Blue Jays falter in second base positional power rankings per FanGraphs

Second base remains the biggest question mark on the Blue Jays Opening Day lineup. Virtually every other position is spoken for.

Alejandro Kirk will likely be behind the plate, Vladdy plays first, Bo is the shorstop, Chapman is at third and the outfield will be Varsho, Kiermaier and Springer from left to right, leaving Brandon Belt as the designated hitter.

Whit Merrifield, Cavan Biggio and Santiago Espinal are the three candidates fighting for the starting spot. Each of the trio can bounce around the diamond with Biggio and Merrifield being outfield-capable players and Espinal is the only one of the bunch that can play shortstop.

As FanGraphs releases their yearly Positional Power Rankings, fans of the Blue Jays are fortunate enough to expect a lot of positive results at each position. Second base, however, is not one of them.

The group of Espinal, Biggio, Merrifield, Addison Barger and Otto Lopez (this is who FG predicts will see time at the position in the upcoming season) combine to put the Jays in the 18th spot in the league. This will easily be the lowest Jays players will go on these rankings, but it's still tough to see.

Interestingly, FanGraphs says that Espinal is going to get the most at-bats at second in 2023. He is projected to have 469 plate appearances over Merrifield's 147. This could be because Merrifield is likely going to get his fair share of time in the outfield, or it could be because FG thinks the position is Espinal's to lose.

The disrespect towards Biggio is real in this list, but we'll let it slide. He needs to continue to prove himself at the major league level. So far in Spring Training, he's done exactly that. He, like Merrifield, is projected to get quite a bit of time in the outfield grass as well in the upcoming season.

It remains to be seen how this positional battle ends up shaking out. As we get closer to Opening Day, there's going to be some significant announcements made out of Blue Jays camp and we'll get a lot more roster clarity in the coming days.