3 Blue Jays players in need of a bounceback season

The Blue Jays have yet to dip into the free agent market and while I have no doubt they will make a splash, an important aspect for the club's success in 2023 is that a few key players need to have bounce back years.  Here is a look at some key players that need to have better campaigns next season and whether or not I think they are capable of doing so.

José Berríos

The Blue Jays moved two of their top prospects at the 2021 Trade Deadline to acquire soon-to-be free agent José Berríos from the Minnesota Twins.  Berríos was known as one of the most durable starters in baseball as he had never required any time on the injured list during his nearly five year big league career.  Since being recalled to the Twins in May 2017 in his sophomore season up until the end of the 2021 year, Berríos made 133 starts, posting a 57-40 record with a 3.74 ERA, while never missing his turn in the rotation. 

Berríos' consistency earned him a seven-year contract extension from the Blue Jays that included a player option in the middle of the deal.  As per Baseball-Reference the first five years of the contract pays him just over $81.5 Million and gives him an option to opt out of the contract, however the player option in the final two seasons would have him earn just under $50 Million with an additional $10 Million in performance bonuses.

The 2022 campaign was the Puerto Rican-born pitchers worst year since his rookie campaign.  His earned run average was 1.49 runs higher than the previous five seasons, while his WHIP jumped almost a quarter of a runner per inning over the same time frame.  He had five different starts where he failed to get through four innings and allowed at least six runs on six difference occasions. 

One of the positives with Berríos was that he had a Jekyll and Hyde season last year. While he was really bad in some starts, he was utterly dominant in others.  Berríos gave quality starts in 53% of his appearances, which ranked 34th in all of baseball and had nine starts where he pitched into the sixth inning, while allowing one or less runs.  In total, Berríos finished with a winning record (12-7) which did give him a higher winning percentage than his career average.

I have no doubt that Berríos is going to bounce back in 2023 and if they had the chance to sign him to the same contract he signed a prior I would do it.

Cavan Biggio

In 2018, the Blue Jays had a trio of young stars that were on the brink of making their major league debuts and there were high expectations for each of them. While Vladimir Guerrero Jr and Bo Bichette have cemented themselves as superstars in the league, the third player Cavan Biggio has been derailed by injuries.

Finishing that 2018 season, Biggio was named the Eastern League MVP in Double-A after collecting 54 extra base hits, including 26 home runs and 99 RBI, while stealing 20 bases and posting a .252/.388/.499 slash line.

He made his big league debut in 2019 and finished fifth in Rookie of the Year voting after playing in 100 games and collecting 16 home runs. During the COVID-shortened 2020 season, Biggio showed improvement in almost every offensive category. Unfortunately, the following two seasons have been riddled with different injuries that limited him to just 79 games in 2021 and 97 games in 2022.

The beginning of 2022 was just awful for Biggio as he started the season 1-for-23 through his first 13 games before landing on the injured list for four weeks starting at the end of April. The remainder of the season appeared to be an uphill battle, but he did get hot in late June over a two week span that saw him have five multi-hit games going 13 for 33 (.394) over 11 games. Unfortunately, that was the high point of the season for the left-handed utilityman.

Biggio was once considered to be the second baseman of the future for the club and while that is still not out of the question, he will need to improve and stay healthy to earn that spot. Biggio did start games at five different positions in 2022 and could be a valuable asset as a super-utility player. I have confidence that Biggio will have a break through season in 2023 and show why he was a Double-A MVP just a few seasons ago.