Brett Lawrie’s Back!

February 24, 2013; Tampa, FL, USA; Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie (13) reacts as he stands on second base after a steal on a wild pitch against the New York Yankees at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY SportsThe Toronto Blue Jays are a game below 500, scoring most of their runs through homers, while the fan base has been patiently waiting all season for Brett Lawrie. What is this, 2011?

If it’s not 2011 it must be 2012. As soon as one Blue Jays star returns another 2 go on the DL with Reyes and Santos.

But that’s enough with the Jays depressing recent history, Brett Lawrie’s back!

The Jays went 6-7 without Lawrie (who says in depth analysis is dead). Would they have a better record with Lawrie? Maybe, you never know.

Lawrie’s elite defense at 3rd base has already been missed in 13 games. Anytime a ball has gotten past a Blue Jays substitute 3rd basemen it’s hard to not think Lawrie would have gotten to that. You’ve probably heard by now that he played some 2nd base during his rehab assignment so the Jays have the option of playing him there every once in a while under the right circumstances.

It will be great to see Lawrie in a Blue Jays lineup that’s had Mark Derosa, Rajai Davis and Munenori Kawasaki starting games. Side Thought: Darn it Reyes why’d you have to get injured 4 days before Lawrie comes back!

So what can we expect from Lawrie now that he’s back. It’s hard to say since he only has 168 major league games under his belt. In those 168 games he has a 5 WAR, a 348 on base percentage, 20 homeruns, 20 stolen bases and 7 triples. Not bad at all.

Lawrie is just 23 so he will only get better. He started showing signs of that during the last week of the 2012 season. Of course his last week is a small sample size but it stands out because it was his last week. You had to like what you saw. He had 9 hits including 2 homeruns and one of his homeruns was an opposite field bomb that may not have landed yet.

When you watch a player as talented as Lawrie you want him to stay healthy and reach his potential right away. It might be asking a lot for Lawrie to reach his potential in 2013 but it’s not like he doesn’t already have a lot of pressure on him as the Canadian kid on the Toronto Blue Jays.

If Lawrie can be the player we all hope he is, 20+ homeruns with a lot of extra base pop in the bat, stealing bases with gold glove defense he’s going to make a HUGE difference to the Jays season.

Last season when Mike Trout came up to the big leagues the Angels went from a struggling team to one of the best teams in the league. The Angels didn’t make the playoffs because they dug themselves to deep a hole to get out of which the Blue Jays haven’t done. Trout had one of the best seasons in baseball history so no one expects the same thing from Lawrie. But Lawrie’s certainly capable of having the same positive affect on the Jays. Either way the Blue Jays are a better team with him. Welcome back Number 13!