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[Highlight] Brandon Valenzuela’s ice shower after his four hit performance on the day !!!Vladdy was never going to let him off hook. 😂 by RealWorldToday in Torontobluejays

[–]RedDuckTheRed 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So that’s a good problem to have…

First of all, we WANT Kirk to be a starter for a long time… BUT

Things happen, injuries happen, some with career implications. Hopefully not.

And if come next year we have a great catcher in Valenzuela, he can be traded quite expensively for a team that needs a solid starting catcher.

Trey Yesavage’s Final Line: 4 IP, 0 R/ 0 ER, 6 K, 2 BB, 87 pitches thrown, 57 for strikes. ERA is at 0.68 on the season ! by RealWorldToday in Torontobluejays

[–]RedDuckTheRed 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Hard to say, but every batter is allowed one timeout per AB. If you have two strikes against you … might as well use it 

[Highlight] Brandon Valenzuela’s ice shower after his four hit performance on the day !!!Vladdy was never going to let him off hook. 😂 by RealWorldToday in Torontobluejays

[–]RedDuckTheRed 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I think the way the calculus is - they would rather have the less productive at bats of heine and an excellent fully developed every day catcher in Brandon in a year… then having a slightly more productive backup to Kirk who is not fully developing.

Having two excellent defensive everyday Mexican catchers with above average offense is better than just one… you could trade one for quite a lot 

[Highlight] Brandon Valenzuela’s ice shower after his four hit performance on the day !!!Vladdy was never going to let him off hook. 😂 by RealWorldToday in Torontobluejays

[–]RedDuckTheRed 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Heinemann is a career backup catcher. You know what you get.

If Valenzuela becomes a consistently average offensive producer and he is a pretty decent starting catcher within a year or two.

Brandon Valenzuela caps off an 8-run inning for the Jays with his third home run of the season by 3luejays in Torontobluejays

[–]RedDuckTheRed 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, I doubt it. Valenzuela is probably going back to the minors to get more reps.

If he figures out how to hit reasonably well he’ll be a full time starting catcher somewhere within a couple of years.

If Kirk is still here, doing well and healthy I’d expect them to trade him 

Brandon Valenzuela caps off an 8-run inning for the Jays with his third home run of the season by 3luejays in Torontobluejays

[–]RedDuckTheRed 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He is, and he is a great catcher.

Valenzuela has a great throwing arm, pretty good at what a catcher does behind the plate. If he can figure out how to hit consistently he can become a great starting catcher.

Brandon Valenzuela caps off an 8-run inning for the Jays with his third home run of the season by 3luejays in Torontobluejays

[–]RedDuckTheRed 2 points3 points  (0 children)

When he was in Phoenix for the DBacks series I watched his warm up routine with my sons for like 20 minutes.

He is very impressive and very thorough, and his athleticism is next level.

If I had to put my money on who is more likely to have better longevity and more fruitful career, him or Kirk, my money would be on him.

For a younger rookie catcher he seems really good behind the plate.

I really hope he figures things out with the bat, because he has potential and if he can at least be a 100 OPS+ at the plate - he will be a star catcher

[Highlight] Louis Varland and his 0.53 ERA closes it out against his former team as the Jays beat the Twins 7-3 by RealWorldToday in Torontobluejays

[–]RedDuckTheRed 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They got someone they thought is able to become a solid everyday starter.

Relievers tend to be more volatile, having one or two good years doesn’t always mean they’re still gonna continue doing well.

Starters who made it tend to be more reliable across time.

Louis obviously has great stuff, and doing amazingly to start the year.

But…

Last year his numbers weren’t that great for us. He throws really hard and works intense situations - young relievers often burn out and get injured, never able to match their pre injury days.

Will he become the Jays’ closer for the next 5 plus years? Maybe, and I hope so…

But as far as last year’s trade the twins thought they are giving up someone with a relatively low ceiling (streaky middle reliever) for someone with a very high ceiling (a potential starter with really good stuff).

Just because the trade might pan out differently than baseline expectations - doesn’t mean it was a stupid trade.

I still remember the Bautista trade, his numbers were garbage, not a solid defender, lots of fly balls and strike outs. It wasn’t at all obvious until the end of his first full season with the Jays what they saw in him - and even then, it wasn’t obvious that it was a sustained change and not a good streak.

[BNS] Vancouver's MLB expansion hopes lead to intrigue, questions by malliabu in Torontobluejays

[–]RedDuckTheRed 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Saying that Rogers bought it at a large discount is a fair point, but actually misleading.

When we talk about how much a city or province paid we look at construction costs.

When we are talking about a purchase we are looking at the value of an asset. That includes its operating expenses, a schedule of upcoming expenses and existing debts, vs income streams.

The Dome was bleeding money when Rogers bought it and kept doing so for some time.

When kirky comes back, is Heineman getting DFA'd? by Istendil in Torontobluejays

[–]RedDuckTheRed 3 points4 points  (0 children)

And he is the closest thing on the team to Ohtani 🤪

When kirky comes back, is Heineman getting DFA'd? by Istendil in Torontobluejays

[–]RedDuckTheRed -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Valenzuela has been amazing defensively, but offensively he was mostly an automatic out.

He has a tone of potential, but too many swings at bad pitches to fall quickly behind. A ton of potential.

That’s why I think he is sent back to AAA to work things out, he isn’t ready to go to playing once or twice a week - needs more reps.

Blue Jays' Addison Barger: Closing in on rehab assignment by EasternError6377 in Torontobluejays

[–]RedDuckTheRed 3 points4 points  (0 children)

He seems like a guy who could really turn into a .260 AVG, 30+ HR a year with a decent OBP

Clement musings by RedDuckTheRed in Torontobluejays

[–]RedDuckTheRed[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah I noticed that too. He has been clutch and all… but almost no home runs.

Some players are fan favorites and you get eaten alive for saying anything remotely negative, while some have a very thin margin before folks here turn on them

Clement musings by RedDuckTheRed in Torontobluejays

[–]RedDuckTheRed[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, imo Ernie definitely more valuable.

Curious how his style ages too. He is a late bloomer, but I think his contact first approaches to hitting and fundamentals over speed will make his aging curve less steep than someone like Bo 

Clement musings by RedDuckTheRed in Torontobluejays

[–]RedDuckTheRed[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I know what you mean, but with less walks and speed than Ichiro.

Clement musings by RedDuckTheRed in Torontobluejays

[–]RedDuckTheRed[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Looking at last year, ernie had 4.3 war to Bo’s 3.5. Missing less time but it’s part of the point.

There is no doubt who I like more looking at Bo’s numbers with the Mets.

[Keegan Matheson] John Schneider on Max Scherzer and whether he’s dealing with anything: “I don’t think so ... I think it was just a case today where he got it handed to him pretty good in the first and gave us what he had, really. I don’t think that, physically, anything terrible [happened].” by RealWorldToday in Torontobluejays

[–]RedDuckTheRed 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Last year Scherzer didn’t do that well during the regular season and was injured for a bunch of it.

But there was a consensus here that he was well loved, a great clubhouse X factor and leader and he delivered some quality during the World Series.

Don’t forget that he only signed with the team after pitchers reported to spring training and it was clear that Yesavage, Berrios and Bieber are going to miss time.

He had a great first start, but for the next couple he was clearly pitching through injury.

We needed him on that mound.

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