Blue Jays Discussion: Spring Training is over. The season begins today

[Discoverer]

Is it just me or is the LED sign behind the plate as bright as the sun? It's almost unwatchable... someone pass the SPF 300

I found it distracting right away and was worried about it, but I didn't even notice it today. I think it depends on the colour/ad.

 

[Nineteen67]

Didn’t the starting pitching have a slow start last year? Manoah for sure, but i thought they were a little sluggish last April, too.

 

[phillipmike]

IKF leading all Jays position players in WAR and 2nd to only Berrios.

 

[phillipmike]

https://www.mlb.com/bluejays/news/best-minor-league-teams-2024

6. Buffalo Bisons (Blue Jays, Triple-A)
There was an outside shot Ricky Tiedemann (MLB No. 27) finished Spring Training with the Major League club. Instead, he heads back to Triple-A as the most notable southpaw at the level. He isn’t the only Top 100 prospect in Buffalo either. Orelvis Martinez (No. 83) heads to the International League after entering 2024 with the most Minor League homers (86) in the last three seasons. The Bisons could even start a Blue Jays Top 30 prospect at each spot on the infield with Leo Jimenez (TOR No. 5), Addison Barger (TOR No. 6) and Damiano Palmegiani (TOR No. 14) joining Martinez on the dirt. Connor Cooke (TOR No. 19) isn’t far from carving out a meaningful relief role in the Majors either.

 

[Bjindaho]

Blue Jays' Jansen, Romano, Swanson and Manoah slated to play in triple-A Buffalo this week

The Buffalo Bisons will be getting an influx of major-league talent this week as four Toronto Blue Jays are scheduled to make rehab appearances in triple-A this week.

www.sportsnet.ca

Jano is DHing today (and presumably catching tomorrow or the next day).

Both Swanson and Romano are supposed to pitch tomorrow (and Swanson might only need 1 or 2 appearances before he comes back up).

Manoah is starting Saturday. One note from last year is that Manoah mentioned that he finds it difficult to throw games in A ball because of the skill difference (that he is basically pitching with no adrenaline) so moving him up to AAA will give the team and Manoah a better idea of how close he is to contributing to the MLB roster (and whether a demotion to AAA might be necessary).

 

[MS]

IKF leading all Jays position players in WAR and 2nd to only Berrios.

Some of the reactions to IKF were over-the-top.

He averaged 3.8 WAR/162 from 2020-22 as a 3B/SS and won a Gold Glove at 3B before having an awful year last year when he was shifted out-of-position to the OF.

He's probably going to rebound to his 20-22 levels as a guy who gives you an OPS+ of ~90 with elite defense and is worth 3-ish WAR.

 

[Seath The Scaleless]

 

[phillipmike]

Some of the reactions to IKF were over-the-top.

He averaged 3.8 WAR/162 from 2020-22 as a 3B/SS and won a Gold Glove at 3B before having an awful year last year when he was shifted out-of-position to the OF.

He's probably going to rebound to his 20-22 levels as a guy who gives you an OPS+ of ~90 with elite defense and is worth 3-ish WAR.

I know. it is really annoying. Sure we could have got Rosairo or Tim Anderson at a fraction of the cost but could you imagine if we didnt add a player until February or March in hopes of waiting on a better deal. Posters would complain about that.

IKF is a utility player who can give you gold glove play at 3B. He isnt anything spectacular but he nor his $7.5M AAV isnt going to make or break this team. To put things in perspective, the Jays paid Grichuk $5M in 2022 and $5M in 2023 to not play for us.

People just love complaining.

No disrespect to Parsons but he was and is horrible when with the Jays. To get 250K in IFA money is robbery.

 

[Bjindaho]

250K to be precise.

Also, Kennew Blanco is expected to sign in the 2025 class.

 

[Seath The Scaleless]

RHB numbers a bit inflated thanks to two HRs on not-so-bad pitches. He missed his spot to Altuve, but the pitch was still slightly above the zone. Just a good hit

And I have no idea how Diaz hit that way inside pitch out of the park on opening day. Gotta tip your cap to him

 

[Puckstuff]

Tyler O'Neil is looking like a nice buy-low for the Red Sox. I'm jealous of that signing.

 

[phillipmike]

 

[Canada4Gold]

One note from last year is that Manoah mentioned that he finds it difficult to throw games in A ball because of the skill difference (that he is basically pitching with no adrenaline) so moving him up to AAA will give the team and Manoah a better idea of how close he is to contributing to the MLB roster (and whether a demotion to AAA might be necessary).

This sounds like when bad poker players complain about how the players at the lowest stakes don't understand the game so play crazy and random and thus are difficult to beat so they'd prefer to play higher stakes against players who know what they're doing and thus easier to formulate a strategy to beat.

Perhaps there might be something to it here but generally if you can't beat bad players it's not likely to improve when you start to face better competition.

 

[Leaf Rocket]

 

[Seath The Scaleless]

Terrible debut for Jackson Holliday. They should trade him to the Jays.

 

[canucksfan]

Barger is doing well with Buffalo. Striking out and walking at the same rate. Power numbers are increasing as well. Horwitz is off to a really good start. Walking twice as much as striking out.

Will Roberston has incredible numbers but strikeouts are a concern.

Always neat to check in to see who might get called up first.

 

[TheMadHatTrick]

A few hitters off to hot starts so far.

AAA:
Horowitz, LF (26) .424/.568/.576 1hr 9rbi 11bb 5so 3sb 1cs

Barger, 3B (24) .308/.413/.513 1hr 11rbi 7bb 7so

Robertson, LF (26) .476/.542/1.238 4hr 9rbi 3bb 8so

AA:
Kasevich, SS (23) .389/.421/.444 5rbi 1(2b) 1bb 1so

Martinez, LF (21) .316/.316/.579 1hr 3rbi 0bb 3so

Roden, RF (24) .333/.400/.389 2rbi 1(2b) 2bb 2so

A+:
Bohrofen, RF (22) .333/.500/.417 1(2b) 3bb 5so

Goodwin, 2B (22) .462/.588/.846 1hr 4rbi 3bb 4so

ROOKIE:
Aponte, CF (20) .308/.545/.692 1hr 5rbi 6bb 3so 3sb 1cs

Arias, LF (20) .375/.545/.500 3rbi 2(2b) 5bb 5so 6sb 1cs

 

[The Nemesis]

Manoah is starting Saturday. One note from last year is that Manoah mentioned that he finds it difficult to throw games in A ball because of the skill difference (that he is basically pitching with no adrenaline) so moving him up to AAA will give the team and Manoah a better idea of how close he is to contributing to the MLB roster (and whether a demotion to AAA might be necessary).

This sounds suspiciously like a whole bunch of self-important bullshit to avoid addressing that he didn't do well in the A-ball start.

 

[Puckstuff]

The Jays are 1-6 without Davis Schneider starting

They are 5-0 With Davis Schneider starting.

 

[Eyedea]

The Jays are 1-6 without Davis Schneider starting

They are 5-0 With Davis Schneider starting.

Tough to imagine how many of those losses they would’ve won with him in the lineup. Even if they scored more runs, most of those were big deficits.

 

[Bjindaho]

Former interpreter for Shohei Ohtani faces federal bank fraud charges

The former longtime interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani is being charged with federal bank fraud for crimes involving gambling debts and theft of millions of dollars from the Japanese sensation, federal authorities said Thursday.

www.sportsnet.ca

Ohtani throwing the interpreter under the bus but this whole story requires that we believe that a gambling organization extended a large credit to the interpreter, despite no collateral and a modest income.

 

[TheTotalPackage]

Regarding the renos of the stadium -- while I'm sure it's great in-person, does anyone else find it hasn't translated as well on TV? It looks significantly darker on TV, whereas before it was perfect with just how bright it was (it is akin to how Maple Leaf Gardens always looked bright on TV, whereas now a game from the ACC/SBA looks like it is being watched through a snow globe). Also, while much more profitable for the team, I find the seats behind home plate look clunky with the light brown brick pattern in the background splashed with green TD logos. The charm of seeing the fans behind the two behind-the-plate rows, which is now four, has been lost. It almost looks fake.

I know...I'm just being pedantic.

 

[Discoverer]

Regarding the renos of the stadium -- while I'm sure it's great in-person, does anyone else find it hasn't translated as well on TV? It looks significantly darker on TV, whereas before it was perfect with just how bright it was (it is akin to how Maple Leaf Gardens always looked bright on TV, whereas now a game from the ACC/SBA looks like it is being watched through a snow globe). Also, while much more profitable for the team, I find the seats behind home plate look clunky with the light brown brick pattern in the background splashed with green TD logos. The charm of seeing the fans behind the two behind-the-plate rows, which is now four, has been lost. It almost looks fake.

I know...I'm just being pedantic.

Other than the sometimes-overly-bright ads, I think it looks fantastic. I'm sure I could pick out little things that they could change, but overall I think they've done a great job of making it feel like a ballpark instead of a big pile of concrete with fake grass in it.

 

[Dr.Funk]

Regarding the renos of the stadium -- while I'm sure it's great in-person, does anyone else find it hasn't translated as well on TV? It looks significantly darker on TV, whereas before it was perfect with just how bright it was (it is akin to how Maple Leaf Gardens always looked bright on TV, whereas now a game from the ACC/SBA looks like it is being watched through a snow globe). Also, while much more profitable for the team, I find the seats behind home plate look clunky with the light brown brick pattern in the background splashed with green TD logos. The charm of seeing the fans behind the two behind-the-plate rows, which is now four, has been lost. It almost looks fake.

I know...I'm just being pedantic.

The backdrop behind home plate looks fantastic on TV

 

[LaP]

Tough to imagine how many of those losses they would’ve won with him in the lineup. Even if they scored more runs, most of those were big deficits.

Technically last game was a 0 run deficit. If the Jays scores one more run in the first 9 innings they win. There's also the 9-8 loss against NYR.