The 5 most interesting Toronto Blue Jays in 2017

What a time to be alive! The Toronto Blue Jays pitchers and catchers have reported to Dunedin to begin Spring Training. In a year where many Blue Jays fans are still dealing with the loss of Edwin Encarnacion, there is still plenty to be excited about. The rotation is back, the bullpen and bench are revamped, and the 2017 edition of the Blue Jays are among the favorites among many to be a wild card team again.

There are other departures to look at and see how the losses affect the team, but General Manager Ross Atkins and President Mark Shapiro have done a good job replacing the losses of Encarnacion, Brett Cecil, Joaquin Benoit, and R.A. Dickey. There are plenty of new faces going into the season and these additions each are exciting in their own right.

With spring training about to go into high gear, the staff at Jays Journal has put together a piece inspired by Toronto media personality Jeff Blair. Each staff writer has submitted their list of 5 players and wrote a paragraph on one player of their choosing they wish to highlight, whether the player is ranked #1 on their list of #5.

Enjoy!

Contributor: Sam Bruce 

5. Dalton Pompey
4. Troy Tulowitzki
3. Marcus Stroman
2. Jose Bautista
1. Kendrys Morales

Morales has the most to prove this Spring and all year. He needs to prove that he can hit on a level that will ease EE’s departure. Furthermore, he needs to prove that he can be at least capable of occasional first base duties so Joey, Tulo, Josh, and Russ can rest their arms. He netted one of the best contracts for a big bat, time to prove he deserves it.

Contributor: Craig Borden

5. Troy Tulowitzki
4. Jason Grilli
3. Marcus Stroman
2. Jose Bautista
1. Aaron Sanchez

I think Sanchez is the most interesting because he has all the potential to be the Jays ace after last season.  After last season, what does he do for an encore?  Is it CY young award or bust?  I think he has a solid outing and continues to become a true ace, much like Halladay did in running up his 2003 CY young award.  He will anchor the Jays staff this season.

Contributor: Ari Shapiro

5. Steve Pearce

4. Jose Bautista

3. Kendrys Morales

2. Melvin Upton, Jr.

1. Troy Tulowitzki

Tulowitzki remains an enigma to most fans of the Blue Jays – the consensus is that he’s injury prone, regressing headlong into the harsh reality that is his biological age, and that he no longer has the killer instinct since his undesirable flight from Colorado. My humble opinion is that we take a more sincere look at what this player has accomplished throughout his National League career and consider the expectations which he likely places on himself. Troy’s not just an elite brand of athlete; he’s got his own meta-cheer and a burgeoning desire to win before it’s too late, thus making him the most fascinating and somewhat prophetic player on this team. As he takes flight, so too will the Jays in 2017.

Contributor: Nick Raponi

5. Troy Tulowitzki
4. Steve Pearce
3. Marcus Stroman
2. Joe Biagini
1. Dalton Pompey

The reason Pompey is my most interesting Blue Jays player heading into 2017 is because he can very easily win the left field job and run away with it. Ezequiel Carrera and Melvin Upton Jr. are a solid platoon, but their ceilings are not all that high. Pompey, on the other hand, has sky-high potential. The Canadian outfielder possesses many tools, and if he can put it all together on a consistent basis, watch for him to not only win the starting job in left but also maintain his position over the duration of the season.

Contributor: Jason Lee

5. Joe Biagini
4. Devon Travis
3. Jose Bautista
2. Dalton Pompey
1. Francisco Liriano

The Blue Jays’ rotation heads into spring training looking like the team’s greatest strength. However, it is unrealistic to anticipate the amazing run of health that the Jays’ staff enjoyed in 2016. Arguably one of the most underrated players to watch out for is Francisco Liriano. He is notorious for following up disappointing seasons with equally stellar numbers the next year (evidenced by his multiple “comeback player of the year” awards). Expect Liriano to surprisingly emerge as the Blue Jays’ ace in the upcoming 2017 season.

Contributor: Chris Henderson

5. Joe Biagini
4. Marco Estrada
3. Marcus Stroman
2. Devon Travis
1. Jose Bautista

The Blue Jays enter 2017 with many questions about the upcoming season, and the direction of the franchise going forward. President Mark Shapiro and GM Ross Atkins inherited a strong core from the previous front office and will have to decide how they want to shape roster going forward, now two years into their respective roles.

In the rotation, it’ll be an important year for Marco Estrada. After coming to the Blue Jays in a trade from the Brewers for Adam Lind, Estrada has quietly transformed himself into a high-quality starter. He will be a free agent after the 2017 season, and he’ll have to work very hard to keep his balky back in check if he wants to maximize his free agent potential. In keeping with the rotation, Joe Biagini will be stretched out this spring, and could potentially provide the Blue Jays with starting pitching depth, if the need arises.

I’m also intrigued with Jose Bautista as he enters a 1-year deal with something to prove, and I’m excited to see how big the chip on his shoulder may. Bautista’s stock has taken a significant hit over the last year, but it may be largely unwarranted, as he battled injuries for most of 2016. Look for the slugger to have a strong season, using the energy of being “snubbed” in free agency as his primary motivation.

Contributor: Brendan Panikkar

5. Melvin Upton Jr.
4. J.P. Howell
3. Francisco Liriano
2. Troy Tulowitzki
1. Kendrys Morales

For this section of my player highlight, I’m going a bit off the board and choosing not to cover why I feel Kendrys Morales is the most interesting on the team. I feel my colleagues have done a great job at that already.

Instead, I am going to cover why J.P Howell is on my list. In short, J.P Howell is coming off of a down year compared to what he did with the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2013-2015. In those 3 seasons, Howell never had an ERA above 2.39 or a FIP above 3.34. Very solid numbers for a soft-tossing left-hander who’s been described as Mark Buehrle with a better breaking ball.

In 2016, Howell had an ERA of 4.09 but his FIP of 3.50 and xFIP of 3.59 do suggest that he may have been the victim of some bad luck. It will be interesting to see how this extreme groundball pitcher performs in his return to the AL East, where he was last with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2012.

All in all, Howell has some pretty big shoes to fill in replacing Brett Cecil, who was one of the best left-handed relievers in baseball since 2013. As things currently project, Howell is the only seemingly guaranteed left-hander out of the bullpen and will be counted on to get some BIG outs for the team. If Howell is the guy he was from 2013 to 2015 with the Dodgers, at only $3 million for 2017, he will both be a steal and replace Brett Cecil beautifully in the bullpen.

Contributor: Clayton Richer

5. Steve Pearce
4. Kendrys Morales
3. Devon Travis
2. Marcus Stroman
1. Jose Bautista

Having just authored an article on “Why the Blue Jays will be better in 2017” I think it is important that I include the two new Blue Jays additions on my list. Steve Pearce offers Manager John Gibbons some positional flexibility between 1B and OF, especially in the wake of the season that Justin Smoak is attempting to rebound from. If Pearce can find consistent at bats he has 25 home run potential and can be a diamond in the rough for the Blue Jays lineup.

Kendrys Morales will attempt to fill the Edwin Encarnacion void with his stick and in all likelihood should benefit from the homer-friendly confines of the Rogers Centre. Morales was tabbed by Steamer to connect for 24 home runs in 2017 but I think a 30 homer campaign is more likely.

A healthy Devon Travis could be the straw that stirs the Blue Jays’ drink on offence. Travis has a proven ability for having good at-bats and putting the ball in the play. He needs to be a fixture in the leadoff role for a good portion of the season and hopefully, make the injuries a thing of the past, once and for all.

Marcus Stroman talks the talk and in 2017 the Stro-show needs to walk the walk. Time for Stroman to pitch like the ace he thinks he is. Plain and simple Stroman needs to have an Aaron Sanchez type season. A dominant Stroman makes the Blue Jays rotation one through five the most feared in the majors.

Cue the Jose, Jose, Jose chants. Jose Bautista is back and more motivated than ever to send baseballs into orbit. Joey Bats combined with Morales will attempt to replace the power outage left by the departure of Encarnacion. Bautista if healthy, is a 40 home run threat this season and a good bet for comeback player of the year.

Final Verdicts

Thank you all for reading this far and a big thanks to my colleagues at Jays Journal for helping me put this piece together. As you will be able to tell, there were some similarities between a lot of the contributors but there were also some differences. Below are the number of times said player appeared on a list.

16. J.P Howell – 1

15. Marco Estrada – 1

14. Roberto Osuna – 1

13. Kevin Pillar – 1

12. Aaron Sanchez – 1

11. Jason Grilli – 1

10. Francisco Liriano – 2

9. Melvin Upton Jr. – 2

8. Joe Biagini – 3

7. Steve Pearce – 3

6. Dalton Pompey – 4

5. Devon Travis – 5

4. Kendrys Morales – 5

3. Marcus Stroman – 6

2. Troy Tulowitzki – 6

1. Jose Bautista – 8

After polling my colleagues, there are a few interesting omissions from this list. Keep in mind, it was purely at the discretion of the writers and their own personal opinions. I am surprised to see Ezequiel Carrera and J.A. Happ not on any of the writer’s list. It comes as little surprise to me that Josh Donaldson and Russell Martin were not on people’s list.

Jose Bautista was voted among the most interesting Toronto Blue Jay heading into 2017 and I think it’s safe to say that many would agree with the way the contributors voted.

Thank you again for reading and we hope you enjoyed the piece. Comment with your top 5 most interesting Toronto Blue Jays!