2020 Toronto Blue Jays Preview – MLB Preview & Prediction
The Blue Jays are definitely a team that has room for improvement. The downside for the Blue Jays fans is the fact that the team did not really make the changes that were really needed for the Blue Jays to run down the Yankees or even the Rays. However, the Blue Jays did make enough in the way of changes to have a chance to run down the Red Sox and that will definitely help the Blue Jays out in some regards here. Now, one thing that did not change is the fact that the Blue Jays are one team that has been able to shock other teams and run down the opponents as the season wears on.
Toronto Blue Jays Starting Pitchers
Starting pitching for the Blue Jays is fairly stable, but not much in the way of changes were made to improve the rotation that much. The Blue Jays are projected to have Hyun-Jin Ryu be the number 1 starter. Tanner Roark, Chase Anderson, Matt Shoemaker and Trent Thornton are the rest of the rotation. Lasts year Ryu started in 29 games for the Dodgers with 182.2 innings pitched. Ryu did get a total of 163 strikeouts while posting a 14-5 record with a 2.32 ERA.
Toronto Blue Jays Relievers
The relieves for the Blue Jays are going to have to carry quite a bit of a load this year. The Blue Jays starters are good, but for the most part the starters do not go deep into the game. This can cause an issue for the Blue Jays as the players are going to need to get to have some gameplay and strong play from the bullpen. The projected pitchers in the bullpen is Anthony Bass, Rafael Dolis, Sam Gaviglio, Wilmer Font, and Jordan Romano. The closer for the Blue Jays is projected to be Ken Giles. Last year Giles ended up pitching in 53 games with 53 innings pitched with a total of 83 strikeouts with a 2-3 record and 23 saves with a 1.87 ERA.
Toronto Blue Jays Catchers
Danny Jansen is the projected starting catcher for the Blue Jays this year. Jansen is backed up by Reese McGuire. When it comes to stats Jansen played in 107 games last year for the Blue Jays with a .207 average and only 13 homers with 43 RBIs. When it comes to throwing out the runner the Blue Jays did get decent results from Jansen who threw out 31.1% of the runners.
Toronto Blue Jays Corners
Travis Shaw and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. are projected to start on the corners for the Blue Jays. However, Shaw is the backup at third for Guerrero and Rowdy Tellez is the backup for first base. Last year Shaw played mainly at second base, but played 86 games. Shaw ended up hitting at clip of only .157 on the year with 7 homers and 16 runners brought home. Guerrero ended up hitting at clip of .272 in 123 games. He did end up getting a total of 15 homers and 69 runners brought home on the year.
Toronto Blue Jays Middle Infield
The middle infield is sitting nicely with Cavan Biggio at secondand Bo Bichette at short. Brandon Drury does back up at short and Joe Panik is at second base. Last year Biggio played in 100 games with only a .234 average and ended up hitting a total of 16 homers and 48 runners brought home. Bichette played in 46 games with a .311 average and ended up with 11 homers and 21 runners brought home.
Toronto Blue Jays Outfield
The outfield for the Blue Jays is fairly unsettled at spots with Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in left, Randal Grichuk in center and Derek Fisher at right. The backup for left is Billy McKinney with Teoscar Hernandez backing up center and right. Last year Gurriel Jr. ended up playing in 84 games while hitting at a clip of .277 on the year with 20 homers and 50 RBIs. Grichuk played in 151 games for the Blue Jays with a .280 average and 31 homers with 80 runners brought home. Fisher for his part played in 40 games for the Blue Jays last year while hitting at a clip of .161 with 6 homers and only 12 RBIs.
Toronto Blue Jays Designated Hitter
Teoscar Hernandez is projected to be the designated hitter for the Blue Jays. Last year Hernandez ended up playing in a total of 125 games and ended up hitting at a clip of .230 with 26 homers and 65 runners brought home. A major issue for the Blue Jays is the lack of a strong hitter for the designated hitter position.
Toronto Blue Jays Prediction
The Blue Jays did not really do much in the offseason for improvement with the exception of signing Ryu. However, that is not going to be enough of a change for the Blue Jays to make the jump up in the AL East. What else does not help the Blue Jays out is the fact that the team is unable to do much hitting and the run production is not nearly as high as what the Blue Jays should have. Look for the Blue Jays to finish ahead of the Orioles, but not be able to keep pace with the Red Sox or Rays and definitely not keep up with the Yankees.
