Blue Jays: How are 2021 Ex-Jays Making out in with new clubs

We are now almost two weeks into the 2022 MLB calendar and the Blue Jays are having a moderately successful season, Vladimir Guerrero Jr already has five home runs, Alek Manoah has had two superb starts, and the club is a game over .500.

I started wondering how players that have moved on are doing so I took a look.

Here are how are some of the members of the 2021 season are doing with their new clubs.

Marcus Semien – Texas Rangers

The Blue Jays got to see Marcus Semien early on in the season as they hosted Texas in the season opening weekend.  Semien was honoured with his Silver Slugger Award along with Guerrero Jr. and Teoscar Hernandez prior to the first game.  Unfortunately for Semien, that was as good as the weekend got for him as he went 1 for 13 with four strikeouts.  Things have not got much better for Semien as he has gone 5 for 29 over the next three series and has a season-opening slash line of .172/.219/.241 and he is still looking for his first home run of the year.

If Rangers fans are reading this don’t panic, Semien also had a rough start to 2021 as he was batting just .211 through April with 27 strikeouts in 95 at bats, and we all know how that season finished.

Robbie Ray – Seattle Mariners

Seattle Mariners fans had to be ecstatic after seeing Robbie Ray’s debut with the club.  The 2021 Cy Young Award winner started the Mariner’s Season Opener and was nothing short of dominant as he tossed seven innings surrendering just one run.  Ray had a bit of a hiccup in his second start as he picked up the loss after he surrendered six runs over 6.1 innings, but bounced back in his third start.

Ray is currently 2-1 with a 4.19 ERA over 19.1 innings, however, the earned run average is inflated because of the one bad start.

Randall Grichuk – Colorado Rockies

The Blue Jays moved Randal Grichuk and his two-years with nearly $21 Million owed to him to the Colorado Rockies during Spring Training.  Grichuk is having productive start to the season as he is 8 for 26 (.308) with a pair of doubles.  Grichuk is splitting time between centre field and right field to start the season and has been hitting in the seventh spot in the line-up.

Rowdy Tellez – Milwaukee Brewers

A fan favourite in Toronto, Rowdy Tellez just wasn’t able to find at bats in the lineup due to a stacked offence and as such, he was traded last year to the Brewers for Trevor Richards.  Tellez had a strong showing in the second half with Milwaukee and it has continued his offence into the 2022 season.  Through 11 games, the big power hitting first basemen is 9 for 33 (.273) with five extra-base hits and seven RBI.  Tellez has become the everyday first basemen with the Brewers and is primarily batting in the fifth spot.

Steven Matz – St. Louis Cardinals

The Blue Jays acquired Steven Matz with one-year of control left prior to the 2021 season and he was an effective starting pitcher that picked up 14 wins with a 3.82 ERA.  His bounce back season helped him secure a four-year deal worth $44 Million from the St. Louis Cardinals.  Matz looked impressive in his first two innings with the Cardinals in his debut, however, things fell off after that.  Matz would not make it out of the fourth inning as he had surrendered seven earned runs on nine hits through 3+ innings.  The lanky lefty was able to bounce back in his second start as he pitched into the sixth inning, allowing just three hits on no walks and no runs.

Former Blue Jays players from the previous years are finding success with their new clubs around Major League Baseball.

Corey Dickerson – St. Louis Cardinals

The Blue Jays took on the remaining contract of Corey Dickerson mid-season while he was injured as part of the Adam Cimber deal, and when he came back healthy he filled a nice fourth outfielder role.  I was an advocate to bring back Dickerson in the same role this year, but he ended up getting a one-year $5 Million deal with the Cardinals.  Dickerson had a solid Spring Training as he went 6 for 13 (.462), but it hasn’t translated into the regular season.  He has just three starts, which has come as the designated hitter and has only played one inning in the field.  The veteran is just 2 for 11 with a pair of walks to start the young season.