NFL
By: Greg Rector
Toronto Blue Jays fans were disappointed by the wild card round loss to the Seattle Mariners without a doubt. General manager Ross Atkins has had a busy off-season that will see the Blue Jays look pretty different for 2023. Let’s look at the projected batting order for the opening day of the 2023 MLB season.
George Springer – LF
Bo Bichette – SS
Vladamir Guerrero Jr – 1st Base
Alejandro Kirk – Catcher
Whit Merrifield – 2nd Base
Matt Chapman – 3rd Base
Santiago Espinal/ Danny Jansen – DH*
Kevin Keirmaier – CF
Daulton Varsho – RF
The last two names Keirmaier and Varsho take the places occupied by Teoscar Hernandez (Traded to Seattle) and Lourdes Gurriel Jr (Part of the Varsho trade) and should address two things immediately. The overall outfield defense should be better and Springer will no longer play centerfield anywhere near as much which may help him stay healthier. Springer’s value as the leadoff hitter and tone-setter is evident and if he can play more all the better. Keirmaier is highly thought of defensively and Varsho was no slouch in that area either. Varsho also is coming off a 27-home run season so power-wise not a far cry from Hernandez’s impact. There’s no doubt that when either Bichette or Guerrero are on hot streaks they can take over a game offensively. Vladimir Guerrero Jr’s power numbers were down but if he avoids the big slump power-wise that he went through this last season being a 40-homer run guy should be attainable easily. For me, it’s the 5th through 9th spots in the order where the questions are. Beginning with Whit Merrifield who if he plays as he did down the stretch for the Blue Jays would be a fantastic contributor. Matt Chapman, please make better more consistent contact, a .229 batting average just doesn’t cut it. Chapman simply was thinking too much and then pressed too much as happens with many hitters. Sure the home runs (27) were nice and we all know how great a defensive 3rd baseman he is, just make better contact in 2023. Too many innings ended with Chapman striking out in 2022. The bench will have some depth between Cavin Biggio and newly acquired Brandon Belt the Jays will have two left-handed bats that can spot start and of course, pinch hit. That’s been a weakness but should improve with Biggio staying healthy and with Belt on board as well.
Projected Rotation
Alek Manoah 16-7 2.24 ERA
Kevin Gausman 12-10 3.35 ERA
Chris Bassitt 15-9 (Oakland) 3.42 ERA
Jose Berrios 12-7 5.23 ERA
Hyun Jin Ryu 2-0 5.19 ERA
The Blue Jays have an ace in Alek Manoah. You won’t face the rest of the AL East teams and those home run ballparks and end up with such a low ERA very often. Manoah followed up on his rookie success and continued to be very tough against his division rivals especially. The key addition will be Bassitt who brings a four-pitch repertoire over from Oakland and has a wide range of speeds between the four pitches with a lot of “break” when he uses the slider or curveball and his two fastballs also rise which often leaves hitters looking for something down to swing over the top a lot of the time. Since we now have the new balanced schedule I expect the top three to all benefit from fewer visits to Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, and Tropicana Field. It’s bounce-back time for Jose Berrios who until last year had been so consistent, last season he was still very good at Rogers Center but go on the road and he was Nuke Laloosh which was very out of character for him. I have Ryu as the fifth starter and after missing most of the 2022 season with a forearm injury and even before that struggled his way to that point. It’s also possible he battles with Yusei Kikuchi last year’s big free agent acquisition was banished to the bullpen after his ongoing issues. Definitely one of them will need to be much better than they were in 2022. I usually never talk about the bullpen which has become such a finicky and tricky situation all over baseball. I will let the dust settle through spring training to talk about that aspect.
The outlook for 2023 is still a good one for the Toronto Blue Jays. they should be better defensively and with any luck just that much more consistent at the plate they will certainly be in the running for not just a wild-card position but indeed challenging the “Evil Empire” for the top spot in the American League East. I believe they are the team that will benefit the most from the new balanced schedule as they have routinely feasted on AL West and AL Central opponents in recent years.
Spring Training will begin on Valentine’s Day February 14th, as pitchers and catchers will report to Dunedin. Soon enough we’ll hear those two sweet words again “Play Ball.”
As always you can find me on Twitter @GregsCowboys
