Sorry Atlanta baseball fans, with the series sweep your team has suffered at the hands of the Blue Jays, you are now required by law to retire the Tomahawk Chop and its associated idiotic chanting effective immediately. I don’t make the rules.
Before we talk about the upcoming series against Philadelphia, humour me as I plead for engagement. If you like that JAYSLAM is here, providing fresh Jay-related #content multiple times a week, consider sharing this post with a pal who may be interested! Or one who’s not! Whatever!
Likewise, if you’ve been enjoying Jayslam, want to see more of it, or want to support its continued existence, consider getting a paid subscription! Free subscriptions are greatly appreciated as well, but paid ones get you access to exclusive posts such as the post on rule changes, as well as to the comments section.
BEST BIRDS
Hitter: Teoscar Hernández (1) 13 plate appearances, .636/.692/1.182, 409 wRC+, 0.65 Win Probability Added
To quote Jimmy O’Brien on the May 14 episode of the Talkin’ Baseball podcast, “that’s pretty good”.
To quote Jake Storiale on the May 14 episode of the Talkin’ Baseball podcast, “people gotta know about this guy”.
To quote Stefan Salegio on the May 14 series preview on the JAYSLAM newsletter/blog, “Teoscar Hernández is so fucking good, I love him so fucking much, I definitely don’t make a point of blaring "‘Smile Bomb” from Yu Yu Hakusho every time he hits a massive fucking dong”.
Honourable Mentions: Bo Bichette, Cavan Biggio
Pitcher: Hyun Jin Ryu (2) 7 innings, 27 batters faced, 5 hits, 1 earned run, 6 strikeouts, 1 walk, 3.67 FIP, 66 Game Score v2, 0.30 Win Probability Added
Any of the starting pitchers would have been good options: Robbie Ray finally walked somebody, but was otherwise especially solid, striking out like a million Atlanta hitters. In an extremely welcome surprise, Ross Stripling turned in a great start, bouncing back from a Ronald Acuña Jr. leadoff home run in the first to shut Atlanta down after that inning.
Tyler Chatwood (who may be leading the team in Best Bird honourable mentions) is also worth mentioning. He may lowkey be the Jays’ best reliever this year.
In the end, Hyun Jin Ryu gets back on the board with a vintage Ryu start on Wednesday, dispatching Atlanta in a downright artful manner.
Honourable Mentions: Tyler Chatwood, Robbie Ray
Best Bird Standings
Hitters:
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. - 3
Marcus Semien- 2
Bo Bichette- 2
Randal Grichuk- 2
Teoscar Hernández- 1
Cavan Biggio- 1
George Springer- 1
Pitchers:
Steven Matz- 3
Robbie Ray- 3
Hyun Jin Ryu- 2
Julian Merryweather- 2
Anthony Castro- 1
Ryan Borucki- 1
SCHEDULE/PROBABLE PITCHERS
Friday, May 14 (7:30 p.m. EST/5:30 p.m. MST): Vince Velasquez vs. Steven Matz
Velasquez: Seven games (four starts), 23 ⅔ innings, 4.18 ERA/4.33 xERA/4.41 xFIP, 28.6 K%, 15.2 BB%, .213 xBA Against, 42.4 HardHit%
Matz: Seven starts, 37 innings, 4.86 ERA/4.26 xERA/3.78 xFIP, 23.4 K%, 6.3 BB%, .259 xBA Against, 38.9 HardHit%
Thursday, May 14 (7:30 p.m. EST/5:30 p.m. MST): Aaron Nola vs. Anthony Kay (presumptive)
Nola: Eight starts, 47 ⅔ innings, 3.59 ERA/3.04 xERA/3.44 xFIP, 27.3 K%, 4.1 BB%, .225 xBA Against, 32.3 HardHit%
Kay: Three games (Two starts), 9 ⅔ innings, 10.24 ERA/4.02 xERA/4.31 xFIP, 21.7 K%, 8.7 BB%, .243 xBA Against, 36.7 HardHit%
Friday, May 15 (1 p.m. EST/11 a.m. MST): Chase Anderson vs. Robbie Ray
Anderson: Seven starts, 31 innings, 5.23 ERA/5.53 xERA/5.21 xFIP, 18.8 K%, 10.9 BB%, .261 xBA Against, 38.3 HardHit%
Ray: Six starts, 34 ⅔ innings, 3.38 ERA/4.21 xERA/3.45 xFIP, 28.1 K%, 7.2 BB%, .254 xBA Against, 51.1 HardHit%
THE OPPOSITION
Pythagorean Record: 18-20
Run differential: -5 (157 Runs, 162 Runs Allowed)
Last 10 games: 7-3
Beginning the season in the shadow of the New York Mets and the Atlanta baseball team (before the latter’s corvid-based evisceration), the Philadelphia Phillies have put together a solid, if not spectacular season thus far. Which frankly might be enough to capture a Wild Card spot in the massive soft underbelly that is the National League minus the Dodgers, Padres, Mets, and Brewers.
For the most part, the Phillies are average to below average in more or less every category, but they’re sustained by a handful of elite or near-elite players. J.T. Realmuto and Bryce Harper propel an offence that also includes solid contributors Jean Segura, Andrew McCutchen, utility infielders Brad Miller and Nick Maton, and Rhys Hoskins, who has underperformed a bit thus far. On the other hand, the team’s overall production is hampered by awful starts from Didi Gregorius and Alec Bohm, as well as the absolute black hole that is their centerfielders, a sorry cohort that includes Odúbel “Fuckface” Herrera, Roman Quinn, Scott Kingery, and Adam Haseley, who for all anybody can tell, has vanished off of the face of the Earth, Avatar Roku style.
Their starting rotation is fronted by one of the best three-headed dragons in the game, with Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, and Zach Eflin, which does enough to offset the fact that Chase Anderson has been really bad (as any fan of the 2020 Blue Jays could tell you), and Matt Moore didn’t look good as a starter coming back from Japan, getting bumped to the bullpen. Vince Velasquez has been solid though, and if he can sustain that throughout the season, that would be a major boost.
The bullpen is a little bit of a story too. In 2020, Phillies relievers clearly did something to piss off a malicious Lovecraftian deity, because they were almost inconceivably awful. This year, they’ve been, well, not “good”, necessarily, but “okay” is still an incredible improvement over where they were. Offseason signing Archie Bradley has been hurt, but the likes of José Alvarado, Sam Coonrod, and Héctor Neris have all been solid, Moore has been better since moving to the ‘pen, and Brandon Kintzler has pitched better than his 6.00 ERA would indicate. So long as they can have their starting pitcher get past the fifth, thus avoiding having to use David Hale, Connor Brogdon, or the now-injured JoJo Romero, the Phillies actually have a solid chance at holding leads past the sixth.
On the other hand, fuck Odúbel Herrera and fuck this team for continuing to employ him.
Best Players Thus Far:
J.T. Realmuto (COVID IL), Catcher, .314/.418/.520, 157 wRC+
Zack Wheeler, Starting Pitcher, 2.85 ERA/2.99 xERA, 26.7 K%, 6.2 %
Bryce Harper, Right Field, .306/.427/.565, 168 wRC+
Zach Eflin, Starting Pitcher, 3.86 ERA/3.25 xERA, 24.5 K%, 2.4 BB%
Aaron Nola, Starting Pitcher, 3.59 ERA/3.04 xERA, 27.3 K%, 4.1 BB
Key Under-Performers:
Rhys Hoskins, First Base, .234/.288/.462, 105 wRC+
Didi Gregorius, Shortstop, .229/.266/.364, 70 wRC+
Alec Bohm, Third Base, .216/.247/.331, 58 wRC+