Blue Jays: Around the diamond, who might be the next man up

For an ever-evolving Blue Jays roster that could see injury, underperformance, and even more trades, who would be the next man up around the diamond?

The other day I saw a tweet from Ben Nicholson-Smith about the Blue Jays’ lineup from one year ago to now, and it was starting to see how many changes have happened in that time. I was fully aware of each of them, but when you look at how thoroughly this roster has turned over, it’s pretty wild to think about.

From April 9th of last year there are eight players that have been traded including Josh Donaldson, Kendrys Morales, Russell Martin, Curtis Granderson, Steve Pearce, J.A. Happ, Kevin Pillar, and Aledmys Diaz, with only Justin Smoak and Devon Travis remaining. As a result we’re watching a young roster that is largely unrecognizable to the average Canadian baseball fan, and one that will continue to evolve this season, and as the franchise continues their rebuild.

That’s not a bad thing by any means, as the Blue Jays’ aging roster clearly needed a rehaul, and we’ve already witnessed a pretty significant start to that work. While I have a lot of faith in this young roster, it’s entirely possible that some of them may need a short stint in Triple-A at some point this year, and of course the roster could change in other ways like injuries, or even a few more trades.

How would the Blue Jays handle a “next man up” scenario if they were faced with it right now? Let’s have a look at the depth they’ve got to cover any potential roster needs.