Whit Merrifield hit his first home run of spring training, Bowden Francis pitched well, and more as the Blue Jays beat the Yankees 5-2

It’s always a good day when the Blue Jays beat the Yankees.

On Saturday afternoon, the Jays beat the Yankees in impressive fashion. Let’s look at the standouts, as well as some other things worth mentioning.
Blue Jays Nation’s player of the game: Whit Merrifield
Merrifield had a productive game on Saturday afternoon, hitting his first spring training home run and driving another insurance run in his next at bat.
The battle for second base continues to brew, with Merrifield’s slash line sitting at .360/.393/.640. This is better than Santiago Espinal’s slash line (.324/378/.500) and Cavan Biggio’s slash line (.270/.341/.351).
I have no idea who will be the starting second baseman, but this battle is fun.

Raking WHIT the bat 💪@WhitMerrifield is hitting .333 this spring! pic.twitter.com/gpHWrfjXoG
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) March 18, 2023

Things worth mentioning:
Bowden Francis looks damn good, doesn’t he? On Saturday afternoon, he pitched three innings, gave up three hits, two runs, and walked a batter. However, he also struck out a game-high five, generating a game-high nine whiffs. His role is yet to be determined, but I think there’s a good chance he will start the season as a starter with Buffalo.

Here’s Bowden Francis (@Bowdenpoint0)’s strikeout and whiff edit.
Very good fastball today, as it had a 43 whiff percentage (9 whiffs on 21 swings).
Could be a starter to look out for this season.#BlueJays pic.twitter.com/WVOwV8GRel
— Brennan Delaney (@Brennan_L_D) March 18, 2023

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s knee is doing better. He hit his third home run of the spring in only 21 plate appearances. That home run tied him with George Springer for the most, but the latter has 36 …

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Author: Brennan Delaney / Blue Jays Nation

Ugly OG Anunoby showing proves Raptors should have traded him at deadline

Ugly OG Anunoby showing proves Raptors should have traded him at deadline

There once was a time when OG Anunoby was viewed as one of the few untouchable players on the Toronto Raptors roster. Long thought of as one of the most underrated and versatile defenders in the NBA with his offense improving every season, Anunoby is the archetype of the ideal Masai Ujiri player. The script […]
Ugly OG Anunoby showing proves Raptors should have traded him at deadline – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ

Batted Ball Distribution is crucial for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to take the next step

Baseball is hard.

But it’s a lot harder when you hit the ball on the ground every time, something that the Blue Jays, as a team, do more than anyone else in the American League. At this point, it’s an undeniable problem. The correlation between Vladimir Guerrero’s groundball rate and his overall hitting ability couldn’t be more blatantly obvious…

We can see, that aside from a weird little run in the middle of his season, Vlad’s wRC+ seems to be the opposite of his GB%, suggesting that it could be at fault when he’s not doing well. Now, in fairness, correlation = causation is the oldest fallacy in the book. So let’s start by proving that the groundball issues are DIRECTLY responsible for the first baseman’s struggles this season.
What’s the best kind of batted ball? Let’s see…

This chart breaks down league average wRC+ based on what type of batted ball is entered. As you can see, the best specific type of batted ball is a pulled flyball. However, in general, line drives are significantly better than flyballs, which are significantly better than groundballs.
Groundballs are very significantly the worst type of batted ball, and the Blue Jays hit them more than any other American League in 2022. This is a problem that needs to be addressed. It hurt several of their biggest stars, not just Vladdy. It definitely hurt the first baseman, who saw his groundball rate jump 7% in 2021, as his wRC+ tanked more than 30 points. But it’s not just him. George Springer had a ridiculous 2021, as his groundball rate was only 32.6%. In 2022, it jumped up to 44.5%, and his wRC+ dropped 8 points.
But, let’s not kid ourselves. Vlad Jr. is a very good hitter. I’m not here to tell you about why a bad hitter could be a good one if he stopped hitting groundballs. He finished 2022 with a 132 wRC+. Nonetheless, there is so much room for improvement. Vladimir Guerrero is among the most talented hitters that the league has seen in decades. George Springer, Bo Bichette, Matt Chapman and Teoscar Hernandez are no slouches of their own. How can Vladdy unlock the (hashtag) next level?
Well, it would take fundamental change. Nothing is simple when you’re facing major league pitching.
However, let’s take Vladimir Guerrero Jr. as our example once again. This frame is from a game in Texas, during an at-bat that is just about to end, with a pulled groundball resulting in an out.

You can see that Vladdy is making contact with the baseball at the lowest point of his swing, t …

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Author: Tate Kispech / Blue Jays Nation

Some love for Pat Tabler after three decades in the Blue Jays’ broadcast booth

Sometimes when sports fans watch their favourite team play every game, listening to the same announcers can get taken for granted easily. I grew up listening to some of the all-time greats: Brent Musberger, Jim Nantz, Al Michaels, and so many more. Our Canadian viewers, you guys may have favourites of your own. Regardless, there are memorable plays we can associate with that one broadcaster’s voice.

For the Toronto Blue Jays, the last decade-plus some change of baseball has been narrated by Buck Martinez and Pat Tabler, with a recent sprinkle of Dan Shulman.
It was announced earlier in the week that Tabler, longtime colour announcer of Blue Jays baseball on Sportsnet, has done his final game in the booth. Tabler had been working with TSN and Sportsnet since 1993.
Whatever your feelings are about Tabler and his commentary, he was an integral part of the Toronto Blue Jays media. The “swing and a drive” calls from Martinez were always followed up by some instant analysis from Tabby, as he was nicknamed.
Tabler, who has as many home runs as a Blue Jay as Munenori Kawasaki, spent two seasons with Toronto as a player. He was a part of the 1992 World Series club, serving as a utility man. One of the more unique assets of Tabl …

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Author: Evan Stack / Blue Jays Nation

Should Raptors regret signing Otto Porter Jr. in free agency?

Should Raptors regret signing Otto Porter Jr. in free agency?

When the Toronto Raptors decided to bring back both Chris Boucher and Thad Young in free agency, Masai Ujiri needed to make sure that he used his remaining cap space on a proven veteran winner. He appeared to strike gold when he lured Otto Porter Jr. up to Canada. Porter, a former No. 3 overall […]
Should Raptors regret signing Otto Porter Jr. in free agency? – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ

BJN Radio – Ep. 124: Kevin Kiermaier! Chris Bassitt!

It turns out that the off-season doesn’t end when the Winter Meetings are over!

The Blue Jays have had a busy week, as they inked Kevin Kiermaier and Chris Bassitt to improve their outfield defence and starting rotation.
We talked about how the Blue Jays look now with their new additions and what they still need to do in order to come into the 2023 season with a better team than the one they had down the stretch in 2022. We also looked at some other moves that happened around the league, including Ross Stripling earning a two-year deal with the San Francisco Giants.
You can listen to the episode here… 

POINTSBET IS LIVE IN ONTARIO

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Author: Cam Lewis / Blue Jays Nation

Digging into eight proposed trades involving Blue Jays catchers!

It’s the time of year when we all make hypothetical trade suggestions. It doesn’t help that this off-season has felt incredibly slow. Grab a snack and get curled up, this article is going to be a long one.

A few days ago, Kaitlyn McGrath of The Athletic wrote an article pitching eight trades involving Danny Jansen and Alejandro Kirk. She spoke with the other team’s beat writers of The Athletic to compile these trades, while former general manager Jim Bowden gave his assessment.
As a somewhat rational Jay fan, I also wanted to take a look at these trades and give my opinion. The fact of the matter is that some of these trades actually make sense, and I want to dig into those ones in particular.
We’ll start by looking at Danny Jansen and Alejandro Kirk by the numbers and attempt to gauge their value.
Danny Jansen:
The 2022 season was a career year for the 27-year-old catcher, at least with the bat. He slashed .260/.339/.516 in 248 plate appearances and had a 10.1 K% and 17.7 BB% during that time.
Where he really impressed though, was the fact that he hit a career-high 15 homers in such a short span, which was good enough for a 140 wRC+ and 2.6 fWAR.

FREE TIP: To shift Danny Jansen, place your outfielders BEHIND the wall pic.twitter.com/N7y35YnNoG
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) May 27, 2022

Defensively, he just hasn’t been the same as his 2019, whe …

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Author: Brennan Delaney / Blue Jays Nation

Raptors: Nick Nurse calls out Gary Trent Jr. for bad defensive effort

Raptors: Nick Nurse calls out Gary Trent Jr. for bad defensive effort

The Toronto Raptors were taking a big risk when they acquired Gary Trent Jr. from the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Norman Powell, as the Duke alum was regarded as one of the league’s worst defenders. That’s not ideal for a team that is committed to this unique style of defense. Trent’s turnaround last […]
Raptors: Nick Nurse calls out Gary Trent Jr. for bad defensive effort – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ

Jakob Chychrun is being connected to the Leafs again

Jakob Chychrun is being connected to the Leafs again

When rumours repeatedly connect Kyle Dubas to a defenseman for the Leafs it seems like we better prepare ourselves for that rumour becoming a possible reality.
Jake Muzzin was rumoured to Toronto from pretty much the moment that Kyle Dubas took over as GM. TJ Brodie was nearly acquired for Nazem Kadri, and now here we are again with the on again off again speculation about Jakob Chychrun out of Arizona.
Nick Kypreos just did what we’ve done a couple of times on this site, and that was writing a column basically gazing at Chychrun like he’s a pie cooling on a window sill. Like most of us when looking at Chychrun, Kypreos’ argument boiled down to three things: Jakob is only 24, he eats minutes and a $4.6M cap hit looks very doable. Most of his underlying numbers can be forgiven because of his role and his team, and he’s a defenseman who puts up points. People like points.
Also to Kypreos’ credit, while he was talking about Chychrun as a replacement for Muzzin’s injury-laden career, he acknowledged that Chychrun is very much in the same boat injury-wise, just at a different stage in his career: “His body has been through a lot the last few years — surgeries on both knees, his shoulder, and most recently his wrist and ankle.”
I swear, if people ever got past those bad y …

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Author: Jon Steitzer / The Leafs Nation

Zach Britton is a Blue Jays’ prospect to keep an eye on, plus more prospect news!

When I say the name “Zach Britton”, you may be thinking of the Yankees closer. I’m here to tell you otherwise that the Jays’ prospect, Zach Britton, is the real deal.

Selected in the fifth round (and last round) of the 2020 draft, Britton has quietly become the best catching prospect in the Jays organization (if you consider Moreno graduated). Not just that, but he also played significant time in both of the corner outfields. 
Britton’s 2022:
The 23-year-old catcher/corner outfielder slashed .239/.390/.441 in 236 plate appearances with High A Vancouver in 2022. He added seven homers and stole 10 of 12 bases. While his 29.7 K% was on the high side, Britton had an outstanding 17.4 BB%, which easily made up for the elevated strikeout rate. Overall, he had a 136 wRC+ in High A.

@zbritton33 (Zach Britton) WITH AN ABSOLUTE NUKE TO TIE THE GAME AT 6 IN THE BOTTOM OF THE 8TH!#BlueJays #NextLevel pic.twitter.com/Aau5Onilq5
— Brennan Delaney (@Brennan_L_D) August 5, 2022

Upon his promotion to Double A, he slashed .234/.355/.453 in 76 plate appearances. His K% dropped to 22.4%, while his 15.8 BB% was still brilliant. He added three homers and had a 123 wRC+.
This alone, led me to add him to Blue Jays Nation’s Top 60 prospects, where he ranked as the Blue Jays’ 37th prospect. As you’ll read shortly, that was far too low.
Arizona Fall League MVP?:
There may still be a few weeks remaining in the Arizona Fall League, but Britton has emerged as one of the contenders to take home the MVP for the fall league.
In 38 plate appearances, Britton is slashing .500/.553/.750 with a homer and five extra-base hits. No matter who we’re talking about, batting .500 is unsustainable, but to do so over 38 plate appearances is absolutely spectacular. 

Zach Britton (@zbritton33) with a 101.4 mph dinger.
Remember the name.#BlueJays #NextLevel pic.twitter.com/KBfkE2BKYe
— Brennan Delaney (@Brennan_L_D) October 21, 2022

Not just that, but he hits the ball hard. Out of batted balls measured by stat cast, he has an 86.24 mph av …

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Author: Brennan Delaney / Blue Jays Nation