Preseason 2015 MLB Playoff predictions
AL Wild Card No. 2: Toronto Blue Jays (88-74)
2014 finish: 3rd in AL East (83-79)
The Toronto Blue Jays struggled last season to a 83-79 record, third in the AL East behind the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees. The Blue Jays were fifth in batting last season but struggled to 22nd in pitching. behind R.A. Dickey who led the team with 14 wins, but other than Mark Buehrle (3.39 ERA), starting pitching struggling for the Jays. The bats were led by Jose Bautista (35 homers, .524 slugging percentage) and Edwin Encarnacion (34 homers, .547 slugging). SS Jose Reyes had the most hits for the team with 175.
The Blue Jays’ two biggest things they need to accomplish this season was to fill a hole at 3B, C and in the outfield and they filled all three.
Key additions: 3B Josh Donaldson, C Russell Martin, OF Michael Saunders, RHP Marco Estrada, RHP Liam Hendriks, 1B Justin Smoak.
Key losses: OF Melky Cabrera, OF Colby Rasmus, 3B Brett Lawrie, 1B Adam Lind, 1B/3B Juan Francisco, OF Anthony Gose, RHP Casey Janssen, RHP Brandon Morrow.
They made a huge trade this offseason to grab former Athletics third baseman Josh Donaldson, who was an All-Star and an MVP candidate the past two seasons. He lacked a very solid batting average last season batting .255/.342/.456 but he had a career high 29 homers and 98 RBI’s. Expect Donaldson’s power to give the Jays a huge lift offensively. The Jays also grabbed a great catcher in Russell Martin from the Pittsburgh Pirates and he had a great season last year batting .290/.402/.430 with 11 homers and 110 hits. Another key addition was Michael Saunders who will likely start in left field for the team. He played with the Mariners the past six years, but he’s coming to Toronto for defensive help as well as a guy who can get the bat on the ball and get some hits (125 in 2012). Saunders tore his meniscus during spring training, and likely won’t be back until mid-April.
The Blue Jays still need to find another reliever. They acquired former Brewers pitcher Marco Estrada in a trade this offseason, but he could be needed in the rotation if not all goes well.
Marcus Stroman would have been a key for the Blue Jays on the pitching front this season after he went 11-6 with a 3.65 ERA in 20 starts last season, but he underwent season-ending knee surgery March 19 and the Blue Jays will scramble to rebuild the rotation. 22-year-old Aaron Sanchez will likely find his way into the rotation for Stroman after Sanchez pitched a 1.o9 ERA in 24 games in relief last season. 24-year-old Drew Hutchinson will need to improve over last season after going 11-13 with a 4.48 ERA. And, the last spot will likely be a competition between newly acquired Marco Estrada and 21-year-old lefty Daniel Norris.
In order for Toronto to get to the playoffs, they’re going to need someone to step up and surprise everyone in the pitching department. I like Aaron Sanchez to break out this season, but they’ll also need to sign another reliever to replace him this offseason. In the lineup, Donaldson, Bautista and Encarnacion are all going to need to hit 30 homers and I think they will. Also, they’ll depend on Saunders coming back from his injury healthy and ready to go as well as strong performances this season from Jose Reyes, 22-year-old Dalton Pompey who will start in center field and veteran 2B Macier Izturis who missed most of the 2014 season with a knee injury.
2015 team batting MVP: 3B Josh Donaldson
2015 team pitching MVP: SP Mark Buehrle
2015 key under the radar player: CF Dalton Pompey
The Jays will have a solid year that starts off a little unbalanced as the back of their young rotation gets used to starting. The Jays will rev their engines come summer and jump out ahead of the Yankees and even give the Red Sox a run for their money for the AL East title, but Toronto will settle for the second wild card spot. Unfortunately, the Jays won’t go far.