Toronto Blue Jays: Top 10 Players of the 2021 Season

As the 2021 Blue Jays season has come to an end, the team had several outstanding performances.  I took a look at who I thought were the ten best players for the Toronto Blue Jays from this past season.

10.

George Springer – 19 doubles, 22 home runs, 50 RBI, .264/.352/.555
It is hard to believe that a player that played less than half the season could be a Top 10 player on his team, but when George Springer was in the lineup he was a difference maker.  Springer played in 78 games and in that time the Blue Jays posted a 48-30 record (.615) compared to 43-41 (.512) when he was out of the lineup.

Springer took home three Player of the Week Awards this season, while finishing second on the team in both Slugging Percentage (.555) and OPS (.907).  He collected 22 home runs in just 342 plate appearances and if you projected that over 700 plate appearances Springer would have himself 45 home runs.  Springer showed that when healthy the massive contract he earned this past offseason is worth every penny. Springer will be manning centre field for the next half decade and it will be fun to see what he can produce in a full season.

9.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr – 25 doubles, 21 home runs, 84 RBI, .276/.319/.466
On a team of upbeat players, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. may be the most entertaining as he always brings a fun attitude.  While his routes to balls in the outfield aren’t the prettiest, he makes up for it with a laser of an arm which led the team in outfield assists with 16 this year, and seven of those being by way of double plays.

To start he season things were not looking good for the Cuban born player as on May 12, Gurriel Jr. was batting just .193 through 32 games.  However, he got things going after that which included four straight multi-hit games in mid-May.  Over the remaining 109 games of the season, Gurriel posted a slash line of .302/.349/.525 and slugged 44 extra base hits. He also tied a franchise record with four grand slams in a single season this year.

You will likely see Gurriel Jr. back in left field next season as he will be entering year five of six of his team friendly contract that will see him make just under $5 million, which is a $1 million raise over this year’s contract.

8.

Steven Matz – 14-7, 3.82 ERA, 1.33 WHIP
Shortly before 2021 Spring Training started, Ross Atkins acquired Steven Matz for three prospects and he proved it to be a good trade as the southpaw resembled more of the pitcher he was early in his career over the one who finished with no wins and a 9.68 ERA in 2020.

Matz looked brilliant to start the season as he picked up wins in each of his first four starts while posting a 2.31 ERA.  However, he then went on an inconsistent stretch where he would be dominant in one game and then get hit around in the next.  Between April 28 and July 28, Matz posted a 4-6 record with a 5.37 ERA over 14 starts, however, during that time he had five starts of at least five innings and two or less runs.

After the trade deadline when the calendar turned to August, Matz got hot.  He started 11 games to finish the season and posted a 6-1 record with a 2.69 ERA during those starts.  In those final 11 outings Matz allowed more than two earned runs in just one game.  In total, the left-handed starter finished with 14 wins which tied him with Hyun Jin Ryu for the team lead.  Matz now becomes a free agent and it is unclear how hard the Blue Jays management will go at bringing him back, but at the right price who could be a valuable piece in 2022.

7.

Alek Manoah – 9-2, 3.22 ERA, 1.05 WHIP
The 2019 first round pick made a memorable major league debut on May 27 as Alek Manoah  dominated the New York Yankees hitters over six innings that saw him strikeout seven on two hits and no runs.  Throughout the season Manoah had a couple small hiccups, but for the most part he showed that he has front of the rotation stuff.  Manoah started 20 games this season and in 11 of those he tossed at least six innings and allowed two or fewer runs.  The big righty tossed at least seven innings this season on four occasions and allowed a total of one run in those starts.  He also recorded double digit strikeouts four times this season.

What is the most impressive stat is the team was 16-4 in games that Manoah started.  As a rookie Manoah threw at least 100-pitches on five different occasions with 114 being his maximum on August 11 against the Los Angeles Angels.  Manoah finished with a 2.8 WAR, which ranked sixth on the team.

Manoah joins Jose Berrios and Hyun Jin Ryu as locks for the starting rotation to start the 2022 season.

4.

Bo Bichette – 30 doubles, 29 home runs, 102 RBI, .298/.343/.484
Bo Bichette had the best offensive season by any shortstop in Blue Jays history during the 2021 season.  Bichette batted all over the top of the order this season, primarily in the second spot, but really found his niche when he was moved into the fourth spot.  In 51 games batting in the clean-up role, Bichette posted a slash line of .314/.352/.536 while collecting 21 extra-base hits.

Offensively speaking, Bichette was absolutely dominant as he became a 20-20 player for the first time in his career (20 home runs, 20 stolen bases).  He led the league in hits (191) while leading all American League shortstops in home runs (29), RBI (102), stolen bases (25) and third in batting average (.298), which will likely lead to his first Silver Slugger award.

It was spoken often at the beginning of the season that Bichette’s downfall was his defensive play as he made 20 errors through his first 91 games this season.  He even had a stretch of five errors over five games in late July, however, in his final 57 games the 23 year old made just four errors and he even went the final 20 games of the season without any. Many credit the continuous teachings of Marcus Semien for his improvement and with the habits that were built this season, you can expect continued improvement.

3.

Marcus Semien – 39 doubles, 45 home runs, 102 RBI, .265/.334/.538
If Marcus Semien does not return to the Blue Jays, he will go down as one of the greatest one-season Blue Jays in franchise record.  After not being offered a competitive contract by the Oakland Athletics after the 2020 season, Ross Atkins was able to get the former AL MVP candidate to ink a one-year deal with the Blue Jays.  Semien had arguably the greatest offensive seasons by a primary second basemen in MLB history and if it wasn’t the best, he will at least have the record for home runs by a player at that position.

Semien was named AL Player of the Month in May when he collected 21 extra-base hits and had a slash line of .368/.429/.702.  While all the talk is about Vladimir Guerrero Jr. or Shohei Ohtani for AL MVP, Semien will receive several votes as well. He finished second in all of baseball positional players with a 7.1 WAR and is the hands down favourite for the Silver Slugger award at his position.  Semien led all second basemen in OPS (.873), home runs (45) and RBI (102), while finishing second in doubles (39) and third in stolen bases (15).

It would be hard to find a Blue Jays fan that does not want to see Semien return next season, but the Blue Jays may get priced out by the bidding war that will happen.

2.

Robbie Ray – 13-7, 2.84 ERA, 1.05 WHIP
The answer is Travis Bergen, that is what it cost the Blue Jays to acquire Robbie Ray at the 2020 trade deadline.  Once the season ended, the Blue Jays and Ray quickly agreed to a one-year deal worth $8 million and what a deal that was. That’s an incredible bargain for the pitcher that is going to win the 2021 Cy Young Award.

Ray should be a 20-game winner with how he pitched this season, yet finished with just 13 due to lack of support the offence gave him in his starts.  Ray had 12 no-decisions this season, and in those games he posted a 2.41 ERA and 1.03 WHIP, which would put him amongst the league leaders in just those games.

Ray is who I believe to be the front runner for the Cy Young Award as he led the American League in ERA (2.84), innings pitched (193.1), strikeouts (248) and WHIP (1.05).  Ray is the all-time major league leader in strikeouts per nine innings (11.2) and he had an even higher rate than that this season at 11.5.  Ray led the league in starts this season with 32 and in those games allowed more than three runs just four times.

If Ray wins the Cy Young, he will join Roy Halladay, Pat Hentgen and Roger Clemens as Toronto Blue Jays to win the award.  He is now a free agent and can sign with any team, I believe he should be the priority for the team to bring back.

1.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr – 29 doubles, 48 home runs, 111 RBI, .311/.401/.601
Some, not a lot, but some fans tweeted out after the 2020 season that they thought Vladimir Guerrero Jr was a bust and I’ll say it, they were wrong.  On April 6, 2021, Guerrero Jr went 0 for 3 at the plate and his batting average dropped to .267 that would be the only day in the entire season that it would be below .307.

Even the casual Blue Jays fan is aware of the season that Guerrero Jr. just had and how he is likely one of two guys that will factor heavily into the AL MVP. voting  If it went to the positional player alone, Vlady would win it hands down, but the fact that Shohei Ohtani had the season he had on the mound, along with his .257 batting average (can you tell the sarcasm) brings up the debate.

Guerrero Jr. set the MLB record for most home runs by a player aged 22 or younger when he hit 48 this season.  He led the American League in Runs (123), home runs (48), on-base percentage (.401), slugging percentage (.601), OPS (1.002) and total bases (363).  He played in his first All-Star Game where he took home game’s MVP award.

He finished the season with the second most home runs in a single season in franchise history, while also finishing with the fifth highest OPS.  The question now will be when will they lock him up to a 10-year deal and how much will it cost.

Who was your top 10, and did I miss anyone you thought should be in there?