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.
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings made another investment this week in a young standout, signing Moritz Seider to a seven-year contract worth nearly $60 million.
The Red Wings announced the move with the 23-year-old German defenseman on Thursday, three days after keeping 22-year-old forward Lucas Raymond with a $64.6 million, eight-year deal.
Detroit drafted Seider with the No. 6 pick overall eight years ago and he has proven to be a great pick. He has 134 career points, the most by a defenseman drafted in 2019.
He was the NHL’s only player to have at least 200 hits and block 200-plus shots last season, when he scored a career-high nine goals and had 42 points for the second straight year.
Seider won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2022 after he had a career-high 50 points.
Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is banking on Seider, whose contract will count $8.55 million annually against the cap, and Raymond to turn a rebuilding team into a winner.
Detroit has failed to make the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest postseason drought in franchise history.
The Red Wings, who won four Stanley Cups from 1997 to 2008, have been reeling since their run of 25 straight postseasons ended in 2016.
Detroit was 41-32-9 last season and finished with a winning record for the first time since its last playoff appearance.
Yzerman re-signed Patrick Kane last summer and signed some free agents, including Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million after he helped the Florida Panthers hoist the Cup.
PENTICTON, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he’s been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season’s playoffs.
The 28-year-old all star says the rehabilitation process has been frustrating, but he has made good progress in recent weeks and is confident he’ll be able to return to playing.
He says he and his medical team have spent the last few months talking to specialists around the world, and have not found a single other hockey player who has dealt with the same injury.
Demko missed several weeks of the last season with a knee ailment and played just one game in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring before going down with the current injury.
He was not on the ice with his teammates as the Canucks started training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday, but skated on his own before the sessions began.
Demko posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts for Vancouver last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — No. 1 Texas will start Arch Manning at quarterback Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe while regular starter Quinn Ewers continues to recover from a strained muscle in his abdomen, coach Steve Sarkisian said Thursday.
It will be the first career start for Manning, a second year freshman. He relieved Ewers in the second quarter last week against UTSA, and passed for four touchdowns and ran for another in a 56-7 Texas victory.
Manning is the son of Cooper Manning, the grandson of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning, and the nephew of Super Bowl-winning QBs Peyton and Eli Manning.
Ewers missed several games over the previous two seasons with shoulder and sternum injuries.
The Longhorns are No. 1 for the first time since 2008 and Saturday’s matchup with the Warhawks is Texas’ last game before the program starts its first SEC schedule against Mississippi State on Sept. 28.
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