Blue Jays Notebook: Why Bichette deserved All-Star Game start over Seager

TORONTO — It’s in all probability not price getting overly labored up about followers’ number of Corey Seager over Bo Bichette because the American League’s beginning shortstop within the upcoming All-Star Game. Seager’s a deserving all-star, and there’s little doubt Bichette can be chosen when reserves are introduced Sunday.

Still, the selection of Seager over Bichette prompts an fascinating query: would you moderately have a participant with superior price stats in fewer at-bats (Seager) or somebody who’s performed day-after-day with a much less outrageous slash line (Bichette)?

After Thursday’s recreation, supervisor John Schneider made his ideas abundantly clear. “Bo should be starting,” he stated in response to a query about his bullpen.

For comparability’s sake, listed here are the numbers of the 2 shortstops:

Bichette: .319/.347/.504 with 110 hits together with 14 house runs in 345 at-bats plus 701.2 defensive innings for 3.7 WAR.

Seager: .345/.411/.609 with 68 hits together with 10 house runs 197 at-bats plus 365 defensive innings for two.9 WAR.

One option to examine the 2 gamers is to have a look at what Seager must do to succeed in Bichette’s totals. The reply: 42 hits together with 4 house runs over 148 at-bats for a .284 batting common – and greater than 37 video games’ price of defensive innings at shortstop. That, plus Seager’s totals equals Bichette’s season.

Clearly, there’s actual distance between Seager and Bichette, particularly relating to taking part in the sector. Viewed by means of that lens, Bichette ought to be the starter and Wins Above Replacement — all the time helpful for steering on questions like this — agrees.

Again, there are far greater questions for the Blue Jays than who begins at brief in Seattle, and there’s room for 2 elite shortstops on the identical group (on that time the Toronto entrance workplace undoubtedly agrees as they severely pursued the longtime Dodger two off-seasons in the past when some described a cope with him as their ultimate low season final result).

Two years later, it’s the Rangers who’re having fun with Seager’s manufacturing however for no matter it’s price Bichette would have been the extra deserving selection for this All-Star Game begin.

At the Letters

Ben Nicholson-Smith is Sportsnet’s baseball editor. Arden Zwelling is a senior author. Together, they create you essentially the most in-depth Blue Jays podcast within the league, overlaying off all the most recent news with opinion and evaluation, in addition to interviews with different insiders and group members.

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An encore for Vlad Jr.

Rather a lot has modified within the final 4 years for Vladimir Guerrero Jr., John Schneider and the Blue Jays.

Back in 2019 when Guerrero Jr. electrified the Cleveland crowd by going deep 91 instances within the Home Run Derby, his batting follow pitcher was a little-known coach, not a big-league supervisor, the Blue Jays have been within the midst of a rebuild, and a few gamers weren’t satisfied that Guerrero Jr., then 20 and never but a big-league all-star, ought to have been there within the first place.

“People were talking trash that he shouldn’t be in (as a non-all-star),” Astros third baseman Alex Bregman stated that evening. “He proved a lot of people wrong. He showed the world that he’s coming.”

After 4 years and a house run title, there’s not any doubt that Guerrero Jr. belongs within the derby, even after a primary half through which he has hit simply 12 house runs. And after totally having fun with the 2019 derby, Schneider’s able to throw belt excessive middle-in heaters so long as his first baseman can hit them.

“That’s probably the most fun I’ve had on the field,” he recalled Thursday.

And as enjoyable because the derby is, the Blue Jays want Guerrero Jr. to ship when it counts, too. With three house runs this week, he’s now trending in the fitting course. 

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Naming Names

Teams are spending numerous power getting ready for the Aug. 1 commerce deadline, however it might take some time longer earlier than GMs begin texting names backwards and forwards.

“It’s very early,” Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins stated earlier this week. “The dialogue (between teams) is around understanding goals, and I think it’s still unclear for some teams with all of the parity. But every team is doing the due diligence — and seemingly a few more doing the due diligence this year.”

With so many groups in placing distance of playoff berths, most talks haven’t gotten particular but. Once in-between groups just like the Mets, Cardinals, Mariners and Red Sox select a course, their choices will influence the market as an entire. As one other govt identified, a 3-17 stretch for a kind of golf equipment results in a really totally different deadline than a 17-3 stretch.

In the meantime, we will a minimum of bask in some hypothesis — and to be clear, what follows is simply that. But along with their apparent want for pitching the Blue Jays might use a bat.

Among the names worthy of some consideration for a Blue Jays group with out a ton of prospect depth at its disposal: Tommy Pham and Mark Canha of the Mets, Ramon Laureano of the A’s, Adam Duvall of the Red Sox, Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates and Jurickson Profar of the Rockies. 

All however Laureano are on the point of free company, which ought to make them extra reasonably priced than gamers with a number of years of membership management remaining. Of course, no GM needs to surrender a reliable prospect for a part-time rental bat, however the different is a weak bench. Best-case for the Blue Jays, costs drop. But whereas that may occur by Aug. 1, there’s little motive for the few current sellers to decrease their expectations a lot earlier.

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