Blue Jays: The Five Burning Questions for the 2018 season

Will we see Bo and Vlad this season?

The most talked about prospects in the Blue Jays system have had fans buzzing all spring long, and with good reason. They’ve looked even better than they did in 2017, when each of them were Minor League All-Stars and tore apart both Low and High-A. They started their seasons in Lansing with the Lugnuts, and were promoted together to the Dunedin Blue Jays later on, which didn’t slow either player down much at all, if any.

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That impressive performance has continued into Grapefruit League action this spring, and has even pushed a few people to ask if they’re ready for the big leagues right now. The answer is almost certainly no, but they may be even closer than we think. At just 20 and 19 years old it would likely benefit each of them to play a couple more seasons of minor league baseball in an ideal scenario, but their performance will likely dictate otherwise ultimately.

As for if we’ll see them in 2018 with the Blue Jays, that depends on a lot of factors. It’s hard to imagine them being promoted to a team in contention, especially with so many others who are further along in their development, and higher up the depth chart. For example, for Bo Bichette to get the call to play shortstop or second base, he’s behind Tulowitzki, Travis, Solarte, Diaz, Danny Espinosa, Gift Ngoepe, Richard Urena, and maybe more. And that’s assuming he shows the same promise in Double-A that he did last year Single-A.

If the Blue Jays have a rough start to the year and start selling veterans this summer, there’s a small chance the dynamic duo could be promoted to fill in for a potentially departed Donaldson, or maybe others. However, there’s always the issue of starting their arbitration clocks earlier than need be, and there’s not much sense in rushing the process for a losing season. And again, in that scenario there is plenty of other depth that could come first.

The most likely scenario in my mind is they’re pushing for a big league roster spot next spring, and their major league careers begin in 2019. It could happen this year, and maybe they are ready for the big time, but I just don’t see the situation playing out that way regardless of how things look in the standings for the Blue Jays. I’m repeatedly blown away by the talents of each of these two though, so nothing would really surprise me that much.

Next: Bring on a Stro' vs Sanchez competition

What other burning questions do you have about the Blue Jays heading into a new season? As always, feel free to leave them in the comments section below and let us know what you think of the five we included here.