Blue Jays season preview: 5 reasons this could be the year

No. 4:  The Department of National Defence

The Blue Jays’ most underrated team tool comes in the field.

At all premium defensive positions, and several others, the Blue Jays feature elite defensive options that should help the 2016 club to be one of the cleanest fielding teams in baseball.

This begins behind the plate with Russell Martin and extends through the heart of the field with Troy Tulowitzki and Ryan Goins both offering Gold Glove potential at shortstop and second base. Stretching into centre-field, Kevin Pillar shores up the heart of the diamond after emerging as a human highlight reel in 2015.

On the corner, the Blue Jays have the excellent defensive skills of Josh Donaldson and a plus option at first in Justin Smoak. Michael Saunders and Jose Bautista don’t exactly live up to the bar set by Pillar in centre (or come close), but the Jays could do much worse.

The gloves don’t stop there, though. Darwin Barney brings a Gold Glove of his own to the utility infielder position, producing one of the strongest top-to-bottom defensive middle-infields in baseball. Even Devon Travis, slated to return by midseason, performed above his defensive scouting reports as a rookie last season.

In an injury strikes the outfield, the days of Chris Colabello and Danny Valencia plodding around left field are now long gone. The young Dalton Pompey will be waiting at triple-A Buffalo and comes with an immense ceiling as a fielder. Covering centre-field would be no problem for him, either, as he still projects to feature there longterm.

The Jays also have Ezequiel Carrera, Darrell Ceciliani, and Junior Lake. Not elite by any means, but as natural outfielders, they’re a welcome upgrade from 2015.

Next: No. 3: You may soon be thanking Shapiro and Atkins