More on last night’s game: Well, the Oilers forgot they were playing a hockey game.
Whoops, the Jays game:
Jeff Hoffman has been fantastic in extra innings (small sample). He hasn’t allowed a hit in his four extra innings, which, with a runner on second, is a big deal. I remember Jordan Romano being terrific with the Manfred Man on.
He hasn’t been good in save situations. With a save on the line, batters are hitting .243/.303/.529 against him. Not what you’d like from a closer, but most of the trouble came in his three blown saves.
Alejandro Kirk is becoming the hitter I expected he’d be when he came up. Four hits yesterday, three extra-base hits. Hitting .429/.448/.679 in June, after hitting .365/.430/.419 in May. Add in the defense, and he’s everything you’d want in a catcher. I could note that the last seven basestealers were successful against him, but no one has tried to steal in his last five games.
He deserves a spot on the All-Star team.
As much as I have complaints about John Schneider’s management yesterday, he was right in putting Yariel Rodriguez in for that second inning. Rodriguez looked terrible in the eighth inning. I doubt many managers would have given him the next inning. Maybe he was running out of arms, but it worked. A soft ground out and two strikes?
And, though I don’t think it was the right move, it worked out letting Jonatan Clase hit in the ninth. Sometimes the wrong move works. But, whatever else happens in his baseball career, Clase will have that moment to reflect on.
He’s a good guy on the team, with enough speed to beat out a bunt single, enough speed to steal when needed, good defense, and occasional power.
We are lucky to have many good young outfielders.
Andrés Giménez batting sixth bugged me more than it should have. I know that lineup construction doesn’t change things all that much. Some studies show that the difference between the best and worst possible lineup is only 5%. And no one puts together the worst possible lineup. And really, the difference between Giménez and Ernie Clement against a RHP isn’t much.
But the idea of moving someone up in the lineup because of a small sample streak of good hitting? It’s malpractice. We know a guy on a, say, five-game hitting streak is no better than what he usually hits. Same with a ten-game hitting streak. In game eleven, players don’t hit any better than usual.
Now, if you knew the guy was in the middle of a ten-game hitting streak, then it is a good time to move him in the order. Unfortunately, we never know that.
It was fun when John, to start the season, put Giménez in the cleanup position. He hit three home runs in his first six games there and had an eight-game hitting streak. After that, he hit .158/.246/.193 in the next fifteen games. I do have hopes that they will be able to work with him and turn him into a reasonable hitter, a reasonable number nine hitter.
Anyway, I like his defense. If I ran things, I’d likely put him and Clement into a platoon at second base. I think Giménez is better defensively, but not enough better than Clement to make it worth having him at second and Clement on the bench versus a left-hander.
José Berríos is on a stretch of five quality starts, and seven of his last eight were quality starts. He’s giving the team a good chance to win every time out. He’s two behind Paul Skenes at the top of the AL in Quality starts.
Last night he had just one strikeout, but still gave us 6.2 shutout innings. There was a lot of soft contact.
Batters are hitting just .200/.273/.323 in his last six starts and .234/.312/.395 on the season.
He’s so consistent that we tend to overlook him.
I’m giving up on the idea of them giving Alan Roden a decent chance this year. I don’t know why not, maybe they know something I don’t.
I really don’t understand using Davis Schneider in the outfield over him against a RHP.
On May 28th, I wrote asking if we wanted Bo Bichette traded. He was hitting ok, but with very little power. 75% of us said ‘yes, trade him’. Since then, he’s hit four home runs in 12 games. He’s hitting .265/.294/.571 in that time. I’m all for moving him out of the leadoff spot. He’s never been someone who gets on base.