4 former players the Blue Jays missed the most during latest failed championship run

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In the latest failed championship run by Toronto Blue Jays, their inability to score runs and produce any sustained offence essentially led to their demise, as they quickly bowed out of the playoffs to the Minnesota Twins in the AL Wild Card series. At the same time, there have been some former Blue Jays that have not only had a strong offensive season in 2023, but happened to be still chugging along in their quest for the World Series while playing key roles in their successful runs. Looking back, had they still been with the Jays, they could have potentially made a significant difference for the ballclub.

Here, we take a look at four former Blue Jays players, whether currently still in contention or not, that the team certainly missed the most in their failed 2023 World Series championship run.

Marcus Semien

Throughout the season, the Jays struggled to find a consistent run producer at the second base position. Whit Merrifield began to run away with it during the middle parts of the season, but eventually gave way to Cavan Biggio near the end, while Santiago Espinal struggled to find his footing all season. However, had Marcus Semien still been around, there is no doubt who the everyday starting second baseman would be.

With the Texas Rangers this season, Semien led the American League in runs scored (122) and hits (185), along with ranking third in doubles (40) and fourth in RBI (100), while becoming a second-time All-Star in the process. Those numbers certainly would have come in handy for the offensively-challenged Jays, as it would made him the Jays’ team leader in those categories.

Moreover, Semien has contributed to the Rangers’ postseason run with five walks, seven runs scored, nine hits, two doubles and two RBI to date as they are currently locked in an intense battle with the defending World Series champions Houston Astros. It certainly would have been great if he was still doing it for the Jays, but one is only left to wonder about the ultimate impact he could have provided.

Teoscar Hernández

He may not have made the postseason this year, as the Seattle Mariners fell just short of making the playoffs, but Teoscar Hernández definitely would have made a huge difference for the Jays if he was still with the team for their championship run. After all, he had a solid offensive 2023 season with the Mariners in which he scored 70 runs, while amassing 26 home runs and 93 RBI batting mainly in the heart of their order.

More importantly, Hernández was able to produce in the clutch when batting with runners in scoring position, something the Jays sorely lacked for practically the whole season. In such situations, he hit .300 with a .790 OPS, 48 runs scored, nine doubles, five home runs and a whopping 67 RBI. More impressively with two outs, Hernández still hit a solid .301 with 28 RBI with RISP. He was even stronger with the bases loaded, posting a .350 average and .883 OPS in those situations. If one could recall the numerous times the Jays came up empty-handed in the above described situations, one would understand the extreme value Hernández could have brought to the team. In addition, his ability to be able to provide valuable protection for both Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette in the lineup during his tenure with the ballclub has been totally underestimated.

As you may recall, it was just last year when Hernández was still with the Jays when he delivered with two big home runs in Game 2 of the AL Wild Card series against the Mariners. The pitching may have failed the team as part of their epic collapse in the end, but there was no question that Hernández does not disappear in the biggest moments of the game. Even with that in mind, the Jays had a chance to re-acquire him at this year’s trade deadline, but failed to do so.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr.

After coming off a down season with the Jays in 2022, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. joined the Arizona Diamondbacks for 2023 after being included in the offseason trade for Daulton Varsho. As one would have guessed, Gurriel would end up having a career year with the Diamondbacks, posting career highs in runs scored (65), doubles (35), and home runs (24), along with chipping in with 82 RBI en route to his All-Star season with his new ballclub.

As much as he had been faulted for some of his inconsistent defence during his tenure with the Jays, he had definitely raised his game to another level in 2023 as he committed zero errors, added eight outfield assists, along with an impressive 14 DRS in 160 chances and 778 innings played in the field in 2023. Both his offensive explosion and drastic defensive improvement definitely would have helped the Jays this season with their playoff aspirations. Sad to say, he is just doing it now for the Diamondbacks.

In terms of coming up clutch when the team needed him most, it was Gurriel that provided the key game-tying double in Game 3 of the NLCS for the Diamondbacks that ultimately changed the entire game and momentum of the series. At the time, the Philadelphia Phillies had held them scoreless for 17 consecutive innings, but with the Gurriel breakthrough, they eventually came back to win the game, giving them all the hope and confidence that as the underdog, they could actually beat the powerhouse Phillies. That momentum carried right into Game 4 as they came back to win once again for a second consecutive day to tie the series 2-2. If the Diamondbacks manage to do the impossible and end up taking the series, they could look back to Gurriel’s defining moment in the playoffs, while the Jays are left to only ponder what could have been.

Gabriel Moreno

Finally, looking more and more like the one that got away as each day goes by, Gabriel Moreno has been a monster for the Diamondbacks in 2023, not only during the regular season, but now in the playoffs as well. As part of the other key asset given up by the Jays in the acquisition of Varsho, Moreno has become the bonafide MLB starting catcher that many had predicted him to be.

For the 2023 season, he batted a solid .284 with a .747 OPS, along with 19 doubles, seven home runs, 50 RBI and six stolen bases in 111 games played. More impressively was his strong defensive play in which he had thrown out close to 40% of the base stealers, committing only three errors and posting an astounding 20 DRS, while allowing only one passed ball all season. When Jays’ catcher Danny Jansen had to undergo season-ending surgery on his finger in September, Moreno would have been the ideal candidate to insert into the starting lineup and lead the Jays into the postseason with both his offensive and defensive prowess. Unfortunately, just like Gurriel, he is doing it for another team now.

Speaking of which, Moreno is currently having the biggest impact in the playoffs among all of the former Jays mentioned above. In ten games, he has scored three runs, with three home runs and eight RBI to boot, along with a .265 average and a .901 OPS. However, his defining moment came in Game 4 of the NLCS with the game on the line when he came up with a clutch, two-out RBI single to help the Diamondbacks complete the comeback in downing the Phillies 6-5 to tie the series at two games a piece. For just a rookie playing in his first ever MLB postseason, he definitely appears to be a big-game player already, something the Jays had been desperately looking for all these years but have now mistakenly given away.

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Marcus Semien

Teoscar Hernández

Lourdes Gurriel Jr.

Gabriel Moreno

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