
Devon Travis
It is no surprise that second baseman Devon Travis would make the list of candidates who need to have a career year in 2017. Travis has missed 161 games to injury over the past two seasons and might need a breakout campaign more than any other Blue Jays players.
Travis needs to not only prove the doubters but also himself that he is capable of handling the rigors of a complete baseball season. Furthermore, the Blue Jays offence needs him to be in John Gibbons lineup every day.
The upstart Travis has already been anointed the leadoff hitter if healthy and is an integral cog in the Blue Jays offence setting the table for the big bats that follow him in the lineup. When in the lineup Travis is a career .301 hitter with an .811 OPS, 19 home runs, 85 runs batted in and 7 stolen bases in 163 major league games.
If Travis can put his shoulder and knee injuries behind him the Blue Jays playoff chances increase ten-fold. The 26-year-old has a knack for battling opposition pitchers and consistently stringing together quality at-bats and hitting to all fields.
There is a significant dropoff offensively with Ryan Goins and Darwin Barney who are the replacements for Travis should he no be ready to go or suffers a setback in 2017.