A look at how far the Toronto Blue Jays lineup has come since Opening Day 2018

Second base: Devon Travis (2018) Whit Merrifield (2023)

This 2018 campaign ended up being Travis' last in the big leagues. He played in Toronto for a total of four years and at times really showed some promise. However, he could not stay on the field and played just 316 of a total of 648 games. His intriguing blend of bat-to-ball skills and some solid defense at second base made him seem like a potential All-Star for the Jays but it never came together for Travis.

Merrifield, 34, came over from the Royals after being one of the better utilitymen in the game of baseball. He is entering his first full season in Toronto and is widely expected to nab the starting second base gig from Cavan Biggio and Santiago Espinal. Always a stolen base threat who is good for double-digit home runs and excellent defense all over the diamond, Merrifield is one of the more underrated players on this current squad.

Third base: Josh Donaldson (2018) Matt Chapman (2023)

After winning the AL MVP in 2015 and cementing his name in the Blue Jays record books, Donaldson sustained his MVP-caliber performance in each of 2016 and 2017 but began to fall back down to Earth a bit in 2018. He played in 36 games for the Jays that year, hitting five home runs with a .234 batting average before being traded to Cleveland.

Then there's Chapman, 29, who has shown time and time again that he is one of the best defensive third basemen of this generation. Chapman is entering his walk year and will be under some extra pressure to perform ahead of free agency. He is a lock to hit 25+ home runs and practically never allows balls past him at the hot corner.

Shortstop: Aledmys Díaz (2018) Bo Bichette (2023)

Díaz is a light-hitting utilityman who has bounced around the league a bit over his seven-year career in the bigs. 2018 is only the second 100+ game season for him in the majors and he performed admirably, hitting 18 home runs with a 105 OPS+ in 130 games. After a four-year stint in Houston, he just recently signed a free agent deal with the Oakland A's.

Bichette, 24, has his fair share of naysayers but is a real star-in-the-making for this Jays club. The AL leader in hits in each of the past two seasons, Bichette is a dynamic player at the plate and is seen as one of the core figures of this current Jays club. He will need to take some strides defensively in 2023 but past performance at shortstop has shown that the talent is there.