3 truths about the 2023 Blue Jays that may have fans fuming

Over the course of the 2023 MLB season, the Toronto Blue Jays have had their moments of glory, along with their unforgettable moments of obscurity. Sometimes they would do the improbable and mash their way to victory; other times they would do the unthinkable and end up blowing a game they surely should have won.

Through it all, the Jays’ faithful were certainly there with them along the way, celebrating with exuberant joy and laughter when things were going well, and venting in frustration and anger when things began to go awry. Nevertheless, the overall exciting yet inconsistent play of this year’s version of the Toronto Blue Jays definitely brought out many of our feelings and emotions, whether positive or negative.

But among everything that has happened during the current MLB season, there are three truths about the 2023 Blue Jays that the fans probably don’t want to hear about. After all, it could leave the Jays' fanbase fuming on why it happened and why it wasn’t rectified as soon as possible.

Nevertheless, being able to bring it up here once again could be beneficial to the ballclub in the long run. That way, their problems can hopefully be adequately addressed during the upcoming offseason so that we can see a much stronger and better version of the team for 2024.

So what are the three truths about the 2023 Blue Jays the fans don’t want to hear?

The Blue Jays were not a bad team with runners in scoring position, it was just frustrating when they didn't deliver.

Despite the Jays’ struggle with offence as mentioned above, there was one aspect of their game in particular that had many people scrutinizing them more than anything throughout the 2023 season. That was their inability to hit with runners in scoring position (RISP). But let the truth be told, the Jays actually didn’t do that bad hitting with RISP. As a matter of fact, they actually ranked 6th in the AL and 12th overall in MLB with a respectable .260 batting average in such situations, as well as 9th overall in hits with 363.

Their main problem as a matter of fact was producing in the clutch and coming up with the big play when it mattered most. The statistics showed that they would end up sputtering in those instances. With RISP, the Jays ranked 27th in the league with 49 GIDP, 27th in caught stealing with 11, 26th in sacrifice flies with 32, and 19th in the league with 491 RBI. So basically, they were either running themselves into outs, or not cashing them in with key hits and small ball play.

That certainly explained why every single time we saw the Jays with ample opportunities to tie or win a game, we would end up all frustrated and all, seeing the players walking slowly back to the dugout with the rally flaming out. So what the Jays really needed were players that could come through in the clutch and actually produce some runs as a result. Danny Jansen is probably the only one that comes to mind that did that successfully for the Jays during the 2023 season, but we will definitely need more than just one player. As a result, the Jays must start finding a recipe for success with it comes to RISP in the future.

The Blue Jays failed (miserably) to address their offence and ended up paying for it.

Back during the 2022-23 offseason, the Jays lost a fair chunk of their offensive potential when Teoscar Hernández, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Gabriel Moreno all left town as a result of trades made by GM Ross Atkins. With the team’s focus on improving the overall defence for the ballclub, they hoped that some extra runs saved by the defence would more than make up for some of the runs they could have been scored by the offence to win ballgames.

However, over the course of the 2023 season, it just felt like there were numerous times when the Jays struggled to produce any kind of sustainable offence, or even coming up with the big hits when they needed it most. Overall in MLB, the Jays ranked 14th in runs scored, 16th in home runs and RBI, and a woeful 27th in grounding into double plays, which definitely became a rally killer time and time again.

They had ample opportunities to try and obtain a power bat throughout the season, especially at the trade deadline, with both Lane Thomas and Hernández potentially available along with other viable options with the right offer. But the Jays never pulled the trigger as they just barely made it into the postseason. And guess what happened during the playoffs? They would end up scoring just ONE run in two games as they were swept by the Minnesota Twins in the AL Wild Card series.

The moral of the story here is, if you know there’s a problem with something, at least make an honest attempt to fix it before it ultimately comes back to haunt you in the end.