Blue Jays slow afoot on Statcast sprint speed leaderboard

The Toronto Blue Jays rely heavily on their big boppers to power balls over the wall to generate offense rarely relying on speed to win games. In saying that three Blue Jays players finished last on the Statcast sprint speed leaderboard for their respective positions.

Statcast defines sprint speed as the following:

"Sprint Speed is Statcast’s foot speed metric, defined as “feet per second in a player’s fastest one-second window.” The Major League average on a “max effort” play is 27 ft/sec, and the max effort range is roughly from 23 ft/sec (poor) to 30 ft/sec (elite). A player must have at least 10 max effort runs to qualify for this leaderboard."

So here is how the Blue Jays position players faired on the leaderboard. See the full Leaderboard HERE.

Designated Hitter

Kendrys Morales who is notoriously slow afoot actually finished third last among qualified designated hitters sprinting 24.7 feet per second. Albert Pujols was the slowest at the position at 23.3 feet per second while Corey Dickerson was the fastest at 27.8 feet per second.

Right Field

Jose Bautista was surprisingly the slowest right fielder on the leaderboard registering 25.3 feet per second. Daniel Robertson and Ben Gamel took top honors with a sprint speed of 28.3 feet per second respectively.

Centre Field

Kevin Pillar who is affectionately nicknamed “Superman” for his defensive prowess was in the middle of the pack with a speed of 27.8 feet per second. Curtis Granderson was the slowest of all centre fielders with a sprint speed of 26.6 feet per second while Billy Hamilton was the fastest of any player in the majors with a score of 30.1 feet per second.

Left Field

Ezequiel Carrera had the best score of any Blue Jays starter sporting a time of 28.1 feet per second. Steve Pearce trailed the pack with a score of 26.6 feet per second. The slowest left fielder was tabbed as Matt Kemp with a score of 25.7 feet per second while Delino DeShields registered 29.3 feet per second to lead all left fielders.

Shortstop

Troy Tulowitzki has struggled with the bat this season but apparently has also lost a step or two on the base paths. Tulo was the slowest of any shortstop earning a score of 25.4 feet per second. Ryan Goins notched a similar score as Pearce running 26.7 feet per second. The speedster among shortstops was Trea Turner who burned 29.0 feet per second.

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Third Base

Josh Donaldson who has been hampered by calf issues this season scored 26.0 feet per second on the leaderboard. The slowest hot corner specialist was Adrian Beltre who recorded 24.7 feet per second while the Cubs’ Kris Bryant was first among the third baseman at 28.2 feet per second.

Second Base

The hard-luck Devon Travis who has been sidelined with knee issues once again appeared on the leaderboard at 27.2 feet per second. The Mariners’ Robinson Cano was last at 26.1 feet per second while Dee Gordon was the quickest at 29.3 feet per second.

First Base

Justin Smoak won’t be breaking any speed barriers anytime soon as the slugger ranked last among first basemen with a score of 24.6 feet per second. Wil Myers who is a former outfielder put up a respectable score with a top speed of 28.5 feet per second among first basemen.

Catcher

Russell Martin had a respectable showing coming into the leaderboard with a score of 26.2 feet per second. Brian McCann and the piano on his back were the slowest among backstops with a lumbering score of 23.4 feet per second. The quickest catcher was the Marlins J.T. Realmuto who destroyed the pack with a score of 28.7 feet per second.

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Final Breakdown

To nobodies surprise, Morales and Smoak were the slowest Blue Jays while Carrera and Pillar were the fastest afoot. The Jays had three players who scored the slowest at their respective positions in Tulowitzki, Smoak, and Bautista.

The slowest player on the entire leaderboard was the aging Albert Pujols while the fastest was the base stealing aficionado Billy Hamilton.