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Toronto Blue Jays- The Pursuit of a More Productive Outfield

By Cory Hildenbrand

TORONTO, ON - MAY 10: Teoscar Hernandez #37 of the Toronto Blue Jays and Jonathan Davis #49 and Randal Grichuk #15 jog off the field after their victory during MLB game action against the Chicago White Sox at Rogers Centre on May 10, 2019 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - MAY 10: Teoscar Hernandez #37 of the Toronto Blue Jays and Jonathan Davis #49 and Randal Grichuk #15 jog off the field after their victory during MLB game action against the Chicago White Sox at Rogers Centre on May 10, 2019 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /
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BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JULY 16: Teoscar Hernandez #37 of the Toronto Blue Jays (back right), Randal Grichuk #15 of the Toronto Blue Jays (C) and Billy McKinney #28 of the Toronto Blue Jays embrace in the outfield after the victory over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on July 16, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Omar Rawlings/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JULY 16: Teoscar Hernandez #37 of the Toronto Blue Jays (back right), Randal Grichuk #15 of the Toronto Blue Jays (C) and Billy McKinney #28 of the Toronto Blue Jays embrace in the outfield after the victory over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on July 16, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Omar Rawlings/Getty Images) /

The 2019 Blue Jays outfield ranked near the bottom of the league. What avenues should the front office pursue to obtain better results?

With the 2020 MLB season currently on hold, let’s take a look back at the Blue Jays 2019 outfield. The front office made some significant additions to the starting rotation, and they already have a predominantly homegrown infield, which many people expect to make big strides forward, but what about the Jays outfield?

The 2019 Blue Jay’s lined up 14 different outfielders throughout the season. The most common names on the lineup card were Randal Grichuk, Teoscar Hernandez, Billy McKinney, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr.   This group produced less then steller work with both the glove and the bat.   When we compare their results with the teams that made the playoffs in 2019, the results are staggering.

Team         DRS           UZR         WAR        OBP

Jays           -27          – 11.6         1.6           .286

Astros        51             23.2         15.1         .344

Dodgers    51             18             17.7         .343

Yankees    30              15.6         14.2         .348

Nationals  24              5.9           10.1         .358

Brewers    25             13.8          12.8         .359

Athletics   20             10.9           10.8        .337

Braves        8               -0.9            9.3          .344

Cardinals    4               13.2           6.8          .330

Twins         11              14.7          10.5        .321

Rays          12                 3.9           10.8        .335

In the small illustration above, with the stats provided by Fangraphs.com, you can see that the Blue Jays ranked near the bottom of the league in many defensive and offensive statistics.  Let’s take a look at how the Blue Jays could change the results from the outfield.

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