Blue Jays: The leadoff spot is definitely up for grabs right now

Devon Travis

Let’s start here, mostly because he’s been the most frequently used leadoff hitter in recent years, at least of the players still with the Blue Jays.

The talented second baseman gave us a lot of hope in the early part of his career, as he showed an ability to hit for .300, and served as a pretty useful piece ahead of the likes of Bautista, Josh Donaldson, Edwin Encarnacion, and the rest of the Blue Jays power hitters. Of course, his much bigger issue was the ability to stay healthy and in the lineup, a struggle that has really taken a lot from his MLB career so far.

Last year he did manage to stay on the diamond, which was a big plus, but unfortunately he wasn’t quite the same hitter he had been in the past. He finished 2018 with a slash line of .232/.275/.382 in 103 games, collecting 378 at bats. He also spent some time in Triple-A early on in the year when he was really struggling, but even after he returned we never really saw the best of Travis.

I wouldn’t rule out a bounce back by any means, but he will have to continue to stay healthy, which was a big win for him and the Blue Jays last year even if his peak performance didn’t come with it. He’ll also need to earn regular playing time in order to be seen as a leadoff hitter, unless the Blue Jays plan to rotate a few different guys through the spot in the order. As things currently stand, it appears that Freddy Galvis will get the majority of starts at shortstop, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is expected to start the majority of the time as well, which will likely come at second base. Brandon Drury could also slide over and see some time there as well, especially after Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is promoted a few weeks into the season.

All that being said, the Blue Jays are clearly being open-minded about getting Travis into the lineup, especially because they’re considering using him a bit in left field this year. It remains to be seen if he can handle the task at the big league level, but if his bat is pushing it’s way into the lineup then don’t be surprised to see him get a few opportunities.

Travis is also an especially interesting case because I could see him legitimately needing to fight for his job on the 25 man roster this spring, and into the early part of the season. They’re going to need to find regular playing time for Gurriel Jr., Galvis, Drury, and others in the outfield as well, so Travis is going to need to perform well enough to justify his spot in the lineup, and maybe even the roster.

For now, he’s a legitimate candidate for the leadoff spot, especially in the early part of the season. It is possible though that if he’s not performing well enough for that job, that he could be hard pressed to have a job in Toronto at all.