RA Dickey Press Conference at 4pm

[nirvana235]

Thank god you weren't coaching Bautista or EE.
Keep sharing your knowledge.

JP's plate discipline and strikeout rates have been horrible even in the minors. EE and Bautista always had decent K:BB ratios even when they struggled.

JP might have a good BABIP season one or two years but otherwise his OBP will likely always be under .300. In other words, he's horrible.

[JaysLeafs98]

After hearing what R.A. and Johnson have said about Arencibia's effort and willingness to put in that extra effort to make his pitchers confortable, I'm extremely pleased that he was the guy we kept. Who cares how bad his average and any other numbers are offensively, if the extra effort pays off and he blocks the knuckler and keeps runs off the board I'll be more than pleased having him back there.

[Twitchy]

^^

What's Dickey really going to say there? It's like the prostitute who tells you you're the best lover ever. It's just lip service.

[flafson]

He could have said he didn't practice with JP and that there is no point because Thole will catch for him anyway.

[Johann]

^^

What's Dickey really going to say there? It's like the prostitute who tells you you're the best lover ever. It's just lip service.

From experience I see

[bomber0104]

The dude is just so well-spoken and is a treat to listen to

I was listening to his interview on Mcowan on the way back from school. I sat for 10 minutes in the garage when I got home to finish the interview

[TO Rapz]

[Koenigg]

Totally off-topic, but is it just me or does AA have some really ill-fitting suits?

[jaysfan4ever]

JP's plate discipline and strikeout rates have been horrible even in the minors. EE and Bautista always had decent K:BB ratios even when they struggled.

JP might have a good BABIP season one or two years but otherwise his OBP will likely always be under .300. In other words, he's horrible.

Yea give a piss poor hitter at catcher MORE ab's in a position where you expect more than the average output from any other position.

ANd people need to stop with the "PlayerX" needs to "get his avg up" and "learn to take a walk". Those are fundamental things in the game and if everyone did those then everyone would be a star. Contact rates are teh quickest things to stabilize when a player turns pro and at this point in his career his avg and so% are gonna stay in where they are right now with little variance.

Yikes, well I hope his strikeout rate hasn't stabilized. He was striking out pretty consistently at around 20% of his ABs in the minors, but in the majors that has shot up to about 28%. I think there's hope that he can cut it to 24-25%. And JPA's walk rate from 2011 looks about right at 7.4%.

Take 372 PAs in a 102 game sample like JPA had in 2012, add these projections, and you're looking at 28BBs vs. 90Ks, which looks a lot better than 18BBs vs. 108Ks. I did a bunch of math and that results in a .246BA, .306OBP, .460SLG, .766OPS from your catcher, which is not bad at all. Basically, it's 2 extra hits, 4 extra bases and 10 extra walks from what he did in 2012. And that's before counting the power increase that should come soon.

I can see JPA being a decent offensive catcher that could flirt with an .800OPS in his prime, but below average with the glove. The closest comparable that I can find is Charles Johnson. Who gave similar production (although more power over average) to former Jays catcher Darrin Fletcher. I'll take it from the catching position.

http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx...523&position=C
http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx...302&position=C

[fanofclendennon]

I ****ing hope RA can pitch for the next 7-8 years.

Love having this guy here.

He will my son, he will. The only question is whether your Blue Jays will show enough faith in Robert Allen at the end of this two year extension.

It's an endless fight I had to endure with so many fellow Mets fans over my Lord and Savior's nearly 3 year tenure in the Blue and Orange.

He came up as a 35-year-old journeyman who had just mastered a unique application of the knuckleball. When he showed dominance, many of the so-called sabermetric fans attributed it to htters just being unfamiliar with him. There was nothing in his past, they told me, that pointed to the possiblity he'd sustain success. Still others pointed to his so-called weak peripherals.

Then when the peripherals went up accordingly, they wondered whether he could sustain success as a 36-year old.

Then as a 37 year old.

After the 2012 season ended, i was told it just made sense to try to get as much as they could for Robert Allen since he was going to be expensive now, and, take a big breath, he's gonna be 38!!!!!!!

Pay no attention to the numbers on Robert Allen's birth certificate. He'll still be going strong by age 46. Unfortunately, no one will believe that. My prediction is that after the 2014 season, with RA coming off his second or third Cy Young but due to be a free agent following 2015, we'll hear all about how it's time to sell high and it would be wise for the Blue Jays to now get value from some team that wants to take a chance on a 40 or 41 year old pitcher.

And the former Bishop will be left to wonder who RA's next team will be.

[Bob_at_york]

The dude is just so well-spoken and is a treat to listen to

I was listening to his interview on Mcowan on the way back from school. I sat for 10 minutes in the garage when I got home to finish the interview

I am listening to it on the fan website right now.

[TRIUMPHATOR]

Couldn't believe how comfortable he made me feel. He is so well spoken and seems to have a genuine sense of humility, and not one cliche the whole interview.

Guy deserves a ring, hope it happens here.

[bartron_44]

You should re-read what I said. And comprehend what I said

What exactly do you consider "little variance" in SO% and avg?

I think you should look at Bautista and EE's stats again and rethink your previous statement...which is what I think the previous poster was getting at...

Bautista's avg has varied from anywhere in the .230's to over .300, and his K rate has gone from 23.5% down to as low as 15.8%. Those are pretty large variances imo.

EE's SO% normalized pretty quickly, but his average has been all over the place during his career. He has also increased his walk rates from under 9% in his first 3 years to 13% last season. Sure some of this can be contributed to injury, but to say someone can't learn to take more walks or change their approach to increase their average is just wrong.

[JaysFan87]

What exactly do you consider "little variance" in SO% and avg?

I think you should look at Bautista and EE's stats again and rethink your previous statement...which is what I think the previous poster was getting at...

Bautista's avg has varied from anywhere in the .230's to over .300, and his K rate has gone from 23.5% down to as low as 15.8%. Those are pretty large variances imo.

EE's SO% normalized pretty quickly, but his average has been all over the place during his career. He has also increased his walk rates from under 9% in his first 3 years to 13% last season. Sure some of this can be contributed to injury, but to say someone can't learn to take more walks or change their approach to increase their average is just wrong.

You cant predict outliers. In 7 full seasons bautista's avg was between .235-.260 with the exception in 2011 (.302).


EE has had a SO% of 14.5-17% except for one year(outlier). A 2% variance is to be expect in most players.

JPA has had a SO% of 29.7, 27.4, 29.0 in 3 MLB seasons and has hit above .300 (.301) once in his career and that was his 2nd goaround with AAA. SO yea im pretty confident that he wont hit for avg not cut down the K's all that much.


I think you would be hard pressed to find more than a handful(if that) of MLB regulars who has cut his K% in half from 30% in his first 2 years.

[fanofclendennon]

Couldn't believe how comfortable he made me feel. He is so well spoken and seems to have a genuine sense of humility, and not one cliche the whole interview.

Guy deserves a ring, hope it happens here.

Humility and sincerity. He truly believes every syllable he says. And when things go wrong, he'll be the first to stand up and point out what it so without sugar coating it. The man's a born leader.