Blue Jays: Evaluating the first half of a difficult 2019 season

Now that we’re officially at the halfway point of the 2019 season, let’s spend some time evaluating what’s gone well, and what’s gone wrong so far.

We knew the Blue Jays were going to take their lumps once they committed to going to a full rebuild, but I expected things to go a little better than they have so far.

There have been highlights and reasons for excitement and optimism, but I can’t always blame many of the fans for being frustrated with a lost season, especially one with so many games yet to be played. Throw in trade rumours for some of the most useful players still kicking around like Marcus Stroman or Ken Giles, and it’s not hard to envision things getting worse too, somehow.

That said, as the young players on this team continue to gain MLB experience, they are going to improve not only this season, but more importantly, for what’s to come later in this rebuild. That’s not always the easiest selling point, but we’re seeing the proof with young talents like Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Cavan Biggio, and more, and that matters whether it feels like it right at the moment or not.

The halfway point of the season feels like a good place to start to evaluate how things have gone, so I figured that’s exactly what I’d do here today. Despite the fact that the ‘boys in blue’ are just 29-52, it hasn’t been all bad.

So let’s break things down and see what’s gone right and wrong for the 2019 Blue Jays so far, and have a glance and what we can expect in the 2nd half.