the 6th, but the Jays had Lawrie at 3rd with no out. Pop out and groundout to 3rd later, the inning is over and Jays still trail. I have a feeling this is going to be another L for Mr. Romero.

Edit: Aaaand a home run to lead off the bottom of the 6th.

Edit2: It would be nice if Lind could start hitting again if he is going to be hitting behind Bautista, who walks an awful lot.

Edit3: Wow, Jays come back to take the lead! When is Rasmus back? And McCoy is having a reaaally bad game. Romero through 8 with only 103 pitches - I hope they bring him out for the 9th to see if he can finish this.

Final Edit: OMG! Francisco with the save! Jays win! That was unexpected.... and cool.

 

[bustaheims]

When is Rasmus back?

The latest is that they're leaving him with the AA team on rehab for as long as their playoff run goes. So, he's possibly done for the season

 

[Kin]

When is Rasmus back?

The latest is that they're leaving him with the AA team on rehab for as long as their playoff run goes. So, he's possibly done for the season

mlb.com said yesterday that he'd be back for the weekend

And so on

Although Busta may be more current.

 

[Beowulf]

Obviously it's a miniscule sample size so far, but Loewen is an intriguing person to watch going into next season.

Probably a bench player to start next season? Or back down with Las Vegas? What do you guys think about him and his potential?

 

[Kin]

Obviously it's a miniscule sample size so far, but Loewen is an intriguing person to watch going into next season.

Probably a bench player to start next season? Or back down with Las Vegas? What do you guys think about him and his potential?

Unless the team is completely giving up on Travis Snider I'm not sure there's a place for him on the big league club. I figure he'll be back in AAA.

 

[bustaheims]

mlb.com said yesterday that he'd be back for the weekend

And so on

Although Busta may be more current.

I'm going off what was said during the game yesterday. I'm willing to acknowledge that I may have misheard or it may have just been Martinez speculating, but it didn't sound that way to me.

 

[Derk]

Another blown save for the Jays today (albeit in the 7th inning) as they embarrassingly blow a 6-1 lead to the Yankees.

Just checked the stats, and that is 25 blown saves (ESPN has them with 23), which ties them with St. Louis for 2nd most in the majors behind Washington's 26. Another interesting stat is saves: Washington has 41, St. Louis has 44, Jays have 31, so the Jays have only six more saves than blown saves.

 

[Kin]

Just got back from the game. Couple random observations:

1. Alvarez looks legit. Good, live fastball. Hides the change-up well.
2. I think Adam Loewen is a real long shot to make a team unless he tears the cover off the ball. If you're a 4th outfielder, you've got to be better defensively than Eric Thames
3. Drabek looks good out of the pen but I noticed that he has a problem putting hitters away 0-2.
4. Rasmus may very well be a heck of an outfielder. He gets terrific breaks on the ball.
5. Lawrie did not seem to position himself well at third.

 

[maplesyrup]

Morrow in Dr. Jekyll mode this afternoon so far... waiting for Hyde.

 

[maplesyrup]

Well Hyde didn't show... Nice work there by Morrow.

 

[bustaheims]

Well Hyde didn't show... Nice work there by Morrow.

He was a little fortunate in that his mistakes early in the game ended up outside the strike zone rather than in a prime hitting area, and, he seemed to settle down nicely after that.

 

[Derk]

When is Escobar back? Listening to McCoy trying to bunt is a painful experience, and that .206 average isn't anything to be happy about either....

 

[bustaheims]

When is Escobar back? Listening to McCoy trying to bunt is a painful experience, and that .206 average isn't anything to be happy about either....

At this point, with 9 games left in the year, I'd say the odds are Escobar will probably be shut down for the year. No point bringing him back now - especially in light of the fact that he had a bit of a setback yesterday.

 

[Derk]

When is Escobar back? Listening to McCoy trying to bunt is a painful experience, and that .206 average isn't anything to be happy about either....

At this point, with 9 games left in the year, I'd say the odds are Escobar will probably be shut down for the year. No point bringing him back now - especially in light of the fact that he had a bit of a setback yesterday.

Good point. I suppose I can grin and complain about it.

That being said, I didn't like that move to bring in Molina in the bottom of the 9th. He seemed to be a little high after his walk off hit from Friday, swinging at two pitches out of the strike zone before being called out on what even Downs thought was a ball.

Oh great, Wells leads off the 10th with a double.

Hopefully the Jays don't lose their first extra inning game at home all season (at least I think it would be)....