
The starting rotation
Arguably the greatest area of need for the Blue Jays this season was in their starting rotation, especially after Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez were dealt before the July 31st trade deadline. That said, there were encouraging performances from guys like Trent Thornton, Jacob Waguespack, and more, and the pitching cupboards don’t look quite as bare as they did a year ago.
If you were to create a rotation out of former Blue Jays, there were certainly some veteran arms that could have helped in 2019.
1- Matthew Boyd (DET)- 9-12, 4.56 ERA, 1.230 WHIP, 238 K’s in 185.1 IP, 3.5 bWAR
2- David Price (BOS)- 7-5, 4.28 ERA, 1.314 WHIP, 128 K’s in 107.1 IP, 1.9 bWAR
3- Brett Anderson (OAK)- 13-9, 3.89 ERA, 1.307 WHIP, 176 IP, 2.7bWAR
4- J.A. Happ (NYY)- 12-8, 4.91 ERA, 1.295 WHIP, 161.1 IP, 1.2bWAR
5- Daniel Norris (DET)- 3-13, 4.49 ERA, 1.330 WHIP, 29 starts, 144.1, 2.9 bWAR
Oddly enough the entire group is made up of southpaws, and there are some decent ones among the lot. Matt Boyd was one of the hotter trade commodities on the market in July before he tanked a bit in the second half, but he’s a solid place to start.
From there things move into a veteran group of Price, Anderson, and Happ, who would all help you get by. Price was a little bit better than the stats would indicate while he dealt with some injuries, and Anderson was an excellent value signing for the Oakland A’s, something they do better than almost anyone.
Happ struggled a bit in New York after re-signing this past off-season, but he at least managed to stay healthy when the rest of the Yankee roster was decimated by injuries. Norris’ numbers are much better than his record would indicate, and also further proof of why that stat is pretty irrelevant these days.
So the group of former Blue Jays may be a little left-hand heavy, but they wouldn’t make for a bad rotation at all these days.