Spring training games are underway and opening day will be here before we know it. When we last saw the Jays on a major league field, they were on the wrong end of a historic postseason collapse. Since then, the front office has had a very busy offseason and has revamped the roster. As good as the Blue Jays were last season, they had their fair share of flaws.
The biggest issue the Jays have struggled with has been the lack of impactful left-handed hitters in the lineup. This isn’t to say they struggled to score runs, because they were third in the American League behind the Yankees and Astros, and third in all of baseball in OBP and SLG. While they were capable of putting up crooked numbers and scoring 28 runs in a game, they were also vulnerable to elite starting pitchers carving them up with ease. This particular weakness was on full display in game one of the wildcard series where Mariner’s ace Luis Castillo dominated them for 7.1 innings and held them scoreless. One of the reasons why certain pitchers can have strong success against the Jays is because with the lineup being mainly right-handed, pitchers can get into a rhythm and deliver their pitches from the same arm slot, cruising for multiple innings. By adding lefties in the lineup, it can help break the routine of the starting pitcher and force them to make changes to their deliveries. This can also play a big role late in games, as opposing managers try to play matchup with their bullpen with the Jays’ hitters. The Jays addressed this need by acquiring not one, not two, but three left-handed hitters in Kevin Kiermaier, Brandon Belt, and Daulton Varsho.
Former Tampa Bay Ray Kevin Kiermaier, who the Jays signed to a one-year, $9 million contract, will be patrolling centre field, and will likely get plenty of starts against right-handed pitchers. While he doesn’t bring a lot offensively, he has been one of the best defensive outfielders in the game throughout his career. He has won three gold gloves, a platinum glove, and since 2016, he leads all outfielders in outs above average (OAA). One area of concern with Kiermaier is his ability to stay on the field. Being a centre fielder can take a toll on your body as you are constantly covering lots of ground, and can crash hard into the outfield walls or the field itself in order to make a catch. He played in 122 games in 2021 and only 63 last season due to a hip injury that required surgery, which ended his season in July. He says he feels great, but this will be something to keep an eye on, and you should expect that he could likely spend some time on the IL this season.
Another left-handed veteran the Jays added was Brandon Belt. The 34-year-old first baseman adds some lefty pop in the middle of the lineup and brings championship experience as he has won 2 World Series titles with the San Francisco Giants. Like Kiermaier, Belt lost most of his 2022 season due to injury, but he is healthy now and he believes he can put up numbers close to his 2021 season. He hit .274/.378/.597 with a career-high 29 homeruns in 2021, and it’s very plausible he could put up better numbers from playing in more hitter-friendly parks like the Rogers Centre and Yankee Stadium. Belt is expected to spend most of his time as the DH, but he will also play first base when Vlad needs a day off his feet.
The third, and probably most exciting lefty that the Jays brought in is Daulton Varsho. Unlike Kiermaier and Belt, Varsho was acquired via trade, and its what the Jays gave up that made this move so big. Varsho was traded to the Jays by the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for fan-favourite Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and number one prospect Gabriel Moreno. Varsho is only 26 years old and is an exceptional defender. He ranked first last season among all outfielders in OAA, and is in the 97th percentile in outfielder jump, meaning that he reads balls off the bat extremely well and gets great jumps on the direction they are headed. While he hasn’t hit for a high average in his short career thus far, he did hit 27 homeruns last season, and like Belt, his offensive numbers should increase moving to the AL East. Varsho was the Diamondback’s top prospect going into the 2020 season, and it is very likely that he hasn’t reached his full potential yet. Gabriel Moreno was a high price to pay to acquire Varsho, but the Jays already have two highly talented catchers in Kirk and Jansen, so Moreno’s path was blocked. Plus, given Varsho’s ability, along with the fact that he isn’t a free agent until after the 2026 season, the Jays were willing to make this move.
The other aspect of the Jays’ game that needed improvement was on the pitching side, both in the rotation and in the bullpen. With the departure of Ross Stripling, and the uncertainty of what is to be seen from José Berríos and Yusei Kikuchi, the rotation needed another strong, and consistent arm in the middle of it. Enter Chris Bassitt. The Jays signed the former All-Star to a 3-year, $63 million contract and he is the perfect fit for this rotation. He will slide in very nicely behind Alek Manoah and Kevin Gausman and will provide some much-needed stability in the rotation. Bassitt is coming off a very good season with the Mets where he pitched to a 15-9 record with a 3.42 ERA. He has been very consistent throughout his career and has proven durable over the last few seasons. He posts every fifth day and threw 181.2 innings last season which would have been second amongst the Jays’ starters, only behind Alek Manoah who threw 196.2.
Bassitt was the only move the Jays made to bolster their rotation, but they did make a couple of moves to help reinforce the bullpen. The bullpen has been a strong talking point for the Jays over the last couple of years, mainly due to its lack of high-end, swing-and-miss type arms. The acquisitions of Anthony Bass and Zach Pop at last season’s trade deadline were a good start and helped the team down the stretch, but the pen could use one or two more arms. In one of the earliest, and at the time most surprising moves of the offseason, the Jays traded star slugger Teoscar Hernandez to the Seattle Mariners for prospect Adam Macko and RHP Erik Swanson. The key piece in the trade is Swanson, who is expected to be a prominent piece of the bullpen. Swanson isn’t the flamethrower that the Jays were looking for, but he is still a very good reliever. His fastball only averages around 93mph, but he also has a devastating splitter that batters only hit .129 off last season. He had an ERA of 1.68 with a strikeout percentage of 34% which was in the top 4% of the league. So, despite not throwing 99mph, he knows how to not just limit runs, but also strike batters out. Teoscar is entering his final year of club control, and with the Jays likely to not re-sign him, it made sense to trade him. The move caught fans off guard as there were no rumours that the Jays were going to trade him, plus without knowing the full plan (that is to say, acquiring Kiermaier and Varsho), the move left fans perplexed.
Another bullpen move the Jays made was signing RHP Chad Green. The only caveat with this addition is that Green had Tommy John Surgery in June of last year, so he will not be able to pitch for the team until the end of the season. He has spent his entire career with the Yankees, where he has been a strikeout machine and one of their best relievers. Prior to his shortened 2022 season, he was in the top 10% of the league in strikeout percentage in 4 of the last 5 years. Should Green be able to pitch this season, he could be a very valuable asset to have down the stretch, and depending on his performance, the Jays could opt to keep him for the next couple of years at an affordable rate as well.
With all the moves that the Jays have made this offseason, the front office is clearly sending the message that the time to win is now and they are doing everything they can to make the team better. The Jays may have lost some offence by trading away Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Teoscar Hernandez, but they are arguably better off in every other facet of the game. They say its pitching and defence that wins championships, and the Jays have improved both of those areas drastically. Bassitt and Swanson will play huge roles in the rotation and bullpen respectively, and an outfield of Varsho, Kiermaier, and Springer may be the best defensive outfield in the American League. Plus, they will still be a very good team offensively, and we should expect Varsho and Belt to be big contributors to that as well. The Jays look a little different than the last couple of seasons, but this could arguably be the best team they’ll put on the field. We’ll see how it all plays out, but their time to win is now and they have the players to do it.