Blue Jays: 3 players fans are ready to move on from

With offseason moves at the forefront of discussion, it’s easy to forget about events that transpired earlier this year. Us Blue Jays fans had the pleasure of seeing huge moments from our favourite players this past summer. Kevin Gausman’s tremendous start to the year, Jordan Romano getting save after save in close games, huge homeruns from George Springer, and those insane hot streaks from Matt Chapman and Bo Bichette. It may be easy to recall these fun events, but it’s the not so fun moments that people tend to remember more frequently.

Kikuchi, Merryweather, Pearson, amongst other names represent some not so fond memories from Jays fans this past year. The Blue Jays have already cut ties with a handful of players who performed poorly last season. Raimel Tapia and Bradley Zimmer have both been non-tendered after a lack of offensive contribution. Both players were expected to provide depth in the outfield with the occasional offensive moments. What ensued was not exactly that, as Tapia was inconsistent and Zimmer offered virtually nothing at the plate.

As it stands, the most likely subtraction from the 40-man roster should come from the relievers. Each of Yimi García, Anthony Bass, Trevor Richards, Mitch White and Julian Merryweather are out of options with the latter three options being the likeliest to go.

Julian Merryweather

Merryweather is one of the major league ready talents without a clear and defined role entering 2023. The former PTBNL has been a frustrating case, both from a Blue Jays staff and fan perspective. 

The potential the hard throwing righty possesses is something that is tantalizing to any organization. However, injuries, inconsistencies, and a tendency of giving up homeruns has led to poor numbers over the last two seasons from Julian.

An ERA of 6.13 over just 39.2 innings through the past two seasons is far removed from the expectations placed upon him after his brief 2020 and hot start to the 2021 season. Everyone remembers that opening series at Yankee Stadium. Merryweather was able to power through a potent Yankees lineup en route to a solid beginning of the 2021 season. He threw 4.1 scoreless innings before succumbing to an oblique injury, which sidelined him until September. Upon his return he was shelled to an ERA of 7.27 over 8.2 innings.

His troubles continued into last year. Between injuries and a WHIP of 1.46 when healthy, Merryweather was ineffective and never put himself in a position to be relied upon to record important outs. He’s been passed in the bullpen depth chart by many, and will be pushed even further back with the arrival of Erik Swanson.

Merryweather is also out of minor league options, meaning he cannot be sent to AAA Buffalo if he fails to make the roster out of camp. This mix of poor performance, injury history and circumstance all contribute to the possibility of Julian being on the outside looking in. Fans seem to be ready to move on from him, and there’s a good chance the Jays are too.

Yusei Kikuchi

This is a guy that fans are certainly ready to bid farewell to, though the front office surely isn’t yet. Kikuchi was signed to a three year deal last offseason with the intention that he’d be a potential high upside arm at the backend of the rotation. Having come off of an All-Star season that saw a great first half and a lackluster second, there was genuine hope Kikuchi could be a capable back-end starter. With 2021 being the first season off of a shortened 2020 season, an assumption could be made that he just tired during the second half.

What followed was nothing short of a disaster, and a frustrating one at that. Kikuchi was often visibly tentative on the mound, scared to use his fastball, and was sporadic in terms of his ability to find the strike zone. To add to the frustration, Kikuchi was genuinely one of baseball’s best starting pitchers in May. Over five starts, the Japanese lefty accrued a 2.36 ERA with a 1.05 WHIP and 10.5 K/9. It’s quite the conundrum what exactly happened to lead to such a dramatic dip in performance. Regardless, this unsustained success was a far cry from what he offered the rest of the season, and he was forced to leave a rotation that desperately needed another experienced arm down the stretch.

Kikuchi was eventually moved to the bullpen. This move was made in conjunction with the emergence of Ross Stripling and the acquisition of Mitch White. While his ERA of 4.91 as a reliever doesn’t necessarily jump out at you, his strikeout numbers were other-worldly; a staggering 16.2 K/9 over 18.1 innings showcased just how good Kikuchi’s stuff could be.

Unfortunately for Jays fans, I don’t see Kikuchi departing any time soon. He’s entering the second year of that three year contract, and as of this being written he will have a shot to win a rotation spot come Spring Training. The Blue Jays have brought in Chris Bassitt, but the fifth spot in the rotation appears to still be up for grabs.