Montoyo leads rebuild
After moving on from John Gibbons, the Blue Jays are in rebuild mode, and new manager Charlie Montoyo just might be the perfect person to lead Toronto back to relevance.
A product of the Rays organization as a Class AAA manager and then major league bench coach, Montoyo is more willing to experiment with lineups and break away from the norm. During the winter meetings, he hinted at the Jays employing the “opener” strategy popularized by Tampa Bay.
On top of that, don’t be surprised to see more shifts and four Jays in the outfield to combat pull-heavy hitters.
Did they add enough pitching to stay competitive?
The Jays boast a decent starting onetwo punch with RHPs Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez, followed by LHP Ryan Borucki. A slew of others will be contending for the final two rotation spots, including offseason acquisitions RHP Matt Shoemaker and LHP Clayton Richard. RHPs Trent Thornton, David Phelps and Elvis Luciano were also brought on in the offseason to bolster a bullpen whose ERA ranked in the bottom third in MLB. The lack of left-handed depth in relief could be an issue while competing against the heavy hitting Red Sox and Yankees in divisional play.
— Adam Woodard