The Jays had better add a better option in left field soon, because it&#8217;s going to get tiresome writing a post like this after every. single. time. a team cuts a player who seems like a better fit for a left field platoon with Melvin Upton than Ezequiel Carrera. And yet here we are again, as <a href="https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/03/diamondbacks-release-gregor-blanco.html">Arizona has cut the once-useful Gregor Blanco</a>.
Blanco had a down year in 2016, slashing a pitiful .224/.309/.311. That was good for just a 70 wRC+, which is well below Carrera&#8217;s 85 mark. But if you look at their numbers exclusively against right-handers, the gap narrows. Both had reverse split years, but Carrera&#8217;s was significantly better against same-sided pitching (123 wRC+) than he was against the right-handers he&#8217;ll be tasked with facing as Melvin Upton&#8217;s presumed platoon mate (71 wRC+). Blanco&#8217;s 64 wRC+ against right handers, while also astoundingly garbage-y, is at least comparable.
And the thing about Blanco&#8217;s numbers in that split is that, unlike Carrera&#8217;s, they&#8217;re an anomaly. Expand the sample to include the last two years against right-handed pitching and Blanco&#8217;s wRC+ rises to a tidy 97, while Zeke stays weak at 77. Blanco has struck out less over that span (17.0% to 22.3%), he&#8217;s walked more (11.1% to 8.1%), he&#8217;s stolen more bases (9 to 1), he&#8217;s hit for more power (.370 SLG to .335). And as a left fielder over that span he&#8217;s been worth +1 DRS and +5.9 UZR in 434 innings, while for Carrera those numbers have been -4 and -0.7 in 469 innings.
Granted, using a two year sample masks much of Blanco&#8217;s ugly 2016 as a hitter, but it&#8217;s not like 2015 was too much of an outlier for him. Blanco by wRC+ from 2012 to 2015 goes: 94, 100, 106, 118. By WAR over that same span it&#8217;s: 2.5, 2.7, 1.9, 2.2.
Asking for a bounce back from Blanco at age 33 maybe isn&#8217;t a great idea, and he didn&#8217;t fare as well as Carrera in terms of <a href="https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/statcast_leaderboard">exit velocity or &#8220;barrels&#8221; per plate appearance</a>. He also has had a poor enough spring (.225/.295/.400) to get cut by the fucken Diamondbacks. Aaaand I kinda hate to be constantly running down fun ol&#8217; Zeke, especially with the Jays <a href="https://twitter.com/KeeganMatheson/status/845262903750070272">suggesting they have internal metrics that really like him</a>.
I&#8217;m honestly not opposed to the idea that Carrera could be better than his career numbers have shown against right-handed pitching! And I refuse to call this mess a complete disasterfuck until they actually start hurting themselves by running out players who are clearly failling. It&#8217;s just&#8230; y&#8217;know&#8230; come ahhhhhhn!!!

The Jays had better add a better option in left field soon, because it's going to get tiresome writing a post like this after every. single. time. a team cuts a player who seems like a better fit for a left field platoon with Melvin Upton than Ezequiel Carrera. And yet here we are again, as <a href="https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/03/diamondbacks-release-gregor-blanco.html">Arizona has cut the once-useful Gregor Blanco</a>.

Blanco had a down year in 2016, slashing a pitiful .224/.309/.311. That was good for just a 70 wRC+, which is well below Carrera's 85 mark. But if you look at their numbers exclusively against right-handers, the gap narrows. Both had reverse split years, but Carrera's was significantly better against same-sided pitching (123 wRC+) than he was against the right-handers he'll be tasked with facing as Melvin Upton's presumed platoon mate (71 wRC+). Blanco's 64 wRC+ against right handers, while also astoundingly garbage-y, is at least comparable.

And the thing about Blanco's numbers in that split is that, unlike Carrera's, they're an anomaly. Expand the sample to include the last two years against right-handed pitching and Blanco's wRC+ rises to a tidy 97, while Zeke stays weak at 77. Blanco has struck out less over that span (17.0% to 22.3%), he's walked more (11.1% to 8.1%), he's stolen more bases (9 to 1), he's hit for more power (.370 SLG to .335). And as a left fielder over that span he's been worth +1 DRS and +5.9 UZR in 434 innings, while for Carrera those numbers have been -4 and -0.7 in 469 innings.

Granted, using a two year sample masks much of Blanco's ugly 2016 as a hitter, but it's not like 2015 was too much of an outlier for him. Blanco by wRC+ from 2012 to 2015 goes: 94, 100, 106, 118. By WAR over that same span it's: 2.5, 2.7, 1.9, 2.2.

Asking for a bounce back from Blanco at age 33 maybe isn't a great idea, and he didn't fare as well as Carrera in terms of <a href="https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/statcast_leaderboard">exit velocity or "barrels" per plate appearance</a>. He also has had a poor enough spring (.225/.295/.400) to get cut by the fucken Diamondbacks. Aaaand I kinda hate to be constantly running down fun ol' Zeke, especially with the Jays <a href="https://twitter.com/KeeganMatheson/status/845262903750070272">suggesting they have internal metrics that really like him</a>.

I'm honestly not opposed to the idea that Carrera could be better than his career numbers have shown against right-handed pitching! And I refuse to call this mess a complete disasterfuck until they actually start hurting themselves by running out players who are clearly failling. It's just... y'know... come ahhhhhhn!!!

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