Blue Jays 2015 Year End Awards: Comeback Player

Jays Journal staff nominated several candidates for the 2015 Toronto Blue Jays Comeback Player of the Year!

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The improvement that the Blue Jays made in 2015 wasn’t just in part to blowing up the trade deadline with the glee of a four-year-old crashing through a block tower. There were notable members of the team that matched the energy brought into the city with the moves to improve their performances and help drive Toronto into the playoffs. It was tough to single out just one member of the Blue Jays who made the biggest leap, and not just for the fans.

Six different players received nods from Jays Journal writers in the voting process. That’s almost 25% of the playoff roster. With so many players garnering enough attention, it’s a sign that there is a lot of credit to spread around for the success the Blue Jays had this year. Conversely, it also means there are a lot of players who could take steps back in 2016. Depends on how the glass is poured. For now, let’s celebrate the steps taken forward and the half glass that’s already been drunk by looking at the players who bounced back and had improved seasons.

Next: Honorable Mention: A Pillar of this Awards Season

Honorable Mention: Kevin Pillar

The strides made by Kevin Pillar this season haven’t gone unnoticed by the Jays Journal staff, as evidenced by J.J. YEAs for Most Improved Player as well as Best Hustle. However, that probably disqualified him from Comeback Player in the eyes of most of the voters. Pillar is a player who is still on the rise, and it will be interesting to see if he can improve on his bat to the point to become a 20/20 threat.

Given recent rumors of discussion between the Blue Jays and Cleveland, it’s possible that Pillar continues to grow by the shores of Lake Erie if the front office brass believes more in the ceiling of Dalton Pompey than the floor Pillar stands on now. If he does leave to acquire pitching help, Pillar has left an impressive highlight reel behind.

Next: Honorable Mention: A Tale of Two Halves

Honorable Mention: R.A. Dickey

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The former Cy Young award winner was a nominee for this award primarily for the way he bounced back from a horrendous start to the season. The start was so bad it lasted through to the All-Star break. While Josh Donaldson and Jose Bautista headed off to Cincinnati, Dickey was left to mull over an ERA that hovered around 5.00 for most of spring, a 3-10 W-L record and problems with the long ball (17 home runs) and the wild ball (44 walks). It looked like the 40-year-old’s luck had run out and even the $12M option would be far too much for his services.

However, in the second half, Dickey found some of that Mets magic and turned in a sparkling performance over the latter half. 11 of his 15 starts were quality (the 12th falling an inning short), and his knuckler was staying in the strike zone long enough to get swings. He pitched to an 8-1 record, a 2.80 ERA and saw his K/BB ratio rise from an abysmal 1.59 to 3.29 from mid-July on. The Blue Jays will be hoping for similar results to the latter half as they make their run in 2016.

Next: Honorable Mention: The Improbable Comeback

Honorable Mention: Marcus Stroman

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This vote may have been a little premature for Marcus Stroman. He really shouldn’t have been up for this award until 2016. People who tear up their ACLs do not affect their teams results through anything other than cheering from the bench to inspire victory. Little Wolverine had other plans though.

As wonderfully detailed by Ben Lindbergh on Grantland, before ESPN got a bad case of empire envy and axed the website and its staff, Stroman was determined to get back onto the field in September, and he detailed it every step of the way. Stroman did it so well, he was an easy choice for Best Social Media Presence.

The use of the advanced technology afforded to him by Duke University’s Human Performance Laboratory helped him get back into his pitching form without exerting too much pressure. That allowed Stroman to avoid any setbacks and he returned in September to fire five starts with a 4-0 record and a sparkling 1.67 ERA. Stroman will likely be the ace in the pitching rotation in 2016. If he comes close to matching what he’s done in his short career to date, the Blue Jays will be in good shape to survive without David Price.

Next: Runner-Up: A Comeback Worth $26 Million

Runner-Up: Marco Estrada

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Speaking of surviving without David Price, the fact that Estrada resigned to a team-friendly deal makes the fact that Price is on his way out of town a little easier to swallow. Estrada was arguably the best fifth starter in all of baseball, pitching his way from long relief at the start of the season into the Game 1 assignment in the ALCS. The fact that he had the fifth lowest ERA in the American League this season is remarkable considering he led the National League in home runs last season.

The improvements that Estrada made on his change-up and fastball combo already led him to the J.J. YEA for Best Pitcher, and he got recognition from another group as well. Estrada made the Top 10 in voting for the AL Cy Young award. Granted, he was tied with Andrew Miller and Shawn Tolleson, so he wasn’t exactly threatening a late run at the top, but to even garner attention for such an award is a huge boost for Estrada. Now he has to continue to keep batters guessing how fast he is throwing to maintain his new status and justify such an investment.

Next: Runner-Up: The King of the Waiver Wire Claimants

2015 Comeback Player of the Year: Brett Cecil

At the start of the season, it was known Brett “Goggles” Cecil was going to be in the bullpen. The only question was where? He was the longest-tenured member of the Blue Jays ‘pen, which meant he would have first chance to replace the departed Casey Janssen in the closer role. However, at the end of Spring Training, it was young Miguel Castro who held the baton. It wouldn’t last long, as Castro was sent to Buffalo after a month. By default, Cecil was now the closer.

Toronto Blue Jays

Cecil’s time attempting to nail down games for the Blue Jays was like watching a rookie kayaker get confident paddling through relatively calm waters until hitting the rapids and getting trapped sideways against some rocks. May was a fine month for Cecil, as he only allowed one run in eight innings. The trouble arose in mid-June, during a stretch against the Mets and Orioles. Cecil lost himself, giving up eight runs in three appearances, ballooning his ERA from 3.10 to 5.96. That was enough for John Gibbons, who dropped Cecil from the closer role to hand it to Roberto Osuna.

Perhaps Cecil needed to clear his head from the pressure of being the finisher. After giving up four runs against Baltimore, Cecil did not allow a single earned run for the remainder of the season. 37 times those goggles stared down hitters in the box, and not one of those runners who looked back would cross the plate. Cecil did allow two unearned runs in September, but clearly they weren’t his fault. Cecil finished with a 2.46 ERA in 63 games and his ERA splits speak for themselves. In 18 save situations, Cecil had an ERA of 3.95 and batters were on base at a .305 clip. In 43 other appearances, those numbers drop to 1.99 and .234 respectively, while his strikeout rate doubled. Cecil is not closer material, but he is excellent set-up man material.

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Cecil’s value was highlighted in the playoffs when Mike Napoli barrel rolled into his calf, knocking him out of the playoffs. Given Aaron Loup‘s family emergency, it would have been nice to have the shutdown lefty in the pen to deal with some of those pesky Royals hitters. The 2015 Comeback Player of the Year award is little consolation, but it should spur Cecil on in 2015 now that he knows what he is, and what he can do to hitters with that knowledge.