Blue Jays: Ranking and Dissecting the First Half

Defence: C-

Kevin Pillar has been up to his usual tricks in centre field, routinely crashing into the wall, or diving into the turf to take away another potential hit. Hopefully this will be the year that he’s rewarded with a Gold Glove trophy, as he’s put together another highlight reel filled campaign with the glove.

With names on the roster like Donaldson, Tulowitzki, Russell Martin, Ryan Goins, and other strong defenders, it’s surprising to see that the team is sitting at -2.5 bWAR on defence as we hit the All-Star Break. Pillar is sitting at 0.8 dWAR earned thus far, but the situation isn’t pretty for many others.

Bautista is -1.2 on defence, and Ezequiel Carrera is close behind at -1.0, despite playing far fewer games in the outfield. “Zeke” has looked lost at times in left field, dropping balls and making odd choices about where to throw the ball. Steve Pearce hasn’t been much better in left either, sitting at -0.6. Shockingly, even Ryan Goins is in the red, sitting at -0.2.

On the plus side, Russell Martin has earned +0.3, and Donaldson has done in the same in limited action. Otherwise, things are pretty rough on the defensive end in Toronto, which is a little surprising considering how strong the defence has been in the last few years. We expected a few adventures in the corner outfield, but a negative 2.5 team rating didn’t seem like it would be in the cards, and yet here we are. Acquiring Miguel Montero won’t help either, as Luke Maile had earned the only other positive mark over 0.5, finishing with 0.6 before hitting the DL.