Blue Jays: Five Players Who Need to Have Career Years

There is no questioning the Toronto Blue Jays will be in tough in the American League East this season however if these five players can put it all together the Jays postseason prognosis will become much clearer.

Throughout the course of 162 games players always step up that weren’t necessarily expected to do so at that particular time in their respective careers. The last two seasons Blue Jays fans have witnessed the unexpected outburst or resurgence from a number of players.

The first base tandem of Justin Smoak and Chris Colabello in 2015 took everyone by surprise as the duo combined for 33 home runs and 113 runs batted in as both players enjoyed career years. Unfortunately, both players hit low points in 2016 and were not able to build on their career years.

Last season the emergence of Aaron Sanchez as one of the league’s premier hurlers was somewhat of a surprise due to the timing. Not sure many prognosticators predicted Sanchez would dominate the baseball world with that type of authority at that stage in his career.

So what players will step up in 2017 and lead the Blue Jays to the postseason?

Here are five candidates who need to have career years for their own personal reasons. Perhaps to shake their injury-prone status, others may be entering final years of their contracts or some may need to prove they belong in the majors.

Have a look at the five and let me know in the comments who you think is on the cusp of a career year in 2017.