Just when you think the Jays management is "getting it", they start Lind vs David Price. This is a case of going with short-term results over logic. How many more years until they realize that he should strictly be a platoon player?
EDIT: I guess it didn't help that Morrow was god-awful today too. I honestly think we can give up hoping he'll realize any potential that everyone (including myself) thought he had. He is what he is. A decent starting pitcher who gives up too many fly balls and is terrible pitching from the stretch.
I still like the idea of keeping Morrow around as a fireball end of the rotation guy, but for sure I think if not now then very soon he needs to stop being considered the "sure thing" #2 that people seemed to (for reasons that escaped me at the time) think he was with only the last 3 starters being question marks.
Fingers crossed Alvarez and Drabek aren't just fluking it up right now because currently I feel much more comfortable in the games they pitch than Morrow. It seems like his solid vs. bad outings depend entirely on how many hard hit balls just happen to be caught. Not too inspiring.
Alvarez, as he is now, is a bit too hittable to be a very good pitcher in the AL East. That fastball is there but need some big improvements in the breaking/offspeed stuff.
I really hope the Jays can get a breakout year from him or Drabek or even Hutchison. The rotation is the weak point of this team and all the big prospects are years away from pitching for the Jays.
Recently I've been bummed at the fact that Halladay may never win a championship with Philly now that they can't score to save their lives, and the fact that he's exactly the thing this team needs now.
Granted if Drabek actually has figured something out and can become a legit top-of-the-rotation guy then the upgrade that Halladay would provide would be lessened, especially since Drabek is so young, however it totally blows that we traded him away to get him a ring and he still might not. Also having Halladay in top form during Jose's prime which who nows how much more of it we have would also be nice.
The rotation is the weak point of this team and all the big prospects are years away from pitching for the Jays.
true, although there are a lot of teams with rotation problems. the jays are fortunate to have a lot of pitching prospects, even if they're years away.
hopefully a few pitchers (e.g., Alvarez, Drabek) step up, or AA acquires someone who can.
Quote:
The Blue Jays ended an ongoing mystery surrounding a fifth starter for Saturday in Kansas City by purchasing the contract of 21-year-old right-hander Drew Hutchison from Double-A New Hampshire.
“Drew’s path to the major leagues has been relatively quick,” manager John Farrell said.
“That’s a combination of talent. That’s a combination of composure. There’s some emotional maturity as a young pitcher. We like his strike-throwing ability and his overall stuff, his ability to attack both lefties and righties. We all look forward to seeing his debut and hopefully a long career starting on Saturday.”
...It was either Hutchison, seen as the manager’s favourite, or lightly regarded journeyman right-hander Jesse Chavez. Hutchison, who is just 21, did not need to be added to the 40-man roster until the end of 2013, but his contract options kick in if they ever have to send Hutchison down again, which is likely.
...Two years hence, spring training will be teeming with major-league ready talent ready to compete for a rotation spot and to compete hard in the division. Just not yet.
...now they find themselves counting on an unproven 21-year-old to fill in after Drabek, every five days.
...Through Thursday, 16 pitchers have started at least once for the Jays, Las Vegas or New Hampshire. If McGowan is considered the legit No. 5, that leaves 12 others who have pitched at the Jays’ top three levels thus far. Of that dozen, only three are listed among their top 30 prospects, according to the Baseball America Handbook — Hutchison (9), Deck McGuire (8) and Chad Jenkins (28). The rest of the dozen, plus Carreno and Chavez, includes Cecil, Ryan Tepera, Aaron Laffey, Bill Murphy, Scott Richmond, Tim Redding and Yohan Pino.
But down the road is where the more impressive prospects lie. Here are the club’s top pitching prospects according to Baseball America and where they are toiling at the moment.
Among the top 10 overall in the system, Noah Syndergaard, Aaron Sanchez and Justin Nicolino are at Class-A Lansing. Among the top 30 prospects who are also pitchers, two of them, Asher Wojciechowski and John Stilson, are at Class-A Dunedin, while Daniel Norris, Kevin Comer, Adonys Cardona, Joe Musgrove and Roberto Osuna are still at extended spring training.
Those 10 lower-level youngsters are the true depth the Jays will plan for and make deals from next winter to complete construction of a contender. But for now they scramble for a major-league arm to get to five. That’s why Anthopoulos’s failed off-season quest was so important.
has a hit in every single game (15 game hitting streak)
I know the numbers don't mean much. The 9:7 ratio is good. I've always felt he's never gotten a fair chance at the majors. I wanted him to make the team out of spring training. But as of this point, I keep him down there until he slumps and see how he bounces back from that slump. If this is the last option year, we must use it wisely; can't keep jerking him...
I'd give Thames til the end of April to start raking and if not we can't have him playing like Manny in LF in exchange for goose egg statlines, SNIDER TIME.
It was inevitable that the Brett Lawrie Folklore would eclipse his on-field contributions at some point. After the gallons of ink spilled in his name during his spectacular debut season and the off-season which saw him win “the cleanest balls in baseball” after all the sack washings from national media members, the state of Brett Lawrie Nation sort of makes sense here in 2012.
Brett Lawrie is going to be a superb Major League Baseball player. He is only 22-years old. The sky is the limit. He is a star and the consummate showman and all that good stuff.
He’s also off to a downright awful start to the season. Yet not a peep. Not a word of Lawrie’s general offensive struggles or apparent willingness to swing at just about anything thrown in his direction. If we’re being honest, we can admit it: he doesn’t look good out there.
Let’s back up a tick here: saying “he doesn’t look good out there” is not true at all. Brett Lawrie looks fan****ingtastic doing just about anything. Running into outs, steaming down the first base line on another routine ground out, stopping hot shots down the third base line with his chest; Brett Lawrie looks like freakbeast doing each and every one of them.
The insane energy level at which Brett Lawrie lives life makes it difficult to notice his slash line, which is downright bummerish .279/.318/.377. He plays so hard and so fast it is genuinely shocking to notice he has two extra base hits and three walks on the year.
It is very early, of course. Too early to worry and too early to contemplate the various “adjustments” required of a player getting to know the league. With my eyes, Brett Lawrie looks like a guy who lost some of his vaunted patience.
There seems to be an alarming trend towards swinging at pitches out of the zone, a skill Canadian Jesus acquired via osmosis halfway through last season, one he put to great use during his time in Toronto. Fangraphs shows a marked increase in out-of-the-zone swings and swings in general for the young third baseman. Like everything written here, not cause for concern as much as a factoid worth a mental note.
It is a dangerous game, elevating Lawrie beyond his achievements. If (a big if) he doesn’t figure it out, somebody will notice. At some point the struggles will overshadow the mythology and the inevitable sophomore slumps will become apparent to even the most ardently maple-bonered.
Brett Lawrie will forever get rope from a certain section Blue Jays fandom because who, and how, he is. The inertia from his explosive beginnings will carry him through many a slump, with his high-octane approach to the game buying him more and more good will along the way.
Again: still early. But Brett Lawrie’s lack of contribution at the plate bears monitoring. The curious trend of balls beaten into the ground in front of the plate bears monitoring (already 30 ground balls if you believe stat stringers. Lawrie only managed 45 GBs in nearly triple the plate appearances in 2011.) The scorn heaped on players posting better numbers across the board is sad only in its predictability.
Brett Lawrie will be fine. But right now he isn’t. And that is okay. Let’s just admit it is happening and wait for the day his numbers improve. Wait for patient approach to return and then the walks will return to previous levels (2012 walk rate is almost half 2011) and watch as the doubles and triples roll in. They will. But, for now, they aren’t. Just thought you should now, you know?
How can you have a fastball in the mid to low 90's, a decent changeup and fairly good command and not be able to get strikeouts? I guess he has no slider right now but still. It didn't hurt him today but I don't like the long-term outlook on him if he doesn't start to miss bats.
How can you have a fastball in the mid to low 90's, a decent changeup and fairly good command and not be able to get strikeouts? I guess he has no slider right now but still. It didn't hurt him today but I don't like the long-term outlook on him if he doesn't start to miss bats.
You answered your own question on that one, he doesn't have the devastating strikeout pitch needed to get them. You have to keep it in perspective that this is an extremely young pitcher, and while others are refining their secondary pitches in the minors, Alvarez is able to live off his 2.5 pitches in the MLB while he refines his. It's invaluable experience for him and a testament to his skill level. If he ever does get the vicious slider, watch out.
Re: Toronto Blue Jays 2012 Season Thread
