BLUE JAYS REVAMP AROUND CORE
Dangerous lineup bolstered by improved pitching and defence
DUNEDIN — At the dawn of the 2016 season, there’s a tendency to think the Blue Jays outfit that won the American League East last season has more or less stood pat.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Yes, most of the key players are back, but this is a roster as fluid as any in baseball. At the start of this 2016 season, the 25-man roster is composed of 11 players who were in New York on opening day 2015 and 14 players who weren’t. That’s a 56 per cent turnover rate, year over year.
And if you thought the 2015 ball club was pretty good, you have to like the one that begins its 162-game odyssey Sunday afternoon at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.
Catchers
2015: Russell Martin, Dioner Navarro 2016: Russell Martin, Josh Thole
What Thole brings to the table is the confidence of R.A. Dickey, whose knuckleball can be a nightmare for catchers. Martin did an admirable job handling Dickey last season, but both he and Dickey are relieved to have Thole behind the plate.
Martin had a solid year, hitting 23 homers and driving in 77 runs, but he really made a difference behind the plate. With Dickey being handled by Thole, taking that distraction away, Martin might be able to improve upon that .240 batting average and .329 on-base percentage.
However, of all the players who have departed the scene, Navarro might be missed the most.
First base
2015: Justin Smoak, Edwin Encarnacion 2016: Justin Smoak, Chris Colabello, Edwin Encarnacion
While he’ll never be a high average or on-base achiever, Smoak is the team’s best defender at first base. In 296 at-bats, he hit 18 home runs.
The major addition here since last opening day is Colabello. A late bloomer who didn’t play his first major-league game until age 29 and didn’t become a regular until last year, Colabello is an avid student of the art of hitting that paid off in a .321 average and a .367 OBP. There’s no reason to think he won’t be just as productive this time around.
Encarnacion will still play occasionally at first, but will be able to concentrate on his DH responsibilities more or less full time. The explosive trifecta of Smoak-Colabello-Encarnacion combined for 72 HR, 224 RBI and 193 runs scored in 2015.
Second base
2015: Devon Travis 2016: Ryan Goins
In 2015, after being traded to Toronto from Detroit in exchange for Anthony Gose, Travis made the team having never played above Class AA.
During the first month of the season he was Toronto’s best hitter and clearly the best rookie in the league. He’s now still recovering from a shoulder injury that affected him for most of the season, requiring surgery.
Goins, with his great-glove, no-hit reputation took over and, while he fell short of Travis’ offensive production, he put on a Gold Glove-worthy show in the middle infield.
With the bat, Goins had his best year yet, with a .672 OPS. With Travis still on the shelf, Goins will be the full-time second baseman and has worked feverishly all winter on his offensive skills. That work showed in his springtime stats (. 324 BA, .419 OBP, .878 OPS, 10 RBI) and the Jays are excited to see if he can make those changes stick during the regular season.
No one is quite sure what will happen when Travis comes back, perhaps by early June, but it’s a good problem to have.
Shortstop
2015: Jose Reyes 2016: Troy Tulowitzki
It’s no coincidence that the Blue Jays’ epic run over the last two months began when Tulowitzki arrived. The fact that he struggled somewhat offensively was negligible when stacked beside the work he did with Goins in the middle infield, restoring the pitching staff’s confidence in the team’s defence.
Now that he’s completely healthy and another year removed from hip surgery that affected his hitting, Tulowitzki seems poised for a monster offensive season.
Third base
2015: Josh Donaldson 2016: Josh Donaldson
There’s not a lot more that can be said that Donaldson himself didn’t say with his bat and glove last season as he became the second player in Toronto history to be named American League MVP.
It was also Donaldson who spoke up when he was disgusted by his team’s lacklustre performance — “This is not the try league. It’s the get-it-done league” — after being swept four games in Houston.
He hit .297 with a .939 OPS, hit 41 HR, drove in 123 runs and scored 122 runs, leading the league with 352 total bases, while playing some spectacular defence. To expect a repeat of those numbers would verge on the ridiculous, but it’s a safe bet he’ll more than hold his own.
Utility infielders
2015: Steve Tolleson; Danny Valencia 2016: Darwin Barney
Barney was picked up from the Dodgers in September after Tulowitzki was injured and he brought Gold Glove skills to the utility role. He’ll be the backup at all three infield positions and, while he’s not considered a major-league calibre hitter, he made the most of his eight hits this spring, driving in seven runs.
Outfielders
2015: Dalton Pompey, Kevin Pillar, Jose Bautista 2016: Michael Saunders, Kevin Pillar, Jose Bautista, Ezequiel Carrera
Saunders’ return to full health is a major boon to the Jays, both on offence and defence this year.
Pillar won the centre field job in camp in 2015 and wasted little time in establishing himself as one of the most spectacular and fearless fly chasers in the game. He had a solid year offensively and, while not the prototypical leadoff man, he’ll be at the top of the order to start this season.
Bautista had his usual productive season and now, as he prepares to test free agency next offseason, you might expect him to rise to the occasion to show that, at 35 and beyond, he is going to continue to be as productive as he has been the last six years.
Carrera, the reserve outfielder, is out of options and the manager is comfortable with his skill-set, which includes some speed and a more or less reliable glove. Meanwhile Darrell Ceciliani remains the first option at Triple A.
Starting pitchers
2015: Drew Hutchison; R.A. Dickey; Mark Buehrle, Aaron Sanchez, Daniel Norris. 2016: Marcus Stroman, R.A. Dickey, Marco Estrada, Aaron Sanchez, J.A. Happ,
The trade that brought David Price to Toronto at the deadline probably paved the way to the playoffs. After the season was over, Price, Buehrle and Estrada became free agents, Dickey’s option was picked up, and the hunt was on to fill the gaps.
Early in the free agent meat market, the Jays reclaimed Estrada and then signed a familiar face in Happ. That created a solid four-man group in Stroman, Dickey, Happ and Estrada.
This spring, Sanchez pitched his way into the rotation ahead of late signee Gavin Floyd.
Estrada, plagued with a lower back injury, needs a few extra days to get ready so he went on the DL, but will be activated within the next week.
All things considered, this rotation would seem to be an upgrade in many respects over 2015, but there are still questions that need to be answered.
Relief pitchers
2015: Brett Cecil; Aaron Loup; Roberto Osuna; Miguel Castro; Marco Estrada; Liam Hendriks; Todd Redmond; Colt Hynes. 2016: Roberto Osuna; Drew Storen; Brett Cecil; Jesse Chavez; Gavin Floyd; Arnold Leon; Ryan Tepera; Joe Biagini.
The Jays enter the season with a bullpen that Gibbons can have a measure of confidence in. That wasn’t the case last year when he went into the season with a dog’s breakfast of talent that included two untested 20-year-olds and several no-names.
Osuna blossomed and Castro didn’t. Hendriks was better than expected, Redmond and Hynes were worse.
This year, the manager leaves camp with a solid back end, anchored by closer Osuna, Storen, Cecil, Floyd and Chavez.
Arnold Leon impressed the staff in camp, Tepera earned his spurs down the stretch last year with his ability to get left-handed hitters out and Joe Biagini is a Rule 5 pick who may still be sent back to the Giants. Somebody in this group of eight will have to go when Estrada is activated.
If you thought the 2015 ball club was pretty good, you have to like the one that begins its 162game odyssey Sunday afternoon at Tropic ana Field in St. Petersburg.