Wednesday Bantering: Ryu

Happy Wednesday. I’ve got the Ms. Marvel show on this morning and enjoying it. It is kind of like the Peter Parker story, just more Muslim and female.

It seems that the prevailing wisdom is that Hyun Jin Ryu may have thrown his last pitch for the Blue Jays. And the narrative seems to be that his signing was a big stepping stone toward the Jays becoming a winner. Rob Longley, in the Sun, tells us:

• “the point of his arrival and a stellar first season with the Jays that helped turn a 95-loss team into a playoff participant.”
• His deal “announced that no longer would the Jays be fringe players in either free agency or the trade market.”
• And “that Ryu is a client of super-agent Scott Boras, who a couple of years earlier infamously had characterized the Toronto front office as having the “Blue flu.””

He was our Ace in 2020 and third in Cy Young voting.

I generally think those narratives overstate the issue. If a team offers enough money, some free agent will sign. But Ryu was a big part of us getting to the Playoffs in 2020.

Losing him tests our starting depth. Nate Pearson is working his way back from mono, but has only thrown 6 innings for Buffalo (with 9 strikeouts and 2 home runs). He’s a long from being stretched out enough to start.

Thomas Hatch has had a rough time of it, but he has been better in his last few starts. He had a 4.22 ERA in 4 starts in May, with 21 strikeouts and 6 walks in 21.1 innings. And a 3.97 ERA in June with 12 strikeouts and 2 walks in 11.1 innings. If we need a starter soon, he might be the one.

I’m sure they will be checking out the trade market over the next while. I don’t think any prospect is untouchable other than Orelvis Martinez. I want to see him on the Jays.

This is great:

Sean Casey talked about George Springer on MLB TV the other day. Seemed very freestyle, I got the feeling he didn’t know where he was going with any of it, but it was fun. “One of the best leadoff hitters of all-time”? Well, ok. Great defensive CF? UZR disagrees, but he makes the plays he should and gives us a spectacular catch on occasion.

Our friends at Foco have a Kevin Gausman bobblehead that is in preorder. The email they sent says it was to be released yesterday, but it is marked pre-order on the website. There is also a new Matt Chapman one, but it is already marked ‘sold out’.

Be sure to wish Kate a happy birthday today.