What is in the water up in Toronto?

[Spitball]

I have watched the Blue Jays a few times lately in the last couple of weeks. I do not get where the unbelievable power is coming from. They totally bash the ball. Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, Juan Francisco, and Melky Cabrera almost rip the cover off the ball.

 

Juan Francisco is OPSing .973 despite being DFA by both the Braves and Brewers in the last year. Bautista is OPSing .965 despite having been traded around for very little return between the Orioles, Royals, Rays, Mets, and Pirates. Encarnacion is OPSing .870 despite being DFA twice in 2010. Melky Cabrera, a convicted PED user recently, is OPSing .868.

 

Sorry, but I am suspicious of these numbers. Maybe I am being a poor sport, but I smell shenanigans.

[seabeachfred]

I have watched the Blue Jays a few times lately in the last couple of weeks. I do not get where the unbelievable power is coming from. They totally bash the ball. Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, Juan Francisco, and Melky Cabrera almost rip the cover off the ball.

 

Juan Francisco is OPSing .973 despite being DFA by both the Braves and Brewers in the last year. Bautista is OPSing .965 despite having been traded around for very little return between the Orioles, Royals, Rays, Mets, and Pirates. Encarnacion is OPSing .870 despite being DFA twice in 2010. Melky Cabrera, a convicted PED user recently, is OPSing .868.

 

Sorry, but I am suspicious of these numbers. Maybe I am being a poor sport, but I smell shenanigans.

 

They do periodic drug testing and if there was something amiss I think baseball would act on it The sport cannot afford another black eye. Maybe it is one of those years when the Jays are hitting on all cylinders as we did last season. I remember when 700 Hitter and I think iortiz were discussing the upcoming season, we remarked that last season the Jays were favored to win the division and finished last and maybe this season they could reverse it. None of us believed it but it could be happening. Their pitching hasn't been bad either. Those are power hitters you're talking about Spit Ball and maybe this is the season when they all have career years together. Just my hunch.

[Thunder]

I'm not surprised. I thought that they would be this good last year. This year, they have very few injuries, and their pitching has been impressive. They've always been able to put runs on the board, so you kinda had to know this was coming at some point.

[Spitball]

They do periodic drug testing and if there was something amiss I think baseball would act on it The sport cannot afford another black eye. Maybe it is one of those years when the Jays are hitting on all cylinders as we did last season. I remember when 700 Hitter and I think iortiz were discussing the upcoming season, we remarked that last season the Jays were favored to win the division and finished last and maybe this season they could reverse it. None of us believed it but it could be happening. Their pitching hasn't been bad either. Those are power hitters you're talking about Spit Ball and maybe this is the season when they all have career years together. Just my hunch.

 

It is apparently pretty easy to beat the test, Fred. Twenty players were implicated for being clients of the Biogenesis lab in Florida, yet only Ryan Braun had been caught by in season testing. Biogenesis was involved in a very sophisticated science that was designed to avoid any drug testing program, no matter how good that drug testing program was. Players can take fast acting testosterone in a way that clears the body quickly, sometimes in a few hours.

 

I know the Jays were picked to win last year, but I am suspicious of a few of their players. I saw Melky Cabrera crush a ball nearly out of the stadium versus Oakland. The others I mentioned hit the ball with super-human authority that was common with the likes of Mark McGwire.

[User Name]

Francisco's always had light-tower power, but there's definitely something fishy going in Toronto with all those Dominicans, most of whom have played in the Dominican Winter Leagues and have aroused suspicion there as well.

[Northern Star]

Bautista went from relative lightweight in Pittsburgh to 50+. Claims it was a change in his swing. I call ********.

[a700hitter]

Bautista went from relative lightweight in Pittsburgh to 50+. Claims it was a change in his swing. I call ********.

i don't think roids can turn a garbage ballplayer into a star. A lot of marginal guys took them and stayed marginal.

[lospunchados]

Bautista went from relative lightweight in Pittsburgh to 50+. Claims it was a change in his swing. I call ********.

 

 

They all peaked around when most ball players who are healthy do. Encarnacion, Bautista, and Ortiz have similar paths and numbers and all hit power peaks at the same time. There Slugging chart by age is even closer.

Edited December 14, 2014 by lospunchados