vladimir guerrero.

i'll live.

you presumably live in Doug Ford's Ontario

i really meant to do that while he was still in AA with new hampshire (closer to me than buffalo i think), ah well!

ya. i'm more boycotting the US while they have tariffs in place designed to fuck over Canadians – including my father's business (he's worked in the food industry most his life). it's not about trump specifically – but the whole corrupt/complicit apparatus that is allowing him to run roughshod over trade agreements. i'l keep my dollars here at home in doug ford's stupid fucking Ontario.

and don't even get me started about how angry i am about his latest stunt.

I was going to say, Thermo, Buffalo will probably have a couple of seats on our next council, so you can look at it that way.

also one of my best baseball friends is "the wrong shade" to be entering the US without us having to worry about the shitheels attitude at the boarder.

Maybe you could justify it by considering it a subsidy toward Vlad Jr's future career (which includes keeping him in T.O. for as many years as possible).

dude - i am going to put a brew master's kid through college once this kid hits the show.

Just missed an autograph; he opted for the young women standing beside me instead of the Unabomber-looking old guy. (Plus, she had an expensive jersey, I had a card.)

He went 1-3 with a double, a walk, and a baserunning error (understandable--the opposing shortstop had just made a fantastic play). I hope he can stay interested for the rest of the year; he looked a little bored fielding his position, or maybe he was just daydreaming about millions. (Will they bring him up as a September call-up or just start fresh next year?)

http://phildellio.tripod.com/vlad.jpg

💪 Vlad Jr. 💪@MLB's No. 1 overall prospect is 3-for-3 with a 2-run homer tonight, his 1st since joining the @BuffaloBisons. The #BlueJays phenom is hitting .476 in 8 games since being promoted on July 31. Here's how @BlueJays prospects are faring: https://t.co/n4rt0Iwb1H pic.twitter.com/x5Fi6eWYax

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 9, 2018

remembering what happened with Travis Snider and Rios, I'm trying not to let my expectations get too crazy with this kid.

neither of those guys ever hit like this, let alone as a teenager (and rios had a pretty solid big league career!)

i am expecting miguel cabrera-type things tbh

my only concern is that he seems like a rather burly young man, which could end up limiting him to first base and/or be an injury factor

i mean okay, it's absurd to compare a 19yo to a triple-crown winner, but he's not gonna be brandon wood either

Agree--Vlad's not just promising, he's been dominating two or three different levels this year. I have no historical memory here, so I think I'll send a question out to everyone's favourite aging lunatic sabermetrician, see if he can recall any precedents.

dominating two or three different levels this year

Almost the whole year in double A and 22 ABs in AAA so far.

Oh I'm sorry clem you were probably talking about two or three different aspects of the game. My bad!

Actually I did mean that he'd played at four different levels this season, but you're right, 90% of his AB were in double-A.

Unrelated to baseball:
ASK TIM ELLISON

Albert, I don't think I ever knew why Night Soil Man broke up. I really only knew Mark and mostly knew him after NSM. I did see NSM at least once, though!

And Pulltoys! Opening for fIREHOSE.

(That band name came from a Minutemen song. At least I always assumed that...)

2-4 with another HR tonight.

i am expecting miguel cabrera-type things tbh

feel like this is the 'chief keef is a musician on a par with mozart' post that i've been building up to all these years

The two Vlads and a boxer.

http://www.instagram.com/p/BmTlNvjh7Qo/?taken-by=vladdyjr27

(And a third HR tonight.)

also

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC6NjSL3TNM

Another HR--fourth game in a row, one short of a team record. Suddenly I know about Buffalo Bison team records.

Something you might hear a lot about in the next couple of weeks: no one's hit .400 for a full professional season since 1961.

http://www.mlb.com/bluejays/news/vladimir-guerrero-jr-makes-run-at-400-season/c-290192234

Guerrero's sitting at .397 right now. The Bisons' season ends Sept. 3, after which he presumably returns to New Hampshire for the playoffs (their season also ends Sept. 3). The Jays, probably not.

Bit sobering, though: Aaron Pointer? (Great story--brother of the Pointer Sisters!) Here's his major-league page:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/pointaa01.shtml

Gary Redus, also mentioned in the piece, had a decent career, but I think we're hoping for a little more from Vlad.

Have to put the 's' on for MLB links:

https://www.mlb.com/bluejays/news/vladimir-guerrero-jr-makes-run-at-400-season/c-290192234

love gary redus, and his '78 season was magnificent (look at all the walks and stolen bases!), but he was a 21-year-old playing in an extremely friendly offensive environment against the lowest class of minor leaguers

steamer projects vlad jr as a top-20 hitter right now, before he's even been called up.
https://i.imgur.com/D6aNjc7.png?1
https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/will-vlad-jr-hit-400/

man that’s crazy

Gonna be a real bummer when he hits .265 with a low .800s OPS next season.

I have faith Vlad Jr will be great, I was there when he hit that home run at the big Owe, but baseball is baseball and I've learned to tamper my expectations.

i notice Eloy Jimenez on that list as well.

vlad jr. so far in the arizona fall league:

8-for-11 (.727), 4 2B, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K

it's an offensive league and these are not top-flight pitchers, but jeez

i should go watch him play

No home runs?!?!

i know! trade him for sonny gray

now hitting .467 and has fanned once in 49 AB

he is so good

sounds to me like he needs to wait until about 3 and a half weeks into the 2019 regular season before he's ready for the big leagues

steamer projections for 2019 are out: https://www.fangraphs.com/projections.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&type=steamer600&team=0&lg=all&players=0&sort=27,d

vlad jr. is projected for 5.1 fWAR. 6th in MLB, sandwiched between Kris Bryant and Jose Ramirez.

O_O

then again, it also projects him for positive defensive value - isn't defense supposed to be vlad's weakness, if anything? still, i have to wonder if there's ever been a higher steamer projection for a player who has yet to make their debut.

projected to lead the league in batting average

canonlygetsohard.jpg

Are we in for twenty years of Thermo talking about his junk while Vlad Jr. leads the Jays to seven WS titles?

I am ready

is vlad jr. the best prospect ever?

spoiler: no -- that would probably be a-rod or griffey jr -- but he might be the best ~hitting~ prospect ever

so ready

Will be starting tomorrow. (Didn't get into today's game, first of the spring; Bichette was 1-2.)

the only reason a "smart" team would engage in this active disrespect is if they think they'll have destroyed free agency by the time they lose Guerrero's rights https://t.co/gKuWnom7g5

— Nathan Bernhardt (@jonbernhardt) February 27, 2019