Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is just the flat out best hitter in baseball so far. I always expected him to be excellent but man, what progress.
WEre he to keep doing this, and he’s gotta slump sooner or later, it’d certainly be the best offensive season in team history. I was 97% sure that the best offensive season in team history was John Olerud’s 1993, followed by Jose Bautista in 2011, but Baseball Reference goes Bautista, CArlos Delgado in 2000, then Olerud. I don’t 100% buy that, I’d still go with Olerud.
But at this rate Guerrero would crush 'em by any analytical measure and most of the traditional ones - he is leading the AL in the Triple Crown categories.
It’s also remarkable that he’s accomplishing this without playing any home games at home. Hmm, well that’s what I was thinking watching the game last night, anyway. Just checked, and in 2019 he was a far better player on the road. Still, he’s killing it this year. He’s going to be a pain in the ass in the AL East for a long, long time.
Dunedin and Buffalo both, by design, have basically the same dimensions as Toronto, and have no other obvious benefit to a hitter, so I have a feeling the home/road splits are mostly flukes.
It’s sort of like the National Weather Service suddenly posting a thunderstorm warning just as the black clouds materialize overhead. Thanks for the tip, fellas!
Didn’t the Blue Jays play a bunch of ‘home’ games away last season anyway? That happened with a few teams last year with the craziness of the schedule.
All of their home games were played (or, at least scheduled to played) in Buffalo last year; I’m not sure if they had any games in which they were technically the “home” team, but were played in a different city other than Buffalo.
It looks promising that the Jays will be back in Toronto before season’s end. Cross your fingers.
Sahlen Field is said to be better for lefthanded batters than righthanded because of how winds blow there, but I am not sure a lot of data proves that. According to FanGraphs its a pitcher’s park by the standards of the International League, which isn’t a hitter-friendly league.
I’m watching the game, and watching the Dbacks lead erode, and then in the eighth it’s looking good, still ahead, but only by three - but I’m “well, they’re only three up - a grand slam would put SF ahead.” So what happens in the bottom of the eighth?
Usually a team losing that bad would have fired the manager, but my theory is they are saving money. Firing Lovelo would mean eating his contract and still paying his replacement.
Part of me hopes they never win a game the rest of the year. You ain’t coming back from 28 games below .500 (!), and the team hasn’t showed a desire to actually win games in several season, so why not set the new record for futility?
The Mets continue to be on an absolute tear, winning three straight against the Cubs, for a season .583 WP, maintaining first place in the NL East by a 5-game lead.
DeGrom has come out early in his last two starts; tonight he was out with muscle soreness after just three innings. Edwin Diaz continues to be an all-star level closing strikeout artist, and Lindor continues to shine on defense while steadily improving his hitting.
This team is redonkulous. When (and if) Conforto, Nimmo, Syndergaard, and McNeil get off the injured list, they will be unstoppable.
The Blue Jays have a fine offense and a good enough starting rotation but are falling out of contention because of the bullpen. In four decades of watching this team, this is the worst bullpen I’ve ever seen them have.
Of course, most of the guys who SHOULD be in the bullpen are injured. And I do mean most. All of these guys are supposed to be in the bullpen:
Julian Merryweather
Kirby Yates
David Phelps
Ryan Borucki
Tom Hatch
Tommy Milone
AJ Cole
They literally have cycled through an entire bullpen; except for two guys the entire bullpen they have now is supposed to be in the minors or not on the roster at all.
The result has been a disaster.
On May 13 they were 20-16. Since then, the bullpen has have blown… seven games, I think. And that’s not counting last night, which they might not have blown if Ross Stripling had been pulled after the sixth, which he normally would have been but was left in because Charlie Montoyo was desperate to get another inning out of his starter before giving it to the bullpen.
