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zackcollins · 3 years

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one number away || cavan biggio

masterlist

Author's Note: Hi! I'm supposed to be writing a longer fic for a hockey player. But like. I wrote this instead as a way of giving myself something else to focus on so I didn't burn myself out on the other thing by focusing too hard on it. Ya know? Variety is good sometimes. Anyways! GIF credit to anotherhockeypage!

Warnings: There is a mention of a break-in/intruder with a gun. So, if you need to avoid that, that's okay. I have other fics for you to read. There's also mention of the reader whacking said intruder with a baseball bat if you need to avoid that too. And blood if that's something the squicks you. That should be it. Let me know if I missed something though. I'll add whatever I missed!!

Word Count: 2.0k+

Title: One Number Away by Luke Combs

Additional: The reader is gender-neutral! There isn't any appearance description (except mentioning that the intruder is the same stature and height as them. But I left it vague like that so anyone could imagine the intruder being the same build as them lol), but there is the use of the pronouns "they/them" to describe them. I hope that's alright! And I hope you all enjoy this! Let me know what you think because constructive criticism is always welcomed!

Tagging: @whimsical-daydreams

You were at home on a rather quiet night. The night almost seemed too quiet as you sat in front of your television and sipped idly on some coffee. You were watching a baseball game; the Washington Nationals were playing the Tampa Bay Rays. Though, you couldn’t focus on it because you felt anxious about something. Something felt like it was wrong but you couldn’t put your finger on what that was and it was bothering you too much to give your full attention to what was happening on your television screen.

Your cellphone ringing made you startle a little because of how on edge you were. When you saw that the caller ID belonged to your best friend, Cavan Biggio, you relaxed a little. It would be nice to hear his voice because talking to him always calmed your nerves. On top of that, you hadn’t talked for a few days. He had been away with his baseball team, the Toronto Blue Jays, on a west coast road trip; you couldn’t get the time difference to match up with your schedules.

"Cavan, hi!" You said cheerfully as soon as you answered the phone. "It's been a few days. How are yuh--"

"Someone broke in and they have a gun," Cavan replied, his voice quiet. You could tell that he had been crying because of how strained his voice sounded. "Please help. I'm terrified."

You felt muscles tense all over your body. You wouldn't know what to do with yourself if Cavan was shot and injured… or worse. If you were being honest with yourself, you had slowly fallen in love with Cavan from the time you became friends after meeting by chance after a game you attended in Buffalo a few years ago. And for him to call you while he was in this life-threatening situation… yeah. You didn't have time to process that. Cavan's life was in danger. You could handle it when he was safe.

"I'll be right over, hang tight. And don't try and be a hero," you responded before hanging up the phone.

You rushed around, grabbing a jacket, your shoes, and a baseball bat out of the closet since you didn't own a gun. You didn't know how well a baseball bat would hold up against an intruder with a gun but it was better than having only your bare hands.

The ten-minute drive to Cavan’s house was a blur. The next thing you remembered was seeing the windchimes above Cavan's front door swinging back and forth in the wind through the open doorway. You took a deep breath, grabbed the bat, and stepped out of your car.

You walked into the house as cautiously and as quietly as you could. You didn't want to alert the intruder that you were there, lest anything happen to you and have Cavan be put in even more danger. As you made your way around the house, you checked carefully in every room. You were trying to see if anyone was hiding out behind or under anything. There didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary but you were only through the first floor of the house.

When you made it upstairs, you saw that the door to Cavan's bedroom was open. You also saw a shadowy figure standing in the doorway. You tiptoed across the floor, not wanting to alert whoever it was to your presence.

When you got to the door, you saw that the shadow belonged to someone of about your stature and height. They were pointing a gun at Cavan. Cavan was cowering on the bed with his hands up in a defensive posture. He was also chanting "please don't hurt me" while tears streamed down his cheeks.

Without warning, you swung the bat and hit the person with the gun in the side of the head. They crumpled to the floor with a pained groan as they dropped the gun and clutched their head.

They tilted their head a little to look up at you and then flitted their eyes in Cavan's direction.

"Fuck…." The person on the floor groaned as they removed their hand from their head and looked at the blood. "I can see why he married you now."

You twirled the bat in your hands. Glancing over at Cavan, you saw him shake his head vigorously and give you a pleading expression. You nodded back, giving Cavan a compassionate smile.

You took the bat and pointed it out into the hallway. "If you leave right now," you looked menacingly at the person. They were now sitting up so you took the bat and put it under their chin to make them focus on you, "we won't call the police. It's also not our problem how you explain the head wound. You broke into our house and pointed a gun at my husband. I protected him. You can come up with whatever excuse you want, coward."

“Alright, alright,” the person sighed as they got to their feet. They grabbed their gun and tucked it into their waistband before putting their shirt over the top of it. “I’ll get out of your hair.” They dabbed their head with their hand one last time, wiping the blood on their pants. "Sorry for the inconvenience."

With one last glance at you and Cavan, the intruder walked out of the room. You heard them walk down the stairs. A moment later, you heard the front door close with a resounding thud.

You rushed over to where Cavan was on the bed, draping an arm around him. You cradled his head against your chest, allowing him to cry into your shoulder. Against your better judgment, you peppered the top of Cavan’s head with soft kisses. You also mumbled soft words of encouragement and reassurance in an attempt to quash Cavan’s nerves.

It took a few minutes but Cavan eventually stopped crying. He lifted his head. You looked down at him and brushed a stray piece of hair out of his eyes. Cavan smiled, though it looked nervous and hesitant. He grabbed your wrist and directed it down to his lips. He looked up at you with hopeful eyes; you nodded as you took your other hand and brushed a different piece of hair out of his face. Cavan smiled again before he placed a gentle kiss on the inside of your wrist. He ran his thumb along the outside, right over the bone. You took your other hand and cupped Cavan’s face, leaning down and pressing a kiss to his forehead.

You sat on the bed next to Cavan and turned to face him. You grabbed his face and guided it towards you. Cavan swallowed as his eyes went wide and his cheeks slightly reddened. You smoothed your thumb along his cheekbone, humming in satisfaction as you did. Cavan blushed deeper, bringing his hand up and running it along your wrist.

“Stop me if you don’t want his, alright?” You said.

“Alri--” Cavan started to speak but you stopped him halfway by connecting your lips. Instead, he muffled the rest of the word into your mouth before he started moving his lips fluidly against yours.

As you kissed, you felt Cavan place his hand on your thighs. He ran them across the fabric there before he moved his hands up to your hips. He curved his hands along your hipbones, humming softly when he felt you wiggle against his hands. In retaliation, you brought your hands up and circled your thumbs around his chest. Cavan moaned, twitching on the bed.

"Uh… (Y/N)?" You jumped at the voice of one of Cavan’s teammates, Bo Bichette.

"Yes, Bo?" You asked, standing up off the bed and smoothing out your clothes.

"How'd you get here so fast? Cavan’s neighbour just called me when she saw some sketchy dude walk out the front door."

“I called them first,” Cavan piped up from behind you. You turned to look at him and noticed that his face was cotton candy pink and his hair was strewn all over the place. You swallowed thickly, knowing full well you had done that by kissing him.

Bo scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Leave it to you to realize that you’re in love with someone when an intruder breaks into your house with a gun.”

“Fuck off,” Cavan replied, though there was no heat behind his words. “As if you wouldn’t have called Vladdy first if the same thing happened to you.”

You huffed a bemused breath when you saw the death glare Bo gave Cavan in response. Bo looked at you sideways, though he also had no heat behind his intent. You chuckled bemusedly as you sat next to Cavan on the bed again and put your head on his shoulder. Cavan slung his arm around you, putting his hand on your upper arm and put his other hand on your knee. Bo’s face shifted from the glare of death to fondness as he looked at the pair of you.

“You both appear to be alright,” Bo said. “So I’ll go home now. Unless you want me to stay for a while?”

“No, it’s alright,” you replied, glancing up at Cavan. Cavan looked down at you and nodded before he pressed a kiss to your temple. “We’re fine here. I’m gonna spend the night to make sure he’s okay. We’ll call if we need anything, though.”

“Alright. Keep him safe. He’s known to panic and overthink almost everything.”

“I know, Bo. But thank you for reminding me.”

Bo gave a thumbs up and a soft smile before he walked out of the room. You heard him walk down the stairs, mill around in the foyer for a moment (presumably grabbing his jacket and shoes), and then open and close the front door. After waiting a moment to make sure Bo wasn't coming back, you lifted your head off of Cavan's shoulder and turned to look at him.

Cavan took that opportunity to lean in, pressing his lips softly to yours. You showed no sign of resistance so Cavan kept going. You did, however, melt into the kiss, cupping Cavan's cheek. You loved this feeling of kissing Cavan; you wished you never had to stop. You were enveloped in Cavan's cologne. It was a scent you didn't know the name of but it smelled vaguely of the ocean. It was something that had always been very soothing to you because the beach had been a happy place for you growing up; seeing the waves crashing the shore was very relaxing for you.

When you pulled back, Cavan wrapped you in a hug. He buried his head in the crook of your neck. You stayed like that for a moment, Cavan, sniffling softly into the crease of your shoulder and neck. When they pulled back, Cavan looked you in the eyes. His eyes were slightly wet and his cheeks had small tear tracks on them.

"I thought you'd never do that." Cavan smiled, his teeth slightly showing. It made him look so damn adorable to you.

You smiled back, a small blush creeping across your face. "I was just waiting for the right moment." You replied as you wiped away the tear stains on Cavan's cheeks.

Cavan smiled again, rubbing his thumb over your wrist. You blushed harder. Getting your feelings reciprocated was the best feeling in the world. I made you feel like a teenager that was just understanding what love was again. You also felt so alive, like you had finally discovered who you were and what you wanted. It was liberating.

"Hey, Cavan?" You grabbed Cavan's attention by tilting his face to look at you. Cavan looked expectantly at you, raising an eyebrow in anticipation. "How about I just never leave after I spend the night tonight? Somebody needs to protect the house while you're away. And we're dating now, so..."

Cavan smiled, wrapping you in a giant hug. He was smiling as he pulled back.

"Absolutely."

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flauntpage · 7 years

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Blue Jays Mailbag: Baseball Bloodlines, Osuna's Salary, the Future in CF

This article originally appeared on VICE Sports Canada.

Andrew Stoeten answers your questions in our Blue Jays Mailbag, which runs weekly at VICE Sports. You can send him questions at [email protected], and follow him on Twitter.

The Blue Jays' season is still going. I couldn't blame you for having tuned out a while ago, but the team is still theoretically in it, and, therefore, still capable of kicking us in our guts, the way that they did against Houston on Sunday.

But who wants to talk about that? Surely not I! And evidently not our fine mailbag readers, either, as we've got a fresh batch of questions that mostly look forward to 2018—or, at the very least, to possible August trades.

A legitimate playoff race sure would be more fun, but we can make do! So let's do it!

If you have a Blue Jays question you'd like me to tackle for next week, be sure to send it to [email protected]. As always, I have not read any of Griff's answers.

For what Osuna could bring back this offseason vs. how expensive (saves) he is going to get, do you think it's worth dealing him? Adam

I'm definitely of the mind that a great closer is worth more to an elite team than he is to one a tier or two below that, which seems to be where the Blue Jays are destined to end up in 2018. So I'd absolutely explore trading him—though the team's best shot to really cash in on him may have been at the trade deadline that just passed, especially with the way he's looked since then. But there are two things, in particular, that give me pause about this idea.

One is that the Jays simply aren't as far away from being good as it feels. Twitter's @James_in_to pointed out on Monday that the Jays have lost five games leading with two outs in the 9th—and if they'd recorded those five outs they would be 57-54 and tied for the wild card. With the right tweaks—and there are obvious places they're not getting value this year (right field and second base)—they can still be pretty good.

The other is the fact that Osuna isn't due to get that expensive. He'll pass through arbitration for the first time this winter. The record contract for a first-time-eligible reliever, according to MLB Trade Rumors, still belongs to Jonathan Papelbon, who made $6.5 million in 2009 on the back of his outstanding first three seasons in the big leagues. Osuna has been outstanding, especially in the areas that get relievers paid in arbitration, picking up 84 saves and pitching to a 2.84 ERA in his first three seasons. But Papelbon went to arbitration for the first time with 113 saves and a 1.70 ERA. Osuna should come in lower than that.

The record for a second pass through arbitration also belongs to Papelbon, who went up to $9.35 million in 2010 after a 38-save 2009 season. But he faltered slightly that season (he still had plenty of saves, but his ERA jumped to 3.90), and doesn't hold the record for a third-time-eligible reliever. That goes to O's closer Zach Britton, who after his incredible 2016 season was left on the bench in the wild-card game by Buck Showalter LOLOLOLOL made $11.4 million this year.

Osuna will start getting paid, but nothing the deep-pocketed Blue Jays can't afford. Photo by Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

That's not even all that expensive, and those are records Osuna almost certainly won't quite reach.

More importantly, the Jays should never be trading a player because of how expensive he's going to get. If a trade presented itself that would make the team better, sure. But moving him out of fear of the cost? This is Toronto, not Tampa Bay.

---

If the Jays were to fill LF, RF, and one SP spot internally (Biagini, Hernandez, Pearce, Zeke/Smith). Where could the 30M go? Adrian

Giancarlo?

---

Do bloodlines artificially inflate prospect value? Bo Bichette and Vlad Jr. are media darlings, how much do their last names feed that? Neel

Honestly? I don't think very much.

I mean, I'm sure there's an element with Vlad Jr. that has fueled hype among fans, because of who Vlad Sr. was in this country, and how much Vladito reminds us of his pop, physically (though Jr. actually controls the hell out of the strike zone, rather than relying on his ability to barrel pitches off a bounce). But, no disrespect to a guy who had a really nice career, I don't think people are in a lather about Bichette because he's the son of Dante.

Bo Bichette at last month's Futures Game. Photo by Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

The Jays have Cavan Biggio in the system, and now Kacy Clemens, who despite their Hall of Fame names don't get a fraction of the hype the other two do. That's because they haven't done anything to deserve it.

The reason you hear so much about Guerrero and Bichette is that they're really, really, really good. The same reason you heard about Travis Snider as a prospect, or Aaron Sanchez and Noah Syndergaard, or Brett Lawrie, or all the other much-hyped prospects we've heard of through the years (Kyle Drabek was hyped on merit, too—merit at the time, that is). Relax and enjoy it.

---

Is Kevin Pillar the answer at CF with Alford and possibly Pompey coming up soon, or even a FA replacement? Craig

The Jays will need to see Pompey and Alford healthy first before they can make that determination (and I think it's still probably a little early to be putting Alford in the bigs, since he missed so much development time during his college football career, and really was only promoted to the big leagues because of guys getting injured ahead of him on the depth chart). But yeah... Pillar...

April and early May sure were great months for Kevin Pillar, weren't they? Since then, though, it's been awful having to watch him come to the plate every day. And if that feels harsh, a quick perusal of his numbers should set you straight.

Since May 20, the day he returned from his suspension for using a homophobic slur, Pillar has slashed .206/.256/.328. That's good for a wRC+ of just 52. Over the last two calendar years, among the 125 players to have come to the plate at least 1000 times, Pillar's wRC+ of 87 ranks 120th.

It's been a rough ride for Pillar after his hot start. Photo by Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

You can live with a wRC+ in the 90 range when you get the kind of value Pillar provided on the base paths and in the outfield in 2015 and 2016, but that just hasn't been the case for him this year. He's been a run below average on the bases this year—he was two runs above last year and eight runs above in 2015—and defensively he's been merely very good, as opposed to elite-elite-elite. His UZR in center field this season is 6.2, as compared to 21.4 last year, and 14 the year before that.

I must admit, it's hard to envision someone like Pompey or Alford, or anybody, being much worse than this version of Pillar—even though the glove has brought him up to 1.3 WAR on the season—but that seems to me like an issue the club would prefer to have those players force, rather than simply handing them the job and ditching the incumbent. The bar isn't exactly set high, so it's entirely possible we could see those guys—or Teoscar Hernandez—take Pillar's job at some point next season. I'd be surprised if they went another way before that, though. Unless some team actually wanted to give them something good for him.

---

The rumours of Dee Gordon had me excited. We need team speed badly. Do you see the Jays getting faster for next season? That Far Cry Guy

Good Lord. For the life of me, I will never understand Blue Jays fans and their obsession with speed. Don't get me wrong, it's certainly a useful element of the game—I'm not saying avoid players who might steal a few more bases and beat out a few more double plays than the guys currently on the Jays are capable of—but let's not act like it's a fucking panacea. The Jays need more good players, not more fast ones.

WATCH: VICE Sports Meets Dee Gordon

If being fast is part of what makes someone good—like Gordon—then that's great, but there's no need to elevate it into some kind of extra special force out there on the diamond. We know pretty well what Gordon's speed is worth—FanGraphs' all encompassing baserunning metric, BsR, pegs him at 6.6 runs above average this season. Impressively, that's the third-best mark in the league. But it only can do so much, as their explainer on the stat tells us:

BsR is like any other run value statistic available on FanGraphs in that it tells you the number of runs above or below average a player is at that particular aspect of the game. As usual, zero is league average for that particular year and every nine or ten runs above or below average is equal to about one win.

Gordon's speed on the basepaths has been worth less than a win this season. His speed bleeds into his athleticism as a defender, and that's helped make him even more valuable. But this stuff—especially at second base or in left field—can only go so far. Being able to hit the baseball is still pretty important. And the disruptive powers speedsters wield when they're on base isn't as significant as you think—they often end up distracting the hitters behind them as much as they do the opposing pitcher, or more.

Sure, in a perfect world, you'd like a Mike Trout at every position: fast, athletic, with an otherworldly bat. In reality, teams have to make compromises. And if that means compromising speed for the ability to hit because it means getting a better player overall—like when the Jays, who themselves admit their long-term aim is to get younger and more athletic, still went and brought in Steve Pearce and Kendrys Morales—that's completely fine.

That's three solid starts in a row now for Marco! Can we confidently say his struggles seem to be behind him now? Kate

The fact that he did so well against a really strong Houston lineup over the weekend certainly seems to bode well. It certainly bodes much better (if we're talking about boding) than pitching well against the A's and the White Sox did.

I'm not sure that three starts is enough to say that he's back to being "Good Marco," but I'd imagine that there are teams still looking to add some starting pitching that have taken notice. His next three starts are likely to be against the Yankees, Rays, and Cubs. Those should be telling.

---

Does Estrada have more value as an August trade chip or a buy low signing for the Jays? Leemo Legs

Why not both?

Estrada will have something to play for down the stretch even if the Blue Jays don't. Photo by Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

I mean, yes, there's a chance that Estrada pitches his free agent value back up over the next couple of months—especially if he does it after being moved to a contender and into the playoffs. But he'll still look like exactly the kind of mid-tier veteran starter with upside beyond his likely salary that the Jays will be targeting this winter.

---

If Marco Estrada is a WWE Champion who wins a Blue Jays Royal Rumble? Jordan

This is obviously a reference to this picture of Estrada holding the WWE title belt at ringside Monday night at the Air Canada Centre. It's actually a pretty interesting question, because the guy who would be the odds-on favourite based solely on the Jays' listed heights and weights would be Joe Biagini, who at 6'5" is tied for the tallest player on the club, and at 240 pounds, outweighs Kendrys Morales (who is only 6'1") by 15 pounds, and the 6'4" Justin Smoak by 20. Of course, height and weight alone do not make a Royal Rumble champion (plus, Biagini is not technically a Blue Jay at the moment), but he'd be hard as hell to get out of the ring, even if he didn't particularly want to be there.

Blue Jays Mailbag: Baseball Bloodlines, Osuna's Salary, the Future in CF published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv

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amtushinfosolutionspage · 7 years

Text

Blue Jays Mailbag: Baseball Bloodlines, Osuna’s Salary, the Future in CF

This article originally appeared on VICE Sports Canada.

Andrew Stoeten answers your questions in our Blue Jays Mailbag, which runs weekly at VICE Sports. You can send him questions at [email protected], and follow him on Twitter.

The Blue Jays’ season is still going. I couldn’t blame you for having tuned out a while ago, but the team is still theoretically in it, and, therefore, still capable of kicking us in our guts, the way that they did against Houston on Sunday.

But who wants to talk about that? Surely not I! And evidently not our fine mailbag readers, either, as we’ve got a fresh batch of questions that mostly look forward to 2018—or, at the very least, to possible August trades.

A legitimate playoff race sure would be more fun, but we can make do! So let’s do it!

If you have a Blue Jays question you’d like me to tackle for next week, be sure to send it to [email protected]. As always, I have not read any of Griff’s answers.

For what Osuna could bring back this offseason vs. how expensive (saves) he is going to get, do you think it’s worth dealing him? Adam

I’m definitely of the mind that a great closer is worth more to an elite team than he is to one a tier or two below that, which seems to be where the Blue Jays are destined to end up in 2018. So I’d absolutely explore trading him—though the team’s best shot to really cash in on him may have been at the trade deadline that just passed, especially with the way he’s looked since then. But there are two things, in particular, that give me pause about this idea.

One is that the Jays simply aren’t as far away from being good as it feels. Twitter’s @James_in_to pointed out on Monday that the Jays have lost five games leading with two outs in the 9th—and if they’d recorded those five outs they would be 57-54 and tied for the wild card. With the right tweaks—and there are obvious places they’re not getting value this year (right field and second base)—they can still be pretty good.

The other is the fact that Osuna isn’t due to get that expensive. He’ll pass through arbitration for the first time this winter. The record contract for a first-time-eligible reliever, according to MLB Trade Rumors, still belongs to Jonathan Papelbon, who made $6.5 million in 2009 on the back of his outstanding first three seasons in the big leagues. Osuna has been outstanding, especially in the areas that get relievers paid in arbitration, picking up 84 saves and pitching to a 2.84 ERA in his first three seasons. But Papelbon went to arbitration for the first time with 113 saves and a 1.70 ERA. Osuna should come in lower than that.

The record for a second pass through arbitration also belongs to Papelbon, who went up to $9.35 million in 2010 after a 38-save 2009 season. But he faltered slightly that season (he still had plenty of saves, but his ERA jumped to 3.90), and doesn’t hold the record for a third-time-eligible reliever. That goes to O’s closer Zach Britton, who after his incredible 2016 season was left on the bench in the wild-card game by Buck Showalter LOLOLOLOL made $11.4 million this year.

Osuna will start getting paid, but nothing the deep-pocketed Blue Jays can’t afford. Photo by Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

That’s not even all that expensive, and those are records Osuna almost certainly won’t quite reach.

More importantly, the Jays should never be trading a player because of how expensive he’s going to get. If a trade presented itself that would make the team better, sure. But moving him out of fear of the cost? This is Toronto, not Tampa Bay.

—

If the Jays were to fill LF, RF, and one SP spot internally (Biagini, Hernandez, Pearce, Zeke/Smith). Where could the 30M go? Adrian

Giancarlo?

—

Do bloodlines artificially inflate prospect value? Bo Bichette and Vlad Jr. are media darlings, how much do their last names feed that? Neel

Honestly? I don’t think very much.

I mean, I’m sure there’s an element with Vlad Jr. that has fueled hype among fans, because of who Vlad Sr. was in this country, and how much Vladito reminds us of his pop, physically (though Jr. actually controls the hell out of the strike zone, rather than relying on his ability to barrel pitches off a bounce). But, no disrespect to a guy who had a really nice career, I don’t think people are in a lather about Bichette because he’s the son of Dante.

Bo Bichette at last month’s Futures Game. Photo by Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

The Jays have Cavan Biggio in the system, and now Kacy Clemens, who despite their Hall of Fame names don’t get a fraction of the hype the other two do. That’s because they haven’t done anything to deserve it.

The reason you hear so much about Guerrero and Bichette is that they’re really, really, really good. The same reason you heard about Travis Snider as a prospect, or Aaron Sanchez and Noah Syndergaard, or Brett Lawrie, or all the other much-hyped prospects we’ve heard of through the years (Kyle Drabek was hyped on merit, too—merit at the time, that is). Relax and enjoy it.

—

Is Kevin Pillar the answer at CF with Alford and possibly Pompey coming up soon, or even a FA replacement? Craig

The Jays will need to see Pompey and Alford healthy first before they can make that determination (and I think it’s still probably a little early to be putting Alford in the bigs, since he missed so much development time during his college football career, and really was only promoted to the big leagues because of guys getting injured ahead of him on the depth chart). But yeah… Pillar…

April and early May sure were great months for Kevin Pillar, weren’t they? Since then, though, it’s been awful having to watch him come to the plate every day. And if that feels harsh, a quick perusal of his numbers should set you straight.

Since May 20, the day he returned from his suspension for using a homophobic slur, Pillar has slashed .206/.256/.328. That’s good for a wRC+ of just 52. Over the last two calendar years, among the 125 players to have come to the plate at least 1000 times, Pillar’s wRC+ of 87 ranks 120th.

It’s been a rough ride for Pillar after his hot start. Photo by Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

You can live with a wRC+ in the 90 range when you get the kind of value Pillar provided on the base paths and in the outfield in 2015 and 2016, but that just hasn’t been the case for him this year. He’s been a run below average on the bases this year—he was two runs above last year and eight runs above in 2015—and defensively he’s been merely very good, as opposed to elite-elite-elite. His UZR in center field this season is 6.2, as compared to 21.4 last year, and 14 the year before that.

I must admit, it’s hard to envision someone like Pompey or Alford, or anybody, being much worse than this version of Pillar—even though the glove has brought him up to 1.3 WAR on the season—but that seems to me like an issue the club would prefer to have those players force, rather than simply handing them the job and ditching the incumbent. The bar isn’t exactly set high, so it’s entirely possible we could see those guys—or Teoscar Hernandez—take Pillar’s job at some point next season. I’d be surprised if they went another way before that, though. Unless some team actually wanted to give them something good for him.

—

The rumours of Dee Gordon had me excited. We need team speed badly. Do you see the Jays getting faster for next season? That Far Cry Guy

Good Lord. For the life of me, I will never understand Blue Jays fans and their obsession with speed. Don’t get me wrong, it’s certainly a useful element of the game—I’m not saying avoid players who might steal a few more bases and beat out a few more double plays than the guys currently on the Jays are capable of—but let’s not act like it’s a fucking panacea. The Jays need more good players, not more fast ones.

WATCH: VICE Sports Meets Dee Gordon

If being fast is part of what makes someone good—like Gordon—then that’s great, but there’s no need to elevate it into some kind of extra special force out there on the diamond. We know pretty well what Gordon’s speed is worth—FanGraphs’ all encompassing baserunning metric, BsR, pegs him at 6.6 runs above average this season. Impressively, that’s the third-best mark in the league. But it only can do so much, as their explainer on the stat tells us:

Gordon’s speed on the basepaths has been worth less than a win this season. His speed bleeds into his athleticism as a defender, and that’s helped make him even more valuable. But this stuff—especially at second base or in left field—can only go so far. Being able to hit the baseball is still pretty important. And the disruptive powers speedsters wield when they’re on base isn’t as significant as you think—they often end up distracting the hitters behind them as much as they do the opposing pitcher, or more.

Sure, in a perfect world, you’d like a Mike Trout at every position: fast, athletic, with an otherworldly bat. In reality, teams have to make compromises. And if that means compromising speed for the ability to hit because it means getting a better player overall—like when the Jays, who themselves admit their long-term aim is to get younger and more athletic, still went and brought in Steve Pearce and Kendrys Morales—that’s completely fine.

That’s three solid starts in a row now for Marco! Can we confidently say his struggles seem to be behind him now? Kate

The fact that he did so well against a really strong Houston lineup over the weekend certainly seems to bode well. It certainly bodes much better (if we’re talking about boding) than pitching well against the A’s and the White Sox did.

I’m not sure that three starts is enough to say that he’s back to being “Good Marco,” but I’d imagine that there are teams still looking to add some starting pitching that have taken notice. His next three starts are likely to be against the Yankees, Rays, and Cubs. Those should be telling.

—

Does Estrada have more value as an August trade chip or a buy low signing for the Jays? Leemo Legs

Why not both?

Estrada will have something to play for down the stretch even if the Blue Jays don’t. Photo by Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

I mean, yes, there’s a chance that Estrada pitches his free agent value back up over the next couple of months—especially if he does it after being moved to a contender and into the playoffs. But he’ll still look like exactly the kind of mid-tier veteran starter with upside beyond his likely salary that the Jays will be targeting this winter.

—

If Marco Estrada is a WWE Champion who wins a Blue Jays Royal Rumble? Jordan

This is obviously a reference to this picture of Estrada holding the WWE title belt at ringside Monday night at the Air Canada Centre. It’s actually a pretty interesting question, because the guy who would be the odds-on favourite based solely on the Jays’ listed heights and weights would be Joe Biagini, who at 6’5″ is tied for the tallest player on the club, and at 240 pounds, outweighs Kendrys Morales (who is only 6’1″) by 15 pounds, and the 6’4″ Justin Smoak by 20. Of course, height and weight alone do not make a Royal Rumble champion (plus, Biagini is not technically a Blue Jay at the moment), but he’d be hard as hell to get out of the ring, even if he didn’t particularly want to be there.

Blue Jays Mailbag: Baseball Bloodlines, Osuna’s Salary, the Future in CF syndicated from http://ift.tt/2ug2Ns6

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zackcollins · 4 years

Text

when you cry, i cry with you || b.bichette/c. biggio

Author’s Note: I'm back with another fic about these two! This is my way of coping with the fact that they got knocked out of the playoffs. Everyone's got there ways of coping and apparently mine is to write fanfiction. GIF credit to austonandersen!

Warnings: I don’t know if this is really a warning but I’ll include it here just to be safe. I watched an interview that Cavan did and an interview that Bo did to help myself cope a little as well. I realized something about Cavan after watching his interview. He acts and talks very similarly to the way I act and talk. Maybe I'm projecting, but it felt nice to see myself in someone like him. I hope I did a well enough job trying to portray that into his characterization for this fic. I may have the issue I was trying to characterize but I've never been the best at portraying my own issues onto characters. Let me know if I can improve anything!

Word Count: 1.2k+

Title: Cry With You by Hunter Hayes

Additional: If you found this by Googling yourself, are in this yourself, or know someone in this, please click back. No harm was meant in the creation of this fic. It's fictional and purely as way to help me, and anyone else that needs it, cope with the unceremonious end to the season. Everything aside, I hope you enjoy this!

Cavan felt defeated. He had worked his entire career to make it to the postseason in the Major Leagues only for it to end so abruptly. All he wanted to do was cry.

When the team made it back to their hotel, Cavan was barely inside the elevator before tears started to prickle the corners of his eyes. Randal, Joe, Travis, and Lourdes were in the elevator with Cavan and all of them seemed too engrossed in their cellphones to notice the tear stains on Cavan’s cheeks. Cavan was extremely grateful for that. He was in no mood to discuss how he was feeling.

As soon as the elevator opened onto the team’s floor, Cavan pushed his way through his teammates. Randal grunted but didn’t say anything in protest. Cavan apologized anyways before hurrying off down the hallway towards his room.

Cavan fumbled his keycard a few times before he finally tapped it against the card reader. When the indicator turned green, Cavan swung the door open and entered the room. He barely made it beyond the entryway before he collapsed onto the sofa and started sobbing.

He laid on the sofa, sobbing until his head began to ache. When he sat up after what felt like an eternity, his head began to spin. Cavan had to grip the armrest to keep from falling face-first onto the carpet.

“Hey.”

Cavan startled at the voice. He hadn’t heard anyone else enter the room. He didn’t even know anyone else had a keycard.

“Bo.” Cavan raised an eyebrow when he saw who was in the room. “Where did you come from?”

“Next door.” Bo motioned to the wall behind him. “I opened the connecting door when I heard you crying. I wanted to see if you were alright, man.”

Bo stood from the chair and walked over to sit beside Cavan on the sofa. He made a move to grab Cavan’s hand, but Cavan recoiled it.

“Not…” Cavan sighed. “Not right now.”

“Sensory overload from everything that’s happened tonight?”

Cavan nodded, running his hands along his thighs. After a moment, he tapped his fingers against his knees before folding his arms in his lap.

“My brain is on max capacity,” Cavan said, bringing a hand up and knocking it against his temple. “And I’m not sure what to do to turn it off.”

“Netflix,” Bo said, standing and walking towards Cavan’s suitcase.

He pulled out Cavan’s laptop and set it up on the coffee table in front of the sofa before sitting back down beside Cavan. When Cavan saw that Bo had selected Atypical as the show, he smiled.

“Thank you,” Cavan mumbled. “This is my favourite show. I like—“

“I know, man. You like Sam because he’s a lot like you,” Bo said, chuckling.

“Oh. How many times have I told you that?”

“Several. But it doesn’t bother me. It makes me happy to see you excited about things.”

Cavan blushed, smiling softly as he focused on the laptop screen.

The longer they sat and watched the show, the more relaxed Cavan was starting to feel. The stress of not being good enough at the plate. The stress of losing the game. The stress of being knocked out of the playoffs. The stress of being knocked out of the playoffs so early. The stress of being knocked out of the Major League playoffs for the first time in his career. The stress of the circumstances surrounding the season. It was all decompressing from his brain as he sat here and watched Atypical with Bo. This show always helped him calm down from any sort of stress. It helped him feel like he deserved to be in the Major Leagues because people like him were just as important as people that weren’t like him.

Since Cavan was starting to decompress, he had started inching closer and closer to Bo on the sofa. He was ready to cuddle Bo but Cavan wanted to ease himself into it to be on the safe side.

When Cavan finally dropped his head against Bo’s shoulder, Bo didn’t hesitate to wrap his arm around Cavan. Bo pulled Cavan closer, bringing Cavan’s hand up and pressing a kiss to his knuckles.

“Your brain finally shut off, huh,” Bo said, not looking away from the laptop.

“Yeah,” Cavan replied. “Thank you for coming over and checking on me, Bo. I appreciate it.”

“I’m your boyfriend, man. It’s my job to make sure that you’re alright.”

Cavan hummed, pressing a kiss to the underside of Bo’s chin. Bo chuckled and ran a hand through Cavan’s hair. Cavan smiled and placed his hand on Bo’s chest.

“You know that I love you, right,” Cavan said looking up at Bo.

Cavan felt Bo’s heartbeat pick up underneath his hand. Cavan felt his brain start to fill with anxiety again, unsure if that reaction was positive or negative.

When Bo didn’t say anything, Cavan felt tears prickle the corners of his eyes. He made to move off of Bo’s shoulder but Bo grabbed Cavan’s head and held Cavan in place. Cavan had tears in his eyes as he glanced up at Bo.

Bo ran his fingers through Cavan’s hair softly, holding his other hand on top of the hand that Cavan had over Bo’s heart. Cavan felt his brain relax, anxiety starting to wash away.

After a few minutes of running his fingers through Cavan’s hair, Bo pressed a soft kiss to the top of Cavan’s head. He whispered a few words that Cavan couldn’t understand before he lifted Cavan’s head so they were looking at each other in the eyes.

Cavan blinked when he saw tear stains on Bo’s cheeks. He reached out and wiped them away. Bo hummed, leaning into the touch. Cavan kissed Bo’s forehead, brushing a piece of hair out of his face.

“Yes, I knew,” Bo said. “For ages.”

“Why’re you crying, then,” Cavan asked, grabbing Bo’s hands and rubbing the pulse points on his wrists.

“You’re not very good with emotions, so it feels nice to hear you say it.”

Instead of replying, Cavan leaned forward and pressed his lips to Bo’s. Bo hummed, kissing back almost immediately. Bo brought his hands up to cup Cavan’s face and Cavan brought his hands down to grip Bo’s shoulders.

They kissed for what felt like forever before they pulled back, panting and gasping for air. Bo brushed some hair out of Cavan’s face and Cavan brushed some hair out of Bo’s face.

Bo kissed Cavan’s forehead before he draped his arm around Cavan and pulled Cavan’s head down against his chest. Cavan hummed when he felt Bo’s heartbeat against his temple.

“This feels nice,” Cavan mumbled.

Bo replied by running his fingers through Cavan’s hair, gently massaging Cavan’s scalp as he went. Cavan sighed happily, closing his eyes at the feeling.

The longer Bo continued his actions, the sleepier Cavan was becoming. He let out a soft yawn, wiggling closer to Bo.

“Go to sleep, man,” Bo said. “I don’t mind.”

Cavan nodded as best he could given his current position.

It was only a few moments later that Cavan felt himself drifting off to sleep. The last thing his conscious brain registered was Bo mumbling softly into his hair.

“You know that I love you, too, right, man?”

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flauntpage · 7 years

Text

Blue Jays Mailbag: Baseball Bloodlines, Osuna's Salary, the Future in CF

This article originally appeared on VICE Sports Canada.

Andrew Stoeten answers your questions in our Blue Jays Mailbag, which runs weekly at VICE Sports. You can send him questions at [email protected], and follow him on Twitter.

A legitimate playoff race sure would be more fun, but we can make do! So let's do it!

If you have a Blue Jays question you'd like me to tackle for next week, be sure to send it to [email protected]. As always, I have not read any of Griff's answers.

For what Osuna could bring back this offseason vs. how expensive (saves) he is going to get, do you think it's worth dealing him? Adam

Osuna will start getting paid, but nothing the deep-pocketed Blue Jays can't afford. Photo by Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

That's not even all that expensive, and those are records Osuna almost certainly won't quite reach.

---

If the Jays were to fill LF, RF, and one SP spot internally (Biagini, Hernandez, Pearce, Zeke/Smith). Where could the 30M go? Adrian

Giancarlo?

---

Do bloodlines artificially inflate prospect value? Bo Bichette and Vlad Jr. are media darlings, how much do their last names feed that? Neel

Honestly? I don't think very much.

Bo Bichette at last month's Futures Game. Photo by Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

---

Is Kevin Pillar the answer at CF with Alford and possibly Pompey coming up soon, or even a FA replacement? Craig

It's been a rough ride for Pillar after his hot start. Photo by Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

---

The rumours of Dee Gordon had me excited. We need team speed badly. Do you see the Jays getting faster for next season? That Far Cry Guy

WATCH: VICE Sports Meets Dee Gordon

That's three solid starts in a row now for Marco! Can we confidently say his struggles seem to be behind him now? Kate

---

Does Estrada have more value as an August trade chip or a buy low signing for the Jays? Leemo Legs

Why not both?

Estrada will have something to play for down the stretch even if the Blue Jays don't. Photo by Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

---

If Marco Estrada is a WWE Champion who wins a Blue Jays Royal Rumble? Jordan

Blue Jays Mailbag: Baseball Bloodlines, Osuna's Salary, the Future in CF published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv

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