Chapter 1: What struggles is Vladdy facing at the plate?
Well, we've got to wait another day for the first win of Jay's Hot Plus season over three since the show came back. We're doing our part over here. The Toronto Blue Jays look like they had maybe figured it out. They were down. 4-0, 5-0 rather, in the seventh inning. Come back and score five in a bottom of the seventh rally. That was a lot of fun. You feel like it's right there.
Maybe this is the comeback. This is the win that gets them over the hump. They hadn't been able to do much offensively for a handful of games or really the larger part of the season. And then come back, put up a five spot, and ultimately lose 7-6 in 10 innings. Now, last year was basically a lock that if the Blue Jays scored five or more in a game that they'd win.
I forget the number offhand, but something like 60-4 or something like that when they scored five-plus. They've already dropped a bunch of those games this year because it has felt a little bit like the two sides of the ball can't get going at the same time.
Chapter 2: How do injuries impact a team's performance?
maybe that's self-evident since they're 18 and 24 and 10 and a half games back of the race. They will try to salvage a one game from this series. A little later today, seven Oh seven at Rogers center. Dylan cease will be on the Hill against Griffin. Jack's who was recently converted from reliever to starter got four innings in his last outing.
So if there were an opportunity in this series, the guy just coming out of the bullpen is a little bit different than drew Rasmussen and Shane McClanahan, even though you just saw those guys. But with the way things have been going, the Jays could really use this one heading into an off day and then 17 games in 17 days. So tough one last night. Not a tough one on the show today.
A little later, we'll talk to Rob Friedman, pitching ninja. A little later, he's got a new book out called Unhittable. But right now, very happy to be joined by such a pro that... Look, sometimes with current and former players, they're not the most punctual type. Vernon Wells was here like seven, eight minutes early.
He joins us now, 15-year vet, 12-year J, and three-time All-Star and Gold Glover.
Chapter 3: What hitting advice did Carlos Delgado and Alex Rios provide?
Vernon, thanks so much for doing this, man.
Yeah, pleasure to be here.
Yeah, great to have you back on. How have you been doing, man? I know you were here a couple times. I was still on Raptors, so we didn't get a chance to catch up since the playoffs last year. But how have you been?
Been well. It's fun to get up there and see the excitement in the stadium, see all the changes, obviously, in the stadium. Everything looks beautiful, and hopefully baseball will start to match that here pretty soon.
Hopefully. I was in the concourse on Monday, and I walked by. Obviously, they have a bunch of your stuff in the new concourse and honoring that era, the Blue Jays and stuff, and there was just the grainiest photo of you. It looks like it was taken with a Game Boy or something. Like, all right, we got to get some new Vernon picks up here.
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Chapter 4: What insights does Vernon Wells share about the current Blue Jays lineup?
Now, I do want to talk about some of the 50th anniversary stuff, some of why you've been back here. But let's talk about the current team first. I don't know how much of last night's game you caught, but how tough a game is that when you especially when things are going rough for a team to fight back into a game like that to do the comeback, but then eventually lose it in extra innings?
Yeah, those are difficult. I mean, everything that they've been going through, the stretches they've gone through, how they've lost games, and then you put yourself in a position where, okay, we fought back, and the letdown that comes at the end of it, they always seem to happen during these rough patches. You just can't seem to get over that hump, and they will. It's just...
Last night's game is probably one of the more difficult losses they've had all week. So that's something that with the pitching they faced, that's another thing. It's like you can't take a breath when it comes to our offense and what it is right now. So it's difficult. It's a tough loss. But the good thing about this game is you get a chance to do it again tomorrow.
Not to over index to one game, but did that feel like or does that feel like a game? You know, you have a five run comeback against a team that's had your number.
Chapter 5: How does Rob Friedman define 'Unhittable' in pitching?
Had you pulled that one out? How big of a like exhale kind of game would that have been? Had they had they hung on? Had they got the one extra one? Had they walked it off in extras?
Yeah, I mean, I think that's something that, as a player and being in different clubhouses, they're all different. I think when you look at this team and how it's constructed and what they were able to accomplish last year, they probably fully felt like, okay, now we put ourselves in a position that we're going to win this baseball game. And
For the most part, you don't necessarily get wrapped up in one game because that one game doesn't define 162. But when you're trying to get things turned around, that's when it's focused on a little bit more. It hurts a little bit more.
It frustrates you a little bit more because as a unit, you want to get it turned around and you feel like, okay, we did our job on one side of the ball and failed on the other end. So, yeah. When those things aren't going together, like you alluded to, it's frustrating for all parties because the pitchers want to be doing their part. The offense wants to be doing their part.
Chapter 6: What is the significance of fastball variance in modern baseball?
And if they're not working in unison, you end up with the record that you end up with at this point in the season.
Yeah. It's a, it's a tough spot. And I think too, you know, obviously it's a, it's a team game and the whole team is going through it. There were two instances in that game last night as well, where Vladimir Guerrero jr. Had a big opportunity to do something in that rally. He did cash a run, but it was on an error by junior Caminero. And then an extras, he did cash around.
He did a job, but it was a sack fly when, when they're down to Vladimir Guerrero jr. Has been going through it here a little bit. I think it's 13 games now without an extra base hit. Yeah. How tough is that? Especially, you know, if the team is struggling like that and it's a team game, but Vlad is the guy, he's the guy who has the $500 million contract. He's the guy who carried them.
Chapter 7: How can pitchers adapt to today's hitting strategies?
Like we've pretty much never seen in October. How tough is the spot Vlad is in right now? Not just individually, but when your team is kind of struggling around you and you're supposed to be the head guy.
Oh, yeah. It's a pressure like no one else can really understand. Thankfully, I've had the opportunity to be in that spot and feel what he's feeling. And it's so hard not to get outside of yourself and try to do more because the game of baseball is hard as it is. Hitting is the hardest thing to do in any sport. The more you try to do, the worse it gets. So he knows it. He can feel it.
I'm sure he's hearing it. And... My advice to Vladdy would still be try not to do too much because once you try to start generating more than what's needed, his power is there. The strength isn't gone anywhere.
Chapter 8: What does the future hold for the Blue Jays this season?
It's just taking some of these line drives and then being elevated a little bit. And when we talk about those things, it's literally centimeters difference of being a line drive and a home run. Yeah. He wants it as bad as anybody. And being in the middle of that lineup, you need that anchor. But you also need the guys around them to be doing what they're supposed to be doing.
So it takes a little bit of pressure off them so he can just relax and be Vladdy. And he's going to get on a streak and get hot. And we just need that to happen relatively soon.
Yeah, and we've heard, you know, Kevin Barker was talking the other day about walking out late and seeing Vlad still in the cages and stuff like that after games. For you personally, if you hit a stretch like that, that idea of pressing, you know, we can, obviously you can see it with the look on his face. I can look at some of the numbers like, oh, he's chasing outside of the zone a lot more.
How did you find that if you were in a spot like that, that manifested for you at the plate? Was it, you know, expanding your zone a little bit more? Was it a timing thing?
Yeah. For me, it was more so of, okay, let me get locked into my at-bat as early as possible. My at-bats, I try to start my at-bats while I'm in the hole. Start seeing pitching as I'm at the plate and then take that in the on-deck circle. So by the time I get to the plate, now I've kind of had two at-bats under my belt, even though theoretically I haven't, but mentally I have.
So then at that point, you... Now it's actually you try to simplify things. And when I talk to hitters, it's about simplifying the process. So my thought would kind of just be, okay, let's take a step back. Let's just try to hit a line drive at the pitcher's head and move on from there. And that would be my batting practice routine.
We would just, that would be, we'd pepper balls right up the middle. Because at that point, you're kind of locked into your best swing. And when you're locked into your best swing and you can repeat it, then it allows for everything else to come naturally. So you get a hanging breaking ball, you go attack it. Boom. Okay. Now, now balls are flying where they're supposed to be flying.
So for him, like bark said, I mean, when I talked to bark about this too, but he's, but he's working. And I don't think anybody can, can deny that. And, and, Everybody wants to look at contract and look at these things. He's still the same person who did the same thing in the World Series. He did the same thing to get that contract. Nothing changes outside of now.
There's a number attached to that name. It puts a little bit of added pressure on him and puts a little bit more expectation that really necessarily shouldn't be there because you get paid for what you've done and hopefully what you will do. And our game is set up that way.
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