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The first half of the Toronto Blue Jays season is behind us. Likely, fans are split in their feelings about the first 3.5 months. On the one hand, we’re disappointed that this club seems to be built to win and they’re not. On the other, we’re excited that with over two months remaining, we’re right in the think of what could be a wild playoff race. Such is the life of a Blue Jays fan, I suppose. Whichever side of this fence you’re on, you will have noticed that there were some great performances of the first half of the season.
Toronto Blue Jays
The purpose of this post is not to praise the performances of guys like Josh Donaldson, who is having an early MVP showing. It’s not to extol the virtues of Mark Buehrle who has been nothing short of the savior of the starting rotation. Nor is it to sing the praises of Jose Bautista who is a walk machine. See, we kind of expect it from those guys. As great a half as they’ve had, we’re not really surprised. Instead, we’re going to look at a few players who have actually surprised us.
Whether it is the domination of a bullpen arm that can’t even buy himself a drink on the road, or it is the offense provided by a guy who wasn’t even in professional baseball a while back, or the guy who throws his body around to catch anything and everything, or the rookie who was traded for next to nothing and was a question mark, there are plenty of things to look back on and smile. Some will say they saw it coming. Others will call them ‘sayers of falsehoods’.
No matter what happens for the remainder of the season, we can look back at these performances and enjoy them for what they were. They may or may not lead to a division title, but they certainly did their part in making a run. And, if we’re being completely honest, the current situation with the Toronto Blue Jays could be much worse. If it weren’t for these surprises, it just might have been.
Don’t forget to take our poll at the end and vote for the Blue Jays biggest first half surprise!
Next: The Kid is Alright!