Blue Jays: It’s early, but I’ll still admit that I was wrong

Who will sit when everyone’s healthy?

One of the more exciting debates of the winter was about how the Blue Jays would sort out the playing time with a healthy roster, and also the best way to maximize production from the lineup.

Since Springer has yet to make his Blue Jays debut it really hasn’t been an issue so far, but we might be finally reaching a point where Charlie Montoyo will have all of his weapons at his disposal. A month ago, I believed the player that would suffer the most when that happened would be Randal Grichuk, but I’m no longer so sure that’s the case.

With Springer, Teoscar Hernandez, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. the Blue Jays have a fully stocked outfield picture without Grichuk, which was why many people believed he might be traded over the winter. With the benefit of hindsight it’s a good thing that he wasn’t moved, as he’s been a key contributor through the first 20 games and has covered for Springer’s absence in centre field.

My belief was that the battle for at-bats would ultimately come down to Grichuk vs. Rowdy Tellez, who could act as the primary designated hitter, or sit in favour of Hernandez with Grichuk bringing an upgrade to the outfield defence. That may still turn out to be a key battle, but at the moment it might be Lourdes Gurriel Jr. who could see a reduction in playing time, or possibly Hernandez as well if he can’t return at full strength from a positive Covid test.

It’s hard to say how it’ll work out, but what I do know is that Grichuk has shown that he still deserves to be playing every day, and my guess is that will continue one way or another, even with a healthy roster.