Blue Jays: Guerrero Jr. and Chapman recognized for defensive play

The Toronto Blue Jays boast one of the most talented lineups in the league although they can be streaky at times. As a whole, the Jays have power throughout their entire batting order and boast some Cy Young calibre starters in Kevin Gausman and Alek Manoah, with Jordan Romano closing out games and ranking as one of the top closers in the league.

Each year, Baseball America hands out ballots to all of the Major League Baseball teams for managers, coaches, scouts, and front office executives to vote on which players have excelled in different categories looking at areas such as hitting, defensive ability, and baserunning.

With the votes now cast and collected, two Blue Jays players find themselves being recognized within the American League, as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was voted Defensive First Baseman while Matt Chapman was voted Best Defensive Third Baseman and Best Infield Arm.

In his third full season at first base, Guerrero Jr. came up through the organization on the opposite side of the diamond but made the move to not only open up space for other incoming players but was also a better fit for the Montreal-born slugger.

Two Blue Jays players found themselves ranked by coaches, scouts, and executives across the league in Baseball America’s MLB Best Tools voting.

While there was a learning curve in his first season, Guerrero Jr. has made strides over the past two seasons, making not only the routine plays but also being able to tricky pick plays as necessary. Guerrero Jr. boasts a 4 bDRS and a -2 Outs Above Average (OAA), sporting a .990 fielding percentage with eight errors on the year. Other teams are starting to take notice of Guerrero Jr. and his plays at first base and it shows with this recognition from Baseball America.

Everybody knows Matt Chapman is an elite defender, as the two-time platinum glove winner has made a name for his consistent play on the left side of the diamond. Chapman is up to his old tricks again this season, as he continues to make insane plays look easy and is able to handle the tough shots down the line.

While some of his advanced stats aren’t eye-popping with his 2 bDRS and 0 OAA but once again, people around the league are taking notice of his play and he sports the top fielding percentage across the MLB for third baseman (.986). He also sits fourth in terms of assists (223) and is tied for first in putouts (121) through 1058.0 innings of work.

The Blue Jays had two different pitchers find themselves ranking in the top three in two different categories, including:

Alek Manoah: Best Slider (3rd)

Kevin Gausman: Best Changeup/Splitter (2nd)