The Blue Jays placed Will Wagner on the 60-day injured list yesterday, bringing his rookie season to an early close. Keegan Matheson of MLB.com tweets that the infielder will undergo a left knee scope tomorrow. It’s a minor arthroscopic procedure that is expected to prevent Wagner from participating in baseball activities for a month. He should have ample time to progress through most of the offseason and be ready for Spring Training.
Toronto acquired Wagner alongside Jake Bloss and Joey Loperfido in a strong trade package for rental starter Yusei Kikuchi. Wagner was in Triple-A with the Astros at the time of the trade. The Jays briefly sent him to their top affiliate before calling him up in mid-August. The lefty-hitting second baseman made a strong first impression, running a .305/.337/.451 slash with a pair of homers in 24 games.
Wagner had a very strong year in Triple-A to earn the MLB look. He combined for a .315/.432/.444 line through 355 minor league plate appearances. Wagner drew 59 walks while striking out just 37 times. Assuming the surgery rehab goes as planned, he could compete for the second base job in camp. Davis Schneider, Leo Jiménez and Ernie Clement should split the remaining time there this season.
On the other side of the infield, the Jays scratched Bo Bichette minutes before Wednesday’s loss to the Rangers. The shortstop suffered a contusion on his right middle finger. Manager John Schneider said after the game that Bichette was injured while taking grounders in pregame warm-ups (link via Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet). He’ll go for x-rays tomorrow.
Bichette just returned from the injured list on Tuesday. A calf strain had sidelined him since the middle of July. That was the second calf-related IL stint of what has been an extremely frustrating season. If he did suffer any kind of finger fracture, the Jays would presumably shut him down for the year. Bichette has appeared in 81 games and owns a career-worst .225/.277/.322 batting line.
Jays have plenty of 2B types and not enough left side INF types. If the Jays plan to keep Bo, he now has to play 2B or 3B because of the knee/calf issues. Arm isn’t there at 3B but it wasn’t at short either.
A lot of decisions and trades coming this offseason. This should be interesting as Atkins’ GM career is on the line.
They have Clement and Jimenez to play SS. They have Clement and Barger to play 3B.
On the farm they have Kasevich and Orelvis coming along. Plus a couple of guys like Palmigiani who have potential but have not made the adjustment at AAA yet.
There is no evidence that Bo’s calf injury hasn’t/wont heal, or that playing 2B will be easier on it.
Given his pending free agency, they ought to explore the trade market for him this winter. There is no way that he will not take the chance to test his value on the FA market.
Kasevich is tearing it up for us, he just needs to unlock his power…right now he’s like Luis arraez, low power good contact….I cant wait for him to come up, same with orelvis.
Kasevich isn’t ready. He’s going back to AAA.
.397 AAA babip…
In how many at bats? Just over 150 in 37 games?
He’s not ready. He needs more at bats and to mix in some power.
Completely agree with you it’s_happening. That babip is way too high
The BABIP is somewhat earned because he has a huge line drive rate but even then, the ISO is so low that it suggests they are the soft line drives that land in front of the OFs. Not ones that are hit hard enough to beat the fielders to the gaps or past them down the lines. And in that sample size, the line drive rate probably isn’t stable either. Nobody has 34% line drive rates over a large sample. He was 10% less than that in AA which is still good but he was also a league average hitter in nearly 400 plate appearances there. He’s a big guy though who does make a lot of contact. There’s probably reason scouts believe it’ll translate to better exit velocities at some point. Leo Jimenez was similar. Though Jimenez was so good offensively even without the power at much younger ages at levels where Kasevich was pretty ordinary statistically.
Your left side is not good enough to compete. That is what the Jays are attempting to do. Jimenez is not a starting g caliber player. Clement is questionable, as his track record suggests utility/platoon.
The only evidence needed for Bo not to play short is his arm. Now two injuries in two years, what else exactly do you need to suggest he’s no longer the guy at short?
What you’re saying is the Jays should rebuild, basically. I’m not against the idea except we are hearing they aren’t doing that.
I think that might have to be partly his decision though. It’s tough to move a guy off a valuable position in his walk year. But they also probably shouldn’t keep playing the long game with him if there’s a better option given he’s in his last year of control.
I also think if they don’t value him as a SS that it might tip the scales towards a trade because there are probably teams who do and also believe in a bounce back.
Kam the in house options Ducey suggested screams a 75 win season next year. We have seen this song and dance before.
_______ is ready to take that next step next year. Then the Jays place 4th and don’t come close to a playoff spot. I like Clement, but is he a full time starter? Is Barger? Jimenez is all glove no stick. Jays need more killers in the lineup around Vlad. We won’t find it in-house.
I don’t know. I feel like we’ve seen the opposite too. ___ isn’t ready to take the next step so we sign free agents who are supposed to be floor players and the floor falls out of them but by nature of their status, they keep getting playing time and that puts the team back. If they have enough impact already, then yeah, go get the middle class free agents to steady a couple spots. But instead of signing free agents who aren’t likely to be bad but are also not likely to be particularly good, I’d rather play a bunch of guys who might be bad but also might be good and let them compete for the playing time and send them down to the minors if they aren’t holding their own in the majors. I’m fine if they spend money on upside plays like they did successfully in ‘21. Just as long as they’re willing to move off those guys if they aren’t performing. As it is now, they have a bloated payroll and they really don’t have the budget for multiple high certainty impact players. Those cost a lot of money and also require multi year deals which is a tough sell to a free agent with the level of roster and direction uncertainty beyond next season.
I hear you. I don’t like the position the Jays are in. Very risky when we factor in Vlad and Bo’s walk year is next year. This feels like 2017-2018.
As good as Barger has looked, I’m not that confident in him on a contending team. Same goes for Wagner. Horwitz is a man without a position. Jimenez screams Santiago Espinal 2.0, maybe marginally better offensively.
Jays will need a lot more to play with Baltimore, and I do believe Tampa and Boston aren’t going anywhere. And of course the Yankees will be a factor. The whole situation screams rebuild. Understandably they aren’t doing it.
I CANNOT WAIT for Josh kasevich to come up next year, I hope he unlocks his power soon, he’s going to be great.
Kasevich? That’s interesting. Do you think there is power to unlock? Scouting the stat lines and statcast data is unimpressive but scouts and prospect writers are pretty high on him.
Yes kasevich, there is definitely power to unlock, he could be a 15 homer guy for sure. He’s like Luis arraez, but I think he could have more power…he gets on base alot, and hits for average, and his WRC+ is only getting better. and now that he’s in AAA I expect to see him next year, maybe a small sample.
Short answer no. He still needs time in the minors.
I’m not saying he doesn’t, hence why I said “MAYBE a small sample” they might call him up just to see what he does.
Don’t care if I get flack trade Guerrero and sign Bo. Bo has had one bad season, He’s a hitting machine Guerrero is overrated and only excels at giving Gatorade showers