If you were so inclined, you could make an argument the 2022 Toronto Blue Jays have hit better than their 2021 counterparts.
Although their overall output is down from last year, the team’s wRC+ of 115 tops last year’s mark (112) — indicating that they’ve been better in the context of the league’s offensive environment. Hitters around the majors aren’t producing at the level they did last year, and the Blue Jays are doing very well relative to their peers.
That may be the literal truth, but for anyone who’s watched the Blue Jays extensively this year it doesn’t feel quite right. Toronto’s offence hasn’t seemed as dynamic as it was last season, and one reason why is the club’s brutal performance on the bases.
While this Blue Jays team has never been a group of burners, last year they created value on the base paths. In 2022 that hasn’t been the case.
According to FanGraphs’ BsR metric the Blue Jays are currently the 28th-best base running team in the majors (-9.9 runs). Last season they were 13th (+2.8).
The most obvious way to accumulate base-running value is success stealing bases, and that’s an area where the team has struggled this season.
Stolen Bases
Stolen Base%
Some of this can be explained by personnel changes, as the departure of Marcus Semien — who went 15-for-16 on stolen base attempts — hurts those numbers. That said, many of the same players simply aren’t having the same success.
The most obvious example of that trend is Bo Bichette who went 25-for-26 stealing bases in 2021 before a 9-for-17 showing so far this season. He’s not alone, though. Teoscar Hernandez went 12-for-16 in 2021 and he’s sitting at 6-for-9. Santiago Espinal is 5-for-9 after going 6-for-7 last year.
While stolen-base statistics come from small samples and are liable to fluctuate significantly, it’s notable that a number of Blue Jays have seen their Sprint Speed numbers decline this season.
The chart below shows every position player currently on the roster that played with the team in 2021 and how their Sprint Speed percentile has changed year-over-year:
2021 Sprint Speed Percentile
2022 Sprint Speed Percentile
Difference
Bo Bichette
Santiago Espinal
Alejandro Kirk
Vlad Guerrero Jr.
Danny Jansen
George Springer
Teoscar Hernandez
Cavan Biggio
Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
As guys get a little older it makes sense that this metric would sag slightly, so what we’re seeing with Springer — who’s having his most efficient base-stealing season to date — Hernandez and Biggio isn’t concerning. The trend of a little less speed across the board adds up, though.
Bichette and Espinal are a different story. This dropoff in raw speed certainly helps explain how the pair went from a 93.9 percent success rate stealing bases to just 53.8 percent in 2022. Their raw true talent is still probably better than the latter number suggests, but the way they’re currently running their 2021 results might be impossible to replicate.
The dropoff in raw speed shows up beyond simply stolen bases, too. Baseball-Reference keeps an ‘extra bases taken percentage’ statistic to measure how often a player goes from first to third on a single, first to home on a double or second to home on a single.
According to that metric (XBT), Bichette and Espinal have both declined in 2022:
Bichette’s XBT
Espinal’s XBT
This pair isn’t solely responsible for the decline of the Blue Jays’ speed element, but they are playing a disproportionate role.
While the Blue Jays aren’t going to sink or swim solely on its base running, last year they were about to generate positive value with their legs. It was a small ingredient in their success, but far from an insignificant one.
This year that significant, if modest, strength has morphed into a weakness. The addition of Whit Merrifield could go a ways to restoring this team’s base-running success, but it seems that a small part of what made the 2021 Blue Jays so potent has been lost.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks announced Tuesday that defenceman Alex Edler will sign a one-day contract in order to officially retire as a member of the NHL team.
The signing will be part of a celebration of Edler’s career held Oct. 11 when the Canucks host the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Canucks selected Edler, from Ostersund, Sweden, in the third round (91st overall) of the 2004 NHL draft.
He played in 925 career games for the Canucks between the 2006-07 and 2020-21 seasons, ranking fourth in franchise history and first among defencemen.
The 38-year-old leads all Vancouver defencemen with 99 goals, 310 assists and 177 power-play points with the team.
Edler also appeared in 82 career post-season contests with Vancouver and was an integral part of the Canucks’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final, putting up 11 points (2-9-11) across 25 games.
“I am humbled and honoured to officially end my career and retire as a member of the Vancouver Canucks,” Edler said in a release. “I consider myself lucky to have started my career with such an outstanding organization, in this amazing city, with the best fans in the NHL. Finishing my NHL career where it all began is something very special for myself and my family.”
Edler played two seasons for Los Angeles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He did not play in the NHL last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
The sixth-ranked Canadian women will face World Cup champion Spain in an international friendly next month.
Third-ranked Spain will host Canada on Oct. 25 at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.
The game will be the first for the Canadian women since the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Germany in a quarterfinal penalty shootout after coach Bev Priestman was sent home and later suspended for a year by FIFA over her part in Canada’s drone-spying scandal.
In announcing the Spain friendly, Canada Soccer said more information on the interim women’s coaching staff for the October window will come later. Assistant coach Andy Spence took charge of the team in Priestman’s absence at the Olympics.
Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze-medal match.
Canada is winless in three previous meetings (0-2-1) with Spain, most recently losing 1-0 at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logroñés, Spain in a warm-up for the 2019 World Cup. Spain won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in São João da Venda, Portugal.
Spain is a powerhouse in the women’s game these days.
It won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2022 and was runner-up in 2018. And it ousted Canada 2-1 in the round of 16 of the current U-20 tournament earlier this month in Colombia before falling 1-0 to Japan after extra time in the quarterfinal.
Spain won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and has finished on the podium on three other occasions.
FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and ’22) have combined to win the last three Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.
And Barcelona has won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.
“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition.” Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, said in a statement. “We anticipate a thrilling encounter, showcasing two of the world’s top-ranked teams.”
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
