We are now a week into the baseball season and… the Blue Jays are better than last year?
Wait, better than 92-70? (And yes, the playoff run was a disaster, but that’s still an amazing record.) Better than that?
Yes. And here’s why.
1. Matt Chapman is hitting again.
Matt Chapman is currently smashing the baseball at a .452 BA, but more impressively is how hard he is hitting the ball. His current exit velocity of his hits are 100.2; almost 8 points higher than his career average. He has cut the launch angle of his swing down, trying to make more contact and take advantage of the “no shift” era.
This seems to me like he has bought into a Mattingly style approach of “get on base and good things will happen.” The BA shows that.
2. The Stars are Performing
Vladdy and Bichette are currently doing what stars do.
1, 2, and 3 Hit leaders…
How about pitching leaders? Why hello, Kevin and Jordan!
3. The Varsho is better than advertised.
Dalton Varsho is the real deal and is going to be a pest not only at the plate, but lights out in the field. His defensive routes to the baseball not only provide outs, they prevent runs being scored at all.
So it’s safe to say… the Blue Jays are going to be better than 2022.
Let’s go Blue Jays!