The Celebration of Jefry Yan

[Edgy MD]

In the broad spectrum of takes, where 1 equals "That's some punk shit from a punk pitcher who needs a punk slap upside his punk head" and 100 is "Loosen up — it's baseball, it's fun, success needs to be celebrated, and personalities need to be expressed, and hey, he's got a personality, you don't, and you old farts need to get over yourselves," where are you?

Please express your positions in as many words as you need, but please include a number.
 

 

[Benjamin Grimm]

Did he do that on every strikeout, or just his first?

[metirish]

It is utterly ridiculous,  I get the whole 100 loosen up but the team is shit , galavanting around the mound like that even if you were 20 games over is dumb , having said that I get he's had a long journey to get here , but this i don't like

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

62. He's probably going to get Lindor hit with a pitch. That said I don't think this is mean-spirited and I'm grateful there is finally a colorful player on the the most boring team in the league.

[Edgy MD]

6 minutes ago, Benjamin Grimm said:

Did he do that on every strikeout, or just his first?

Every.  Single.  One.

It evolves on occasion, with varieties regarding the jump, whether he spins away from the plate, and how much slide goes into his step, but some permutation of it goes down every time.

 

[Benjamin Grimm]

Yeah, not cool. Someone should talk to him. It's okay for his first big-league strikeout, or for ending a game or getting out of a jam, but not every time. 

And I just checked... he's 29 years old! Someone definitely should have talked to him by now.

[seawolf17]

95.

It's a game. I love it.

But at the same time, if you're focused more on the celebration than on fielding your position, you're opening yourself up for weird things to happen, especially in tight spots. Celebrate a second too early and you're missing, say, covering the plate on a passed ball or something.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I forgot to give a number. Let's say... 20. It's bush league. There's no need to show up your opponent like that. If there was no DH rule he'd totally have been drilled with a pitch by now.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

 read the scale wrong and gave him a 62 where I should have given a 38

[Edgy MD]

The romantic in me likes joy.  He loves joy.  He also loves the beauty of human movement and human self-expression.

The cynic in me says that getting that much air and trying to land flat-footed on or about the inclined surface of a pitching mound is asking for a year-long vacation following Edwing DiazTM ACL surgery.

The cynic also notes that, just because nobody took the dance as an insult enough to try to brain your teammate in Biloxi doesn't mean it won't happen in Philly.  It only takes one.

The romantic also longs for a US baseball world a little more like Japan, where culture happens in the distinct expression of the distinct players radiating outward and the distinct expression of the fans radiating back at them, and not an endless wasteland of "Day-O," "Wild Thing," and "Clap Yo Hands!"

But Lindor only has one brain.

35.  That's, like, an 80, but dropping to a 40 as soon as someone gets dusted, and dropping to a 5 when someone gets plunked.  I dunno, but it's a dangerous world out there.

[MFS62]

1 hour ago, Benjamin Grimm said:

I forgot to give a number. Let's say... 20. It's bush league. There's no need to show up your opponent like that. If there was no DH rule he'd totally have been drilled with a pitch by now.

This. But I still give him a 30.
later

[Gwreck]

50, but it will drop lower the minute he jumps for a non-strikeout that’s hit into play.  

The jumping-when-it-was-a-foul-ball-and-not-a-strikeout is a huge red flag.

Celebration is fine (and really, quite fun) but he was also clearly too focused on getting ready to celebrate.  Get the strikeout first, sir.

[Centerfield]

I'm torn on this.  On the one hand, I'm old school.  I generally don't like flashy celebrations or big bat flips.  And when Americans get showy, they tend to do it in a dickheady, "in your face" way.

But, I have a soft spot for quirky foreign players when they celebrate big.  Kinda because I feel like they're not doing it to show up the opponent.  Some do it because they're just so damn excited and weird.

I loved Cespedes's bat flips.  I loved every weird thing Shinjo did.  Even if some opponents didn't like it.  And with Yan, it looks like his celebrations are coming from a place of joy.  He's a journeyman who was out of baseball and has finally made the bigs.

I'm probably at 40 now.  But I suspect this will start to get old pretty quick, and I can see myself going lower.  

Also repeat what Seawolf said.  He shouldn't be jumping on balls in play.  

[metirish]

looks like he's just a fun guy

 

 

[Cowtipper]

I'm not saying this to be edgy or anything, but it doesn't seem childish,  it seems childlike. I wonder if he's like Rube Waddell, really good at baseball, but a bit stunted up in the noggin. It's just so reflexive, so I think it might also be something mental other than just to be flashy or for show. Like an OCD thing or anxiety thing or something. 

[metirish]

 

 

 

[seawolf17]

/add to cart

[smg58]

A 50.  I'm not a fan of it, but the team needs somebody to get pumped up and make it spread.

[Frayed Knot]

The premature jumping is the biggest issue right now. He's anticipating a strike out and going into his act too soon (if one of the hitters had hit an easy grounder to him it would have rolled right under his feet) which kind of kills the idea that this is all spontaneous joy.  There's a bit of a post-jump part of the act too.

20

[The Hot Corner]

10 - You can have fun and take joy in the game without acting like an idiot.

He seems to do it on any pitch that is close when there is 2 strikes on the batter.  I certainly recall two occasions during his debut in which he jumped in anticipation of a strike out that didn't occur.  One time he jumped up and started his celebration on a slider in the dirt that Alvarez had to block with runners on base.  The second time the batter hit a routine chopper to short.  Yan looked like an idiot high in the air and reaching to his right for a ground ball.  To be fair, there was no way he was fielding that grounder to short whether he jumped or not.  However, I can see it causing him to be late covering first base on a slow grounder to the right side or possibly covering home on a wild pitch/passed ball if he continues to anticipate strike outs that don't occur.

I expect the Mets will see some extreme celebration when an opposing batter hits a home run or drives in a crucial run against him.  Unfortunately, I won't be surprised if Lindor (or Soto) possibly take a fastball in the ribs due to Yan's antics.

 

[Edgy MD]

Yan is kind of blowing his MLB chance in the silliest way possible.

[Fman99]

I think it'd be funnier if after every strikeout he unzipped his pants and wiped the mound clean with his coin purse 

[Fman99]

(Oh I give his current move a 50 though.  It doesn't really move the needle for me.  If he gets outs I want him wearing the Mets uniform.)

[Radar]

Guess I'm close to an "old fart" after all I am 83 years young😂. In any case I personally don't think it adds anything for me to my enjoyment of the game much like football touchdown celebrations. Give it a 5.

[whippoorwill]

Wow I’ve heard rumblings about this and even hubby mentioned the Met guy that jumps but this is the first I actually looked him up. 
yeah it’s definitely weird.  But I guess as long as he doesn’t miss a play it’s okay.  I would think it would drive the infielders nuts though especially the catcher

[whippoorwill]

Also I wonder if it’s just a habit he can’t break, kinda like yips

[Edgy MD]

I definitely get something of a man-child read from the guy. It's like having Mork out there on the mound.

Last night, Andy Green said something along the lines of "He will learn to not celebrate until after the play is over," like Yan is eight or something.

[MFS62]

7 hours ago, Radar said:

Guess I'm close to an "old fart" after all I am 83 years young😂. In any case I personally don't think it adds anything for me to my enjoyment of the game much like football touchdown celebrations. Give it a 5.

Y'mean I'm not the oldest fart here? You have me beat by one year. Thanks for making me feel young. 😃

Later

[Lefty Specialist]

1.  I'd give it a zero if I could.  Last night he did it on a strikeout-that-wasn't-a-strikeout.  Oh, then he gave up a game-losing home run.

 

Pitchers can be demonstrative, but this is waaaaay over the line.  And he's not that good; how about being a better pitcher instead of being a buffoon?  Maybe he can learn that in Syracuse, which I expect is where he'll be headed shortly.

 

And no, I'm not against celebrating. Pitchers can pump their fists and scream.  Batters can flip bats and do celebrations when they hit a dinger.  But Yan is cartoonish.  Say you're down 8-1 in the 9th and Yan does that after a meaningless strikeout.  Does it pump you up?  Or is it just ridiculous?

[The Hot Corner]

It is over the top to me, but the worst doing the celebration in anticipation of a strike out that doesn't occur.  He apparently did it last night (I didn't get to watch last nights game) before giving up the walk off home run.  I noted him doing it in previous appearances on balls as well as on balls put in play.

Andy Green said stated that Yan had been told to "wait until the play was over" before doing his celebration.  Apparently, the talk didn't sink in with Yan.