Looking Forward To Seeing Real Jays Lineup

Apr 28, 2012; Toronto, ON, Canada; Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie (13) celebrates their victory with right fielder Jose Bautista (19) after defeating the Seattle Mariners at the Rogers Centre. The Blue Jays beat the Mariners 7-0. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY SportsAs much excitement as there is for the 2013 Toronto Blue Jays the wounds from the injury filled 2nd half of the 2012 season are still fresh for the Jays fan base.

If you don’t believe that’s true when was the last time you or anyone had a conversation about the Jays chances without every sentence ending in the now very popular phrase “if they stay healthy”.

Unfortunately the Jays already haven’t stayed healthy.

Brett Lawrie got injured a month before the season even started and no one knows when he’ll be back. It’s a good thing he didn’t play in the World Baseball Classic eh. Jose Bautista has already been out of the lineup for a few games because of an ankle injury and when he comes back he might have to ease his way back into the lineup as the DH.

But it’s not just the injuries so far that re-open the wounds from 2012. It’s the reminder of how it affects the team.

Injuries mean players like Rajai Davis and Mark Derosa get every day at bats. It means having to reshuffle the lineup or putting certain players higher up in the lineup than they have any business being.

Even though the 2013 season is still young you can’t help but feel annoyed by the injury driven lineups we’ve seen when those were the only kind of lineups the Jays had in the last 2 months of 2012. It’s like enough already.

In fact the Blue Jays haven’t had Bautista, Arencibia, Lawrie, Rasmus, Lind and Encarnacion in the same lineup since July 16th! JULY 16TH!

That’s a looong time to not see your entire team play.

Sure the Jays had their real lineup minus Lawrie to start the season but it’s still not the real Jays lineup without him and it makes a difference. And sure the Jays offense is deeper this season with the additions of Maicer Izturis, Jose Reyes, Emilio Bonifacio and Melky Cabrera. That depth definitely makes it easier to win through injuries.

At the same time you still want to see everybody in the lineup every day because it’s a lot more entertaining and it maximizes your chances of winning.

No one knows if Bautista’s ankle injury is going to keep nagging him or how long it will take for Lawrie to get healthy or if someone else gets injured by the time Lawrie and Bautista are 100%.

However long it takes, seeing the entire real Jays lineup will be exciting and definitely not be taken for granted.