Blue Jays GDT: 2018 v3| Next: Wed, Sept 5| vs TB| 7pm ET/4pm PT | Glasnow vs Sanchez

[Canada4Gold]

The legacy of catcher #9 lives on!

I'm getting Nick Swisher vibes from that picture

 

[Anthrax442]

Jansen homered. Mmmm. Superb.

 

[The Nemesis]

I'm getting Nick Swisher vibes from that picture

JP wishes he had as swagtastic of a photo collection as Nick Swisher.

The one thing that JP has that Swish doesn't is a gif of him drinking a Tim Hortons coffee.

 

[canucksfan]

Jansen's throws are pretty accurate.

 

[The Nemesis]

Jansen's throws are pretty accurate.

Yeah. He doesn't have a strong arm, but he's quick and accurate. It should be enough to let him be a reasonable factor behind the plate against all but the fastest runners.

 

[canucksfan]

I've noticed with Martin if it's a borderline strike he will hold the glove there a bit longer. With Jansen he moves it right away.

 

[MS]

Most broadcasts don't necessarily use advanced stats any more than the Jays ones do (the beginner-tier type stats like OPS or even WHIP with small mentions and nod to something like WAR. Certainly not getting into the realm of wRC+ or FIP or anything particularly esoteric) but the issue I mostly have is that Buck and Pat will go out of their way to turn things into an anti-analytics/traditionalist screed. Like they'll talk about how the Blue Jays don't run/steal bases/play smallball and then go on about how it's analytics that ruin the game by saying don't do that (which isn't even entirely true). Or the graphics guys will show a slightly more complex statistical concept, and Pat will come back with "just tell me how many RBIs a guy has. That's the guy I want on my team. That's all you need to understand the best players."

It's not so much that I want a broadcast that uses analytics more. It's just that I want one that's understanding that they have a place in the modern game and that they aren't out to alienate the stat-minded fan, bias undecided fans against the new math before they even have a chance to see what it's about, or continue to prop up falsehoods or faulty methods of analysis like, for example, pitcher wins and RBIs. In both cases I've heard Buck/Pat explicitly acknowledge on broadcasts that they have very real shortcomings (the same shortcoming, in fact: that they rely too heavily on the contributions of players other than the one being measured that it becomes impossible to separate how much of that number is due to the player you're evaluating and how much of it is due to factors beyond the player's control, thus invalidating it as a way to judge the player's actual ability), but they continue to harp on how those are "better" than using all the fancy advanced stats. Basically it comes across as "I don't know/understand what the new stats are, so they must suck and I want to feel better about my knowledge by sticking to things I already know." I wouldn't care if they didn't use analytics all that much if they would just stop harping on how the game and its analysis was better in the 1980s when they played.

I feel like Pat kinda almost gets it at times but then gets pulled back over to the other side by Buck as soon as he strays too far.

There was a discussion a few games back where Pat actually made a quite progressive comment about how different the game is now for various accurate and progressive reasons and Buck responded 'Yeah, expansion diluted the talent pool!' and Pat ended up quickly digressing.

 

[canucksfan]

Pat and Bucks love affair over Alcedes Escobar is driving me nuts.

 

[The Nemesis]

Pat and Bucks love affair over Alcedes Escobar is driving me nuts.

Ned Yost sure approves of it though.

#LeadoffHitter

 

[Del Preston]

Wow they won. I stopped watching with two out in the 8th.

 

[The Nemesis]

I feel like Pat kinda almost gets it at times but then gets pulled back over to the other side by Buck as soon as he strays too far.

There was a discussion a few games back where Pat actually made a quite progressive comment about how different the game is now for various accurate and progressive reasons and Buck responded 'Yeah, expansion diluted the talent pool!' and Pat ended up quickly digressing.

You're right that Pat is sometimes more apt to make slightly more progressively-minded comments. The weird counterpoint is that he is also more likely to make the starkly traditionalist comments as well. Like Buck will talk about how wins tell you how good a pitcher is, and Pat will then be the one that says "All I need to know about pitchers is if he wins games. Tell me how many wins he has and I'll tell you if he can be on my team." And then it gets really weird when, like you note, he'll have made that comment not long after he very rationally noted that pitcher wins are at the mercy of the offence and good pitchers can get saddled with losses or NDs even if they have a damn good game.

It's almost worse than if they were just unrepentant traditionalists because they can tease you with potentially making sense only to brush it off and go "nah, that's dumb. wins and RBIs! Durka dur!"

 

[The Nemesis]

Wow they won. I stopped watching with two out in the 8th.

So if correlation and causation has taught me anything, it's that it was all your fault they were losing and I thank you for turning off the game and breaking your negative mojo hold on the team so they could pick up the win. Way to take one for the team.

 

[Del Preston]

The legacy of catcher #9 lives on!

*360 spin*
*throws ball to the outfield wall*
*bases clear*

 

[The Nemesis]

*360 spin*
*throws ball to the outfield wall*
*bases clear*

or

and damn, that gif has Kyle Drabek in it too. Ouch.

 

[canucksfan]

Estrada looks good, Granderson with a slam, maybe they both get traded soon.

 

[Suntouchable13]

Both of them will probably stay put. Nobody is lining up to get these guys. Estrada is only good for some mop up duty now for a contender. I think he would be useless. He just does not have it anymore. He will get lit up in the playoffs. It's not 2015 or 2016 anymore. As for Grandy, somebody might want him as an experienced bench bat but that's about it. I doubt anyone trades for him.

 

[Loosie]

First run Giles has allowed this season in save situations. Seems like that graphic may have been a bit of a jinx.

 

[Cloned]

Giles’ slider seems like it’s completely feast or famine. He’s either striking someone out with it or they’re hitting a HR off it.

 

[The Nemesis]

I'm going to be really glad to be done with KC.

We get it, Buck. You love Sal Perez more than your own children. Perhaps as much as you love Derek Jeter and George Brett.

 

[The Nemesis]

Teoscar giveth and Teoscar taketh away.

 

[The Nemesis]

"In this era there are so many shortcuts taken to make pitchers throw strikes that they've never learned how to pitch."

...what?

No, seriously, what? I'm not even sure what he's trying to get at here. Shortcuts?

(this one is slightly more paraphrased as my brain was already broken trying to figure out what the first sentence was)
"With things like innings limits and pitch counts and specialists guys don't get to learn how to pitch. They don't get sent down and given time in games to learn how to pitch."

Oh, so it's just one of those rants.

Drink.

 

[The Nemesis]

that's not what "the swing guy" means, Tabby.

 

[The Nemesis]

And then Reid-Foley slices his hand open and gets an infection when he picks up the jagged remains of Grichuk's bat.

 

[The Nemesis]

Also while it very well might have been, I want to counter Buck's assertion that Grichuk's bat was 'obviously' a maple bat based on how it broke. His bat broke in one gigantic length-wise chunk. Maple bats tend to explode violently into a shower of dangerous wooden shrapnel. Large, splitting breaks like that are usually seen in ash bats.

 

[The Nemesis]

As of right now, Danny Jansen's horrifically disappointing 1-3 night has dropped his career wRC+ from 252 to 201. In other words he's gone from being easily the greatest offensive player in baseball history to being only marginally better than Babe Ruth.

Stop being such a disappointment, Danny.