Blue Jays: Is it time to change gears?

As the season progresses into the month of September, how can the Toronto Blue Jays use the rest of the season to the best of their advantage? Is it time to bring up the youth for full time auditions or do they stay the course and try to live up to the #LetRISE marketing campaign?

The Blue Jays are currently sitting on the outside looking in at the Wild Card race in the American League and seemingly by the day the door is progressing to close. The team has shown flashes that they are going to make things interesting, but then are quickly slapped back into their place. This abysmal season just seems to keep going and teasing fans. So what do the Blue Jays do to make the best of the last bit of baseball left in this season? Is this where the Blue Jays rip things down and bring up the kids, or do they keep chugging away hoping and praying for the baseball gods to finally shine on them?

The nickname for the Blue Jay’s season might as well be Murphy’s Law. Injuries doomed the team early as the dug a huge hole to start the season. This team has had one of their best players on the DL for the entire season due to blister issues. Possible changes to the baseballs have caused Aaron Sanchez to basically take the season off. Having a Cy Young contender gone for the entire season will hurt any team as they struggle to fill that void for their ace.

Despite all of these downfalls, the Blue Jays have had one of the best attendance marks in baseball and have lingered around the .500 level all season. If this team somehow finds a way to get hot and get the the ever elusive .500 level, they are right in the thick of the Wild Card battle that looks to be raging until the final day of the season.

This also could be the time to bring up and showcase some of the talented youth in the Minors. Bringing up some of the kids could give the club a good look at what could be parts of their lineup next season. There have been plenty of players that have broken out this season throughout the system and maybe its time to access what you have with a MLB sample size over the next month or so. Let us dive into these options and see what could be the arguments for finishing up this season.

Case for staying the course

This team was built to be a winner and we are finally seeing the majority of the team healthy. Josh Donaldson has taken the team on his shoulders and has them grinding out every pitch of every inning. This offense could finally click and light things up as we were expecting heading into this season. Kendrys Morales has been in a wicked slump, but has shown signs of finally breaking out of it. He was able to hit a home run to get things going in the game Saturday afternoon against a red hot Minnesota Twins team. The also have been getting big contributions from Ryan Goins and Kevin Pillar of late. They have been putting up their best offense all season as of the last month so this could continue and become the new norm for the last month or so.

This offensive resurgence goes without even mentioning the team’s MVP for the season, Justin Smoak. No one could have predicted that Smoak would have lashed out at the plate like he has this season. He has a 35 home run season under his belt and has come up big in multiple situations throughout the season. While putting together an All-Star season at the plate, he has also been a defensive whiz at first and really has stabilized a position that was in flux entering this season.

The pitching is centralized behind a should be Cy Young contender in Marcus Stroman, as he continues to prove he is one of the most electric pitchers in the American League. The Stro-Show has been must see TV every start as he silences hitters and carries an intensity that lights a fire amidst his teammates. The issues around him have been leveling out of late as the rotation finally has found footing. Marco Estrada has recaptured the form that has made him a great starter over the past two seasons, and J.A. Happ has bounced back from some arm injuries early in the campaign. The rest of the rotation has been in question due to the injury of Aaron Sanchez, and the issues the Francisco Liriano had during the season. Spot starts from Chris Rowley, Tom Koehler, and soon to be Joe Biagini are going to help the team stay the course. Plus there is the chance that we still will get to Sanchez take the hill this season.

This team has a shot but the odds are not in their favor. Everything will have to fall into place perfectly as this team tries to kick the door off the hinges as the season continues to slowly close that door.

This is a flawed team don’t you think?

When looking at the way things have went this season and the events that have transpired, it is hard to believe that there is any chance this team will finally click. This team has done everything from blow huge leads, to play players in positions that they have not played in since high school. Is this the mark of a potential playoff contender heading forward when they lack the depth to fill holes in an every day lineup? This lack of above or average replacement level players has been a huge blow for a team that had made the playoffs over the past two seasons.

One example of this is the amount of playing time that Ryan Goins has received, playing in 110 games this season. When this season started he was part of the conversation as a possible trade candidate due to lack of options left on his contract. A plethora of injuries later and he has played in nearly every game this season. Goins is having a decent year as he has posted career highs in many offensive categories. The issue is the fact that he is currently ranked as the Jays 5th best RBI guy with 49.  That has him just behind Jose Bautista who has 54 on the season. This shows how rough the offense has struggled for production. Outside of Justin Smoak the team has had massive issues putting the ball in play efficiently.

We have also had Russel Martin and Josh Donaldson playing positions they have not played in years just to force extra offense. The idea this past series was Josh Donaldson can play short stop and Jose Bautista can play third once again. The issues with that are there really was not a solid upgrade to put on the field in right, so it really was just an injury risk for JD. JD is one of the most athletic players I have seen in years but the idea of working the keystone with someone he has not played with directly could have led to disaster. If Donaldson went for a double play and had a collision with Goins, Barney, or Refsnyder it would have been the end of his MVP like play for an extended period. Odd moves like this and lack of depth rarely lead a team to the promise land.