Blue Jays: The pleasant surprises made up for any disappointments

Looking back on a long 162 game regular season for the Blue Jays in 2022, a lot has happened, and there have been pleasant surprises, and disappointments along the way.

Doesn’t it seem like a lifetime ago that Charlie Montoyo was the Blue Jays’ skipper? In reality it was less than three months ago when he was dismissed on July 13th, and the reigns of the club were handed to John Schneider. If we’re talking about disappointments, the Blue Jays’ record under Montoyo would certainly qualify as they were just 46-42 under his leadership in 2022. Thankfully the pleasant surprise in the coaching situation was that they went 46-28 for coach Schneider, putting themselves firmly back into the postseason race and eventually in as the #4 seed.

It was always supposed to be a playoff season for the Blue Jays, and that’s because of the deep and talented roster they entered the season with, at least on paper. Unfortunately not all plans to come to fruition though, and the Blue Jays were reminded of that again this year.

Near the top of the list of disappointments has to be what they ultimately got from the top five starting pitchers they broke camp with. Hyun Jin Ryu struggled early in the year before eventually having to shut things down and have Tommy John surgery, ending his 2022 season and possibly even his time on the mound with the Blue Jays. His contract is up after the 2023 campaign and there’s no telling whether he’ll be healthy for any portion of next season. Then there was underperformance from both Jose Berrios and Yusei Kikuchi. The former was the club’s Opening Day starter and struggled to a 5.23 ERA over 32 starts, good for -0.6 bWAR. As for Kikuchi, he eventually lost his spot in the rotation completely and was on the cusp of being designated for assignment with how rough things got for him this summer.

As bad as that sounds, the Blue Jays had a pair of pleasant surprises in the rotation that arguably made up for it. A year after getting a literal Cy Young performance from Robbie Ray, Alek Manoah may have been even better for the Blue Jays in 2022, which came in his sophomore season. He finished the year going 16-7 with a 2.24 ERA and a 0.992 WHIP, making an appearance in the All-Star game, and solidifying himself as one of MLB’s most exciting young pitchers. Not that Manoah pitching well was a surprise, but I don’t think many predicted him to post some of the best stats in franchise history as a second-year player.

As if Manoah’s emergence wasn’t enough, the Blue Jays were extremely fortunate to get a career year from Ross Stripling. The 32 year old moved into the rotation after Ryu went down to injury, and he provided some badly needed stability to the group. He finished the regular season with a 10-4 record, a 3.01 ERA, and a 1.020 WHIP across 32 appearances including 24 starts. He was always viewed as solid depth in the event that the rotation experienced injuries, but he’s been so good that he’s pitched himself into the playoff rotation, and his performance will eventually be handsomely rewarded when he hits free agency over the winter.

On the position player side there wasn’t a whole lot of blatant disappointments. We could talk about how George Springer battled injuries again this year, or how Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette didn’t quite live up to their usual standards, even if the latter played so well over the last month and a half that his full-season stats won’t show much of a dip. In general most of the Blue Jays’ offence took a bit of a step back, but that was also true for the league as a whole in 2022. The good news is that the offence has been rolling lately, and the timing works nicely as they head into the playoffs this weekend.

So while there were a few disappointments in the batter’s box, I’d argue that the pleasant surprises outweighed them once again, especially in the form of Alejandro Kirk and Danny Jansen. The Blue Jays have to be the envy of baseball when it comes to their catching talent, especially when you consider that they barely used a top five prospect in Gabriel Moreno who is clearly MLB ready at this point.

Kirk played so well that he was rewarded with a start in the All-Star game, and with good reason. His bat slowed a bit in the second half, but it wasn’t just his hitting that made him valuable to the Blue Jays this year. He took some major defensive strides and has become one of the better pitch framer’s in the game, and has also developed a strong chemistry with the pitching staff, including with their staff ace in Alek Manoah.

Meanwhile, Jansen twice hit the IL and looked like he might experience another frustrating season lost mostly due to injuries, but he more than made up for it when he was active and in the lineup. In just 215 at-bats Jansen slugged 15 home runs and collected 44 RBI, slashing .260/.339/.516 in the process. The output was far more than the Blue Jays would have ever hoped for, and it’s at the point where Jansen has legitimately earned at-bats as the DH when Kirk is behind the plate. I know a lot of big Danny Jansen fans, but I don’t think even they would claim that they saw this coming. Combined the duo hit 29 home runs and had 107 RBI, which is a major boost to an already deep and dangerous group of hitters.

I could go on about the specific pleasant surprises and disappointments on the regular season that has just passed us, but I hope the point has mostly been made with the examples I’ve already mentioned. While not everything went as well as most Blue Jays fans had hoped for this year, there was more than enough unexpected positives to make up for it. The result is a 92-win season and the top Wild Card spot, and that’s a significant step for this team.

Now that they’re in the playoffs and ready to host in the first round, I genuinely believe the Blue Jays have the talent to make a deep run if they can stay hot. Here’s hoping we’re all in for a few more pleasant surprises yet.