The Blue Jays have been defined by no player better in the past decade than Jose Bautista, the former utility journeyman turned home run king. His transformation was the only thing that got fans through the lean years between Roy Halladay and the 2015 playoff run. He was the star. But before he was able to […]
Tag: Justin Smoak
The Top 10 Blue Jays by Trade Deadline Value (No. 6 – 10)
Twice a year over at FanGraphs, Dave Cameron publishes a list of who, in his opinion, are the fifty most valuable trade assets in baseball. Cameron’s most recent update was published over the All-Star break earlier this month. Rather than simply listing the best players, he has attempted to blend past performance and future projection […]
The New and Improved Justin Smoak is Here to Stay
Justin Smoak has always been an odd player, but this year he’s been downright baffling. In his post on the 2010 Rangers Top 11 prospects, Kevin Goldstein noted that, “[Justin Smoak] has the best plate discipline in the organization, and among the best in baseball, with plus raw power from both sides.” Yet up until 2016, through […]
Bold Predictions for the Blue Jays in the Second Half
Monday night’s game against the Yankees marked the official midpoint of the 2017 Blue Jays’ season. While the season hasn’t played out the way Blue Jays fans would have liked thus far, there are 78 games still to be played. And a lot can happen in 78 games. Speaking of a lot happening in 78 […]
Justin Smoak is Finally Having Fun Playing Baseball
In BP Toronto’s preseason Bold Predictions, I picked Justin Smoak to be the biggest bust of 2017. Other than Josh Donaldson being the most valuable position player, it was the pick I was the most confident in. I knew only two things about Smoak. First, that he was a failed top prospect, and second, that […]
Which Blue Jays are Putting the Barrel on the Ball?
Back in February I wrote an article around the Statcast ‘Barrels’ metric and how the Blue Jays (new and returning) stacked up in regards to that metric. If you haven’t heard much about Barrels and their ‘official’ definition, that article would be a great spot to brush up on them. You can see the leaderboard here. Just […]
The Enhanced Frustration of Familiar Blue Jays Problems
Let’s get a few things straight. Starting the season at 1-6 really sucks. However, the Blue Jays will also be perfectly fine in 2017, and one week’s worth of games holds no predictive value. But damn the start to this season has been frustrating. Everything that could have gone wrong has, which looks even worse […]
The Fly Ball Revolution Has Arrived in Toronto
2016 was an odd year for home runs; they went up by 14% between 2015 and 2016. The last time we saw so many home runs was in 2000, when the home run leaderboard looked like this. When this historic spike began to come into focus down the stretch last season, baseball writers had a […]
How to Get the Most Out of Steve Pearce
Steve Pearce is one of the most unheralded signings of the offseason. It’s not hard to see why, given the contentious sentiment surrounding Toronto’s higher-profile negotiations, but Pearce was a nice get and he should help in multiple ways. A player who can play in either outfield corner, first base, and occasionally chip in at […]
The Unfortunate Result of a Clash of Baseball Ideologies
It’s the middle of January and the Blue Jays have yet to make any big moves. Of course, there is technically still time. The free agent market is all but depleted of big names, but the team could still make a splash through trade. However, with each passing day, the possibility that a big trade […]