Blue Jays: 5 Positive Takeaways from the 2017 Season

The Toronto Blue Jays have struggled for the better part of the 2017 campaign and are destined to finish sequestered in the basement of the American League East. Numerous reasons and excuses can be argued but at the end of the day the Blue Jays underperformed and their inability to clinch victories during tight games was their Achilles heel all season long.

Following the past two postseason runs, it seemed natural the Blue Jays would contend for a playoff berth once again in 2017 however that was never the case from the get-go. The Jays stumbled out of the gate and got off to a horrendous start in April digging themselves a gigantic hole and forcing them to play catch-up for the remainder of the season.

The Blue Jays 25-man roster was snake-bitten with an assortment of nagging injuries as well it was evident that Father Time caught up to a number of Blue Jays stars who the team heavily relied upon for offense in seasons past.

Regardless of where they finish in the standings the glass is still half full as there were a number of bright spots in 2017 to build off of moving forward into 2018. The brain trust appears poised to build a winner for 2018 with reportedly no intentions of blowing it up.

So without further ado, here are you 5 positive takeaways for the 2017 season.

Justin Smoak Morphs Into Complete Player

Heading into spring training the general Blue Jays public were ready to ship Justin Smoak off the proverbial island. Nobody could have predicted what the first baseman was going to accomplish during the six months.

Smoak was the most consistent hitter in the Blue Jays lineup all season long as he made his General Manager look like a genius for locking him for two seasons on the cheap in 2016 when the baseball world had lost faith in his abilities as a player. Smoak will earn a below market value $4.125 million next season including a $6 million team option for 2019 which will still be a steal if Smoak can duplicate his offensive output from this season.

The 30-year old enjoyed a career year that included his first All-Star appearance at the mid-summer classic in Miami. Smoak is currently batting .281/.361/.556 with 37 round trippers, only two homers off the AL lead. The native of South Carolina eclipsed his previous career highs in hits, runs batted in and homers to name a few of his offensive bests.

He has solidified his spot for next season as his power surge hushed all the Rowdy Tellez talk especially seeing that Tellez struggled mightily this season with the Triple-A Bisons. Smoak’s 3.3 WAR in 2017 doubled all his previous wins above replacement totals combined.

Bullpen Aligned Well For 2018

Generally, when a team is nestled in the cellar of their division, you would not expect the bullpen to be a positive takeaway from a disappointing season. However, there are a number of relievers who asserted themselves as legit major league talents in 2017 and the bullpen is aligned well for next season.

The emergence of Ryan Tepera, Danny Barnes, Dominic Leone and most recently Carlos Ramirez have the Blue Jays sitting pretty for 2018. The numbers would be even better had Manager John Gibbons not have to use and abuse his bullpen time and time again due to the inefficiencies of his starters. I guess it has to be expected when you are forced to trot out 14 different starters to the bump in a season.

Tepera has an earned average of 3.52 in 66 appearances, Barnes 3.64 in 53 appearances and Leone who has arguably been their best reliever has a 2.66 earned run average in 58 contests. Now add September call-up Carlos Ramirez to the mix and you have a nice corps in place moving forward. Ramirez did not allow an earned run all season long on the farm and has yet to yield a run in 4 appearances with the big club.

If closer Roberto Osuna can sort out his inconsistencies the Jays will be able to focus their attention on other areas of the team for improvement as the bullpen looks adequate to hold down the fort.

Stro-Show Asserts Himself As Rotation Ace

Marcus Stroman rebounded from a disappointing 2016 season to assert himself as the ace of the rotation this season.The hurler put himself on the map on the International stage during the World Baseball Classic Tourney and never looked back after the season kicked off.

The Stro-Show is 11-7 with a tidy 3.18 earned run average while fanning 148 in 178.1 innings of work so far this season. In a year where Aaron Sanchez spent the majority of the campaign on the disabled list battling blister issues and Marco Estrada relapsed to his Milwaukee days, Stroman took the torch and ran with it.

Stroman has made 29 starts this season and has allowed 2 runs or less in 20 of those appearances, those numbers would suggest the 26-year old is ready to take it to the next level and push his name into the Cy Young conversation in 2018.

The ground-ball pitcher is arguably one of the most entertaining hurlers to watch work on the bump as he specializes in throwing off the opposition’s timing with stutter starts, stops and mixing in the odd shimmy shake. This usually all happens much to the chagrin of the batter and the umpires who struggle to decipher when Stroman has started his wind-up.

The sky is the limit in 2018 for Stroman.

The Future Is Bright For 2018 And Beyond

The Toronto Blue Jays have one of the most exciting and promising farm systems in all of baseball as fan countdown the days until Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. are manning the left side of the Jays infield.

Even aside from the dynamic duo, there is a bushel full of young talent marinating on the farm. The likes of Anthony Alford, Teoscar Hernandez, Richard Urena, Ryan Borucki, Danny Jansen, and Nate Pearson are just a few of the more tantalizing talents who are the property of the Blue Jays.

Bo Bichette had a year for the ages hitting .362/.423/.565 with 14 home runs and 22 stolen bases between Lansing and Dunedin. The 19-year old owns a career .372 batting average in 132 professional games.

Vladdy Jr. was named the ESPN Prospect of the Year earlier this week,  he had already catapulted to #2 on the Baseball America Top 100 list. Guerrero hit .323/.425/.485 with 13 home runs and 76 bases on balls in 119 games.

The Jays farm system has done a complete 180 since being emptied for the 2015 postseason run when the Daniel Norris‘ and Jeff Hoffman‘s of the world were shipped out of town for a chance at a playoff winner.

Exciting times in 2018 and beyond to see what the kids can do at the major league level.