BRIGHT SIDE: Silver linings in lost season,
In the final segment in our three-part recap of the Blue Jays season we focus on the positive by highlighting some linings of this highly disappointing season:
Munenori Kawasaki!!!
The ascent of Munenori Kawasaki is one of the great ironies of this twisted season. The team acquires a slew of former allstars and yet it’s a light-hitting minorleague free agent with whom the fans fall in love. Kawasaki is an energetic underdog and plainly lovable, so perhaps it’s no surprise he captured the hearts of Jays fans, who were so eager to cheer for something. He brought some much-needed joy and levity to what was otherwise a dreary campaign.
Buehrle being Buehrle
After struggling through the first month, Mark Buehrle settled in to become the pitcher he has been over the last 13 seasons. While he’ll be wildly overpaid the next two seasons at $19 million (U.S.) and $20 million, at least Jays fans should feel assured about what he brings to the table: that he’ll take the ball every fifth day, throw 200 innings, give up a lot of hits, but still finish with about a dozen wins and an ERA around 4.00.
R.A. Dickey’s second half
The knuckleballer picked up speed, figuratively and literally, over the course of the season and showed glimpses of the dominant force he was last year with the Mets. He pitched to a 3.65 ERA in the second half, compared to 4.69 in the first. He also showed signs of learning how to pitch more effectively inside the hitterfriendly Rogers Centre, where he must keep his knuckleball down in the zone.
Edwin Encarnacion
Encarnacion continued to emerge as one of the premier sluggers in the game. He was once again the Jays’ most consistent offensive threat and will finish with the third-most home runs in the league and fifth-highest OPS. He’s also the only hitter in the majors with at least 10 home runs
and more walks than strikeouts. Brett Lawrie’s second half After a tumultuous first half of the season in which the 23-year-old third baseman was twice injured, rushed back from a rehab assignment and briefly bounced back and forth between second and third, he finally settled in after the all-star break. From Aug. 1 onward he hit .284 and spent time learning the craft with veterans Mark DeRosa and Encarnacion. Jose Reyes when healthy The Jays suffered a crushing blow when Reyes sprained his ankle on an awkward slide into second base on April 12. But since returning in late June, Reyes has come as advertised, reaching base more than a third of the time. He scored 35 times in the second half, 13th in the AL. The Bullpen The lone bright spot in the season’s early going, the Jays’ bullpen was the best and busiest in the majors through the first half. Its workload started to show in the second half, but Toronto’s relievers still finished with a 3.38 ERA, good for fourthbest in the majors. Colby Rasmus While his season was cut short in bizarre fashion last week when he was accidentally hit in the face with a warm-up throw from a teammate, Rasmus was on his way to matching his best year in the big leagues despite missing a month with an oblique strain. According to some analyses, Rasmus was actually the Jays’ most valuable player this year, due to his combination of above-average defence in centre field and power at the plate. Attendance uptick Attendance is up 20 per cent from last year — a boost of more than 5,000 fans per game for an average attendance of more than 31,000. Jays fans were also more visible this year on the road than ever before. Ryan Goins’ defence While he’s still learning how to hit at a big-league level, the gifted defender stabilized second base for the Jays immediately upon his arrival. Bullpen coach Pat Hentgen recently joked to Anthopoulos that considering how fast the Rogers Centre turf plays, it’s almost as if the team needs three shortstops. Goins played shortstop in the minors. More depth in 2014 With the return from injury of Kyle Drabek and Drew Hutchison, the emergence of Todd Redmond and Esmil Rogers, along with the expected development of prospects Sean Nolin and Marcus Stroman, the Jays should at least have more starting pitching depth next year. As seen this year, it’s about more than the five-man rotation when it comes to starting pitching. The question is whether the Jays can acquire some much-needed quality at the front-end of the rotation.