The Toronto Blue Jays are a very interesting and exciting team to watch and should continue that trend this season. Mixing their plethora of young talent with some solidified veterans could potentially be the secret sauce to more success in 2020.
Additions
SP Hyun-Jin Ryu
SP Tanner Roark
SP Chase Anderson
SP Shun Yamaguchi
RP Anthony Bass
1B Travis Shaw
Subtractions
SP Clayton Richard
SP Ryan Tepera
RP Justin Shafer
RP Ryan Tepera
C Luke Maile
1B Justin Smoak
Offseason news
Looking at the addition list for the Blue Jay, you’ll notice they went heavy in one area, the rotation. The Blue Jays rotation was a carousel of players in 2019, using a ridiculous 21 starters throughout the season. Looking to stray away from the strategy, they signed Hyun-Jin Ryu and Tanner Roark. They also worked out a trade with the Brewers to acquire Chase Anderson. These guys will join Matt Shoemaker in the rotation while a number of others battle for the number five spot which includes Nate Pearson, their overall number one prospect. Pearson has impressed immensely in the minors and has number one starter talent including pinpoint control. For an area the Blue Jays really needed to improve upon, they did an excellent job in doing so.
With so much focus on the rotation, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the Jays left their lineup mainly intact. To be frank, it’s not an area that needed improvement. First base was the biggest need, as the team parted ways with Justin Smoak, who signed with the Brewers. The team addressed that by signing Travis Shaw. Mainly playing third base throughout his career, Shaw is expected to play a healthy amount of first. The Jays aren’t exactly crazy about Rowdy Tellez and he isn’t a lock to make the Opening Day roster. Sure, he has some great power but he’s also walked a total of 30 times through 482 plate appearances. Let’s make something perfectly clear though, Shaw was no on-base juggernaut either last season either, posting a .281 OBP himself through 86 games. To be fair, he does have an OBP of .345 and .349 the two prior seasons.
The continued progression of the young kids will be pivotal to the Jays and their potential success. Bo Bichette and Cavan Biggio at the top of the lineup brings a very solid mix of power and speed to hopefully get knocked in by Lourdes Gurriel Jr and Vlad Guerrero Jr. Guerrero reportedly did a number of offseason workouts and regiments after “running out of gas” in September. The numbers back up his sentiment, as he slashed .232/.264/.293 with no home runs and 10 RBI through 20 games in September. An in-shape Guerrero along with Bichette, Biggio, Gurriel and even a healthy Shaw could prove to be a ton of power that gives fits to opposing starters.
Best bet
Once you dive into the Blue Jays, they become more intriguing. Without a solidified rotation, they posted only a 67-95 record, good for fourth in the AL East (thanks Orioles!). With all the additions to the rotation and a very good lineup, I think they can go over the 75.5 win total, which is available on DraftKings Sportsbook. I think this is a really solid number and would be comfortable taking the over here but would start to err on the side of caution if it starts to climb. I don’t expect the Blue Jays to be in contention for the division but I think they’ll be battling it out with the Red Sox for third. Not exactly a sweat that’s exciting for fans but at least you can win some money when they hit the over on their win total, right?
Blue Jays OVER 75.5 wins
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