Toronto Blue Jays Organizational Depth: First Base

Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Major Leagues Toronto Blue Jays

Chris Colabello, 32 years old, Bats Right, 6’4″ 235 lbs

• Selected off waivers from the Minnesota Twins on December 8th, 2014
• The robbery was later reported to the FBI after the Twins witnessed his 2015 season

Stats

Justin Smoak, 28 years old, Bats Both, 6’4″ 230 lbs

• Signed as a free agent by the Jays after he became a free agent in 2014
• Was initially obtained by the Jays through waivers from the Mariners

Edwin Encarnacion, 32 years old, Bats Right, 6’1″ 230 lbs

• Obtained by the Jays initially through the trade of Scott Rolen in 2009
• Re-obtained by the Jays after losing him to the Athletics through waivers in 2010

The three incumbents at first base for the Toronto Blue Jays sure set the bar sky high for the prospects looking to make it to The Show in the future. They each provide something different and are all very capable defensive players. The Jays have no problem putting any of the three on the field at 1B in any game and in any situation.

It’s really a strength of the club that was enhanced greatly when they found an unexpected gem in Colabello. He’s under control for so long (through 2020) that if his breakout season wasn’t a fluke, the Jays could have 1B covered for years to come. Smoak will try to regain the edge he once had and is still young enough to do so. The fact that he’s a switch hitter doesn’t hurt, but he’ll have to improve his pitch recognition and have a better plan at the plate to get ahead of Colabello at this point.

With Edwin Encarnacion heading into a contract year, you have to expect he’ll give you 100% every single game and may hit better than he ever has. That’s a scary proposition and one of the many reasons I believe the 2016 Toronto Blue Jays will be extremely hard to stop.

Whatever the case, within the Jays organization, we seem to have 1B very well covered.

If I had to rank the non-MLB first basemen within the organization, it would be as follows:

1. Vladimir Guerrero Jr
2. Rowdy Tellez
3. Ryan McBroom
4. Matt Dean
5. Gabe Clark
6. Enmanuel Moreta
7. Levi Scott
8. K.C. Hobson
9. Christian Williams

Hope you enjoyed this Organizational Depth article for first-basemen within the Toronto Blue Jays Organization. There’s no shortfall of talent at this position in the system or on the Jays MLB roster. It’s going to be a strength for years to come and I don’t expect them to do anything but continue to get better over time.