The Jays are on an off-day, and we are 19 games into the season—more than 10% of the season is done. So, I thought I’d ask for your early-season thoughts about the Jays. What is better than you thought, what is worse, and how you feel about the team
Offensively, there are only a couple of guys who are really doing much better than my expectations:
- Justin Turner has been much better than I expected.
- Cavan Biggio is off to a nice start, something that I haven’t come to expect.
- Daulton Varsho, especially in this last week, has been very good with the back.
And, of course, some guys are nowhere close to meeting expectations:
- Alejandro Kirk, with a 53 OPS+, was not something I expected after he had a nice spring.
- Kevin Kiermaier has a 46 OPS+ (though he went 3 for 3 yesterday, including a single he try to stretch into a double and failed. You can always tell the announcer’s favourite players by how they react to a play like that. If they do five minutes on how it was great and how it was a perfect throw that got him, he’s a favourite). It is early, but if his bat doesn’t come around soon, I’d have to think you’d put Schneider in left daily and use Kiermaier more as a defensive replacement.
And a couple who have been somewhat disappointing:
- Bo Bichette, had a 93 OPS+ but is showing more signs of life lately. In the last 11 games, he’s hitting .293/.375/.463, roughly what we expect of him. Before that, he was hitting .120. He does have hot and cold streaks, but I’m not concerned.
- Vladimir Guerrero has a 112 OPS+, but you want more from him. Generally, I wouldn’t be considered a player doing ‘ok’ after 19 games, but we just went through a less-than-terrific season from Vlad. I wanted to see him do great right out of the gate.
Beyond that, IKF has been somewhat better than I had hoped. Clements and Schneider have been decent, but not great. I expect one to have a great start and get most of the playing time. Neither has grabbed the job yet.
Pitching? José Berríos and Yusei Kikuchi have been amazing. Chris Bassitt has been very good.
Kevin Gausman has had a rough start to the season, and Yariel Rodriguez has replaced Bowden Francis.
In the pen, the lefties, Tim Mayza and Génesis Cabrera, have had a rough start. Yimi Garcia has been lights-out, Chad Green has been good, and Trevor Richards has been Trevor Richards. Nate Pearson was terrific and has been sent to Buffalo, which is a move that makes no sense to me.
The various long relievers have pitched like long relievers (not well).
And Erik Swanson and Jordan Romano are back but will need some time to get rolling.
Home runs are down 15% this season, which suggests MLB is playing with the ball again. I don’t know why they do these things. I know they are all-in on the idea that small ball is the way to drive fans to the park, but some of us like home runs.
I don’t know. I like low-scoring games and high-scoring games. I like steals, doubles, and home runs. I’m not a fan of bunting, but I do like watching a well-executed bunt. I just don’t think they help the offense, and I think it is giving up.
I don’t like MLB tinkering to change the game.
Yesterday’s umpire Scorecard. Ryan Wills only got 77% of his strike calls right, which really should be grounds for firing.
