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He's probably a nine-hitter against southpaws at best, but his defensive prowess makes up for the fact he might not provide much positive impact on the offensive side against fellow lefties. The Blue Jays traded top catching prospect Gabriel Moreno and outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to the Diamondbacks for outfielder Daulton Varsho on Friday. Feedback on “For everyone who grew up watching D'Unbelievables videos on repeat”. Email “For everyone who grew up watching D'Unbelievables videos on repeat”.
Of course, the real headliner is Moreno, whose pop time to second base ranked 89th percentile in MLB during his short stint in the majors last year, according to Baseball Savant. That's a key tool for catchers to possess as the league approaches the addition of robot umpires while also policing pitchers' pickoff attempts. If Moreno can indeed control the running game, he could easily become a crucial part of the Diamondbacks' next window of contention, regardless of whether his bat matures.
Who gets referred to online and in real life all the time - normally during various RTÉ chat shows
Journal Media does not control and is not responsible for user created content, posts, comments, submissions or preferences. Journal Media does not control and is not responsible for the content of external websites. So imagine a scenario where your team keeps the two outfielders most worth building around, probably doesn't lose that much defensive value (because the 22-year-old Carroll seems like a good center fielder anyways), and still lands a top prospect. Corbin Carroll and Alek Thomas are the two outfielders who seem most worth building around and still have that prospect shine that makes them harder to deal away - especially for a rebuilding team like the Diamondbacks. Even further, 25-year-old Jake McCarthy has made himself very valuable as a peskily good hitter with great baserunning acumen. Even further, Varsho is a much-needed left-handed bat, which the Jays have been in pursuit of for quite some time to very poor results.
This was swiftly followed by Pauline, which did similar - if not better - business for them. There will be a new show next year, they say, but until then it's D'Telly. The Jays shouldn't regret adding elite reliever Erik Swanson to the mix, but Teoscar Hernandez would now fit this roster much better than he once did. There aren't a whole lot of options readily available, but this certainly won't be the final move of the offseason for the Jays.
And, of course, the story of Bridie’s christening – which is worth watching again in full
And while Kiermaier and Varsho might seem like overkill, expecting the former to recapture his Gold Glove form seamlessly after so many injuries may be foolish. But having three center fielders patrolling Rogers Centre must sound like music to the ears of Blue Jays pitchers - particularly Kevin Gausman and Jose Berrios, who had troublingly high BABIPs, ranking last and second-last in 2022, respectively. Danny Jansen was always seen as a good defensive catcher, but it has never fully come together for him at the big-league level, perhaps at least partially due to injuries. He hit very well last season, though, boasting a 140 wRC+ over 72 games.
There are also some promising underlying numbers, as Varsho seemed to be penalized a disproportionate amount by the shift. Despite having 27 homers last year, he isn't going to tear the cover off the ball. He had a respectable barrel rate but an average exit velocity in the 25th percentile.
D'Unbelievables
For these reasons, it was starting to look increasingly likely that the Jays would head into 2023 with Kirk and Jansen sharing time as catcher and Moreno in the minors, awaiting an opening of some sort. Kirk could also act as the designated hitter at times, so it didn't seem totally nonsensical to just hang onto all three. Alejandro Kirk is coming off an All-Star campaign and has proven himself as one of the better hitting catchers in the league. However, while he's a good framer, he's not especially good at controlling the running game. There'll be an increased emphasis on that as MLB implements pitcher pickoff restrictions and larger bases. It had been rumored all winter that the Jays were shopping a catcher.
It's clear that, given the value put on cost-controlled players, Moreno would likely net the largest return of the three. However, he hasn't really slugged well in the minors and didn't look especially MLB-ready in his short stint in the majors this year (despite a good 113 wRC+ over 25 games attributed entirely to his impressive plate discipline). D'Unbelievables are a comedy duo from Ireland formed in the late 1980s by Pat Shortt and Jon Kenny in Limerick. Together they created characters which could be seen on every street corner and pub in Ireland. They toured extensively all over Ireland for almost a decade until Jon Kenny was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease in 2000. Pat Shortt meanwhile launched his solo career in the late 90s and was the main force behind the success of the RTÉ comedy series Killinaskully.
And short clips often get millions of views for the pure nostalgia
After touring extensively all over Ireland for almost a decade both men went their separate ways in 2000, exploring independent careers in TV, movies and music. Up until now, a comeback was usually given a "never say never" response when either Pat or Jon was asked, but they both now feel the time is right. Even if it is an overpay, Ross Atkins and the Jays' front office pulled a necessary trigger here by acquiring Varsho. He showed reason to believe last year that he's the best defensive outfielder in baseball, ranking 99th percentile in outs above average and 97th in outfield jump.
But he also would've netted Toronto the least in a trade return, given his age, proximity to free agency, and the fact that he's merely a league-average hitter for his career . It's all a far cry from their current stint with the Druid company touring The Lonesome West around the country. "It's directed by Garry Hynes and again we play two brothers but in very different circumstances," says Kenny. The only real point of reference in their work is Hall's Pictorial Weekly, given that D'Unbelievables' material is also firmly rooted in that same rural type of eccentricity. Performing together for 10 years, Kenny and Shortt have become masters at vernacular comedy and what's most impressive about the new video is their way of working with accents and regional colloquialisms. Also impressive is the very physical aspect of their performance and the way they introduce and integrate elements from harlequinade, mime and pantomime into their work - which obviously goes back to Jon Kenny's love of commedia dell'arte.
But it's not like teams were beating down Toronto's door to get their hands on them. There'll be plenty of people that argue the Jays were in a position of strength with three highly coveted catchers. In a winter that has been woefully lacking in trades - but certainly set ablaze by marquee free-agent deals - the Toronto Blue Jays and Arizona Diamondbacks got the ball rolling in a big way. In December 2005, three of their past shows, "D'Video", "D'Telly", and "D'Mother", were released on DVD for the first time.
And with three major-league-ready backstops, it made sense to part with one. It contains offensive language, is hateful or incites violence It contains a libellous/defamatory statement Some other reason... Depending on who you asked, you got different responses on which catcher was the most expendable to a team looking to win now. Kenny, from Limerick, and Shortt, from Tipperary, first appeared on our screens with their lunactic re-enactment of a typical Irish country wedding in A Bit Of A Do in 1992. Not content with filling every conceivable venue in Ireland , the show also played in Paris, Edinburgh and New York.
However, he's a very pull-heavy hitter and finished last year with a brutal .269 BABIP . With shift restrictions preventing three infielders from standing between first and second base, Varsho could see some added benefit there. Second, the market for catchers was shrinking after the St. Louis Cardinals nabbed Willson Contreras in free agency and the Atlanta Braves acquired Sean Murphy for spare parts. Heck, even the Cleveland Guardians seem happy just signing Mike Zunino. First, as mentioned above, each of those backstops has some drawbacks.
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