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

The Rest Of The Lineup

I’ve already alluded to the pending change at third base, and chances are you are more than aware of it already, but let’s go over it one more time, shall we?

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will make his way to Toronto at some point soon, even if the Blue Jays wouldn’t mind seeing him take an extended stay in Buffalo to make sure he’s up to speed. It’s no longer about service time and all about what’s best for the player, so fans don’t have to worry about conspiracies here.

Back to the topic at hand though, Guerrero serves as as “next man up” for Drury right now, but that’s really just a formality until he’s ready, and really doesn’t apply in the same way as the rest of the situations we’re talking about here. In a more accurate sense, Drury is a bit of a placeholder for Vlad Jr. at the moment, but he will probably still get occasional starts at the hot corner even after the wunderkid’s promotion.

As for the rest of the lineup, the outfield could be an interesting thing to figure out for Charlie Montoyo this season. I think it’s safe to say that Randal Grichuk will be a fixture out there, and probably will receive the majority of starts in centre field. Beyond the freshly inked outfielder, there are a lot of variables at play.

For the moment the depth chart is made up of McKinney, Socrates Brito, and Teoscar Hernandez, and I expect that only the latter would have much job security. The club seems to be high on McKinney, but I would think he’ll have to perform in order to maintain his gig, especially with other options available. Brito is more or less getting a tryout in Toronto at the moment, and it’s really hard to say what to expect from him, if anything.

Beyond that group, the Blue Jays obviously have Anthony Alford in Buffalo who is chomping at the bit to get back on the major league roster. If the decision were up to me he’d likely already be a lineup fixture, but I know the Blue Jays want to prioritize consistent playing time for him, and perhaps don’t feel they can give him that in Toronto at the moment.

After Alford likely comes Jonathan Davis, who got a cup of coffee in the big leagues last season and is currently on the 10 day injured list, and hopefully we’ll eventually see a healthy Dalton Pompey later this year. It’s a shame Pompey suffered another concussion late in spring training, otherwise he’d likely be getting a pretty good opportunity right now after the trade of Kevin Pillar.

Last but not least, the Blue Jays could always use some of their versatile infielders in the corner outfield, such as Drury, Gurriel Jr. and Urena, who all have some experience out there. Devon Travis was also working on left field before he injured his knee this spring, so there could be all kinds of options at some point.