The Toronto Blue Jays had down season in 2016. They keep adding to their lineup and some of their young pitchers are slowly developing into consistent hurlers.
Two seasons ago, the Blue Jays arguably had the best offenses in baseball. Their lineup was loaded with power hitters who contended for homer run titles. They lost Edwin Encarnacion and struggled last season. They also lost Jose Bautista this offseason, which could further put a strain on the offense.
Toronto added some new faces in the lineup, but can they hang with the other offensive juggernauts in the AL East?
Here is the 2018 MLB season preview for the Toronto Blue Jays.
2017 Win/Loss Record: 76-86
Key Additions: 2B Yangervis Solarte, OF Curtis Granderson, OF Randal Grichuk, SP Jaime Garcia, RP Seung-Hawn Oh, SS Aledmys Diaz, RP Sam Moll, SS Gift Ngoepe, RP Al Alburquerque, RP John Axford, RP Craig Breslow, RP Tyler Clippard, 2B Danny Espinosa & RP Jake Petricka
Key Losses: OF Jose Bautista, 2B Ryan Goins, 2B Darwin Barney, OF Ezequiel Carrera, C Miguel Montero, C Raffy Lopez, 2B Rob Refsnyder, RP Dominic Leone, SP Tom Koehler, RP Leonel Campos & RP Mike Bolsinger
Interleague Schedule: NL East
Projected Starters: Russell Martin, Justin Smoak, Yangervis Solarte, Josh Donaldson, Troy Tulowitzki, Curtis Granderson, Kevin Pilar, Randal Grichuk & Kendrys Morales
Projected Starting Rotation: Marco Estrada, Marcus Stroman, J.A. Happ, Aaron Sanchez & Jaime Garcia
Closer: Roberto Osuna
Fantasy Sleeper: OF Randal Grichuk – Grichuk was one of the Cardinals top prospects for a few years. He had success his rookie season, but was apt to fall into slumps. Colby Rasmus would be his comp and he had success in Toronto. Grichuk will be better at contact than him, but strikeouts will always be an issue. He could still hit 30 homers if he gets 500 at-bats.
Prospect To Keep Your Eye On: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. – Everyone is watching the progress of Vlad Guerrero’s kid. He has all the skills of his dad and he only turned 19 years old this month. He made it to High-A last season and hit .333 and hit six homers in 168 at-bats. He should start this season in Double-A. It’s not impossible for the Blue Jays to call him up late this season if he keeps destroying minor league pitching. They should be out of the playoff race, so they could see what he could do the last month.
Team Analysis: The Blue Jays could be a sleeper in the AL East. The Red Sox and Yankees both made huge moves this offseason. The Blue Jays made some moves as well, but nowhere on the scale as those two teams. They signed/acquired middle infielder Yangervis Solarte, outfielder Randal Grichuk, outfielder Curtis Granderson, starter Jaime Garcia and upgraded their bullpen with Seung Hwan Oh.
Toronto was near the bottom of the back in runs scored last season. They finished 26th in baseball, which was unexpected. They added offense this offseason and hope to have a full season of MVP-level production from Josh Donaldson. He got off to a slow start, but was on fire at the end of the season.
At the end of the day, Toronto just doesn’t have the checkbook to compete with Boston and New York in the offseason. They need to be smarter and know when to dip into their farm system to acquire Major League talent. They are still feeling the effects of a bad trade to acquire Troy Tulowitzki, who has been a fraction of the player he was in Colorado. The Blue Jays will hang with teams, but will be a .500 team this year.
2018 Wins Over/Under Betting Line: 81.5 (Prediction: UNDER)
2018 Projected Win/Loss Record: 81-81 (3rd in AL East)
CLICK HERE to read the rest of our 2018 MLB Team Previews
Follow us on Twitter @Sweetbob & ‘LIKE’ us on Facebook!
About the Author…
Bobby Roberts (otherwise known as Sweetbob) is the creator of ‘America’s White Boy’ and contributor at Project Shanks. His writing has been featured on ESPN’s ‘SportsNation’, Sports Illustrated’s Hot Clicks, Guyspeed, and various other sites. You can follow him on Twitter at @Sweetbob.