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Blue Jays: Four roster moves the club should already be considering

By Edward Eng |
Tampa Bay Rays v Toronto Blue Jays - Whit Merrifield
Tampa Bay Rays v Toronto Blue Jays - Whit Merrifield / Mark Blinch/GettyImages
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The Toronto Blue Jays have been off to a good start in 2023, sporting a nice 10-7 record right out of the gate. They even took two out of three games from the supposedly unstoppable and undefeated Tampa Bay Rays this past weekend, coming out of it with confidence level way high. However, as good as they have been, certain small tinkers to their lineup and/or roster can be looked at to help further enhance their performance.

Here we take a look at four roster moves that can help improve the Jays’ current setup to make them be even better for the short term, and perhaps in the long run as well.

1.  Zach Pop should be given the chance at higher leverage situations

Last year in 2022, the Jays acquired Zach Pop (along with Anthony Bass) from the Miami Marlins in exchange for Jordan Groshans at the trade deadline to help bolster their bullpen. Pop had performed admirably, pitching to a 1.89 ERA and a WHIP of 1.05 with 11 strikeouts in 19 innings with the Jays. This year, he has come out of the gate even stronger, appearing in nine games, striking out 11 with a 1.08 ERA and a 0.72 WHIP over 8.1 innings. However, the common trend of his utilization by Schneider was that he has yet to be called upon during higher leverage situations during his entire tenure with the Jays thus far, even dating back to last year. The bulk of his appearances take place in the fifth or sixth inning, or when the Jays were either already ahead or behind by three runs or more. 

Whether his effective pitching thus far in a Jays uniform was due to entering the game in low leverage conditions is uncertain. But in his prior experience with the Marlins, Pop was used way more in higher leverage situations (usually within a 2-run difference and later in the game) and he proved that he was able to handle it decently, maintaining a 3.60 ERA and 1.25 WHIP. With Trevor Richards, Yimi García and Bass struggling a bit with control to start the season, Pop should be given the opportunity to handle more higher leverage, late game situations along with Adam Cimber and Erik Swanson, serving as the bridge to Jordan Romano.

2. Whit Merrifield should be the primary starter at second base

To start the season, John Schneider employed a rotational system of three players to play at second base, which included Whit Merrifield, Cavan Biggio and Santiago Espinal. By having all three players share the one designated position, it has affected their production (some more than others).

Of this trio, Merrifield is the only one that has still been able to maintain decent production to date, hitting .273 with five runs scored, six RBI and two stolen bases. On the other hand, both Biggio and Espinal are underperforming substantially compared to their career numbers. To be successful in the long run, it’s best to have the position stabilized, knowing that one could trust them day in and day out to help out the team both offensively and defensively on a consistent basis.

With George Springer, Kevin Kiermaier and Daulton Varsho already providing stable production from the outfield slots, Merrifield should be given the everyday duties at second base, while Biggio and Espinal can try to work things out with spot starts backing up Merrifield or another position (Biggio can cover first base and the outfield, and for Espinal, shortstop and third base). With Merrifield no longer the utility man, the recently-recalled Nathan Lukes can also serve as the backup to all the outfielders when they need a day off.

3. Matt Chapman should be hitting cleanup behind Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Both Matt Chapman and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. have been off to blazing starts in the 2023 season. Chapman is hitting .410 with an OPS of 1.209, along with 12 runs scored, four home runs and 16 RBI, whereas Guerrero is not too shabby either; hitting .364 with an OPS of .919, with 12 runs scored, two homers and eight RBI. Those numbers sound amazing, but can you believe that they are even more productive when Chapman bats cleanup behind Guerrero? It’s a small sample size, but in five games played in such a setup, Chapman is 11-for-21 with five runs scored, three walks, two home runs, eight RBI, and one stolen base for an AVG of .524, and Guerrero is 10-for-21 with six runs scored, two walks, and an AVG of .476. 

So basically Guerrero is setting the table and Chapman does mega damage to drive runs in. As good as Daulton Varsho has been in the cleanup spot behind Guerrero, Chapman appears to be providing stronger protection for Guerrero, and Varsho, who usually hits fifth behind those two in that setup, provides strong protection for Chapman. As much as lefty-righty matchups are important, in the long run, it would be interesting to give the Guerrero/Chapman combo in the 3/4 slot a run to maximize power and production, and if it gets everyone going, it should be the optimal setup for long term success.

4. Alejandro Kirk should get the bulk of the starts at catcher over Danny Jansen

At the start of the 2023 season, the Jays were confident in their catching tandem of Alejandro Kirk and Danny Jansen, as both had a breakout year in 2022, with Kirk winning a Silver Slugger award and Jansen putting up his best numbers in his career. That was what gave Jays’ management the luxury to deal away Gabriel Moreno to the Arizona Diamondbacks to upgrade their outfield. However, so far this season, Jansen has been off to a horrid start. 

Outside of the one productive game Jansen just had this past Sunday against Rays where he produced two hits and one RBI, he had only one hit all season with one run scored and three RBI up to that point. It appears as though he is starting to revert back to the version we witnessed in the pre-2022 years where he struggled at the plate. Rather than be almost an automatic out each game, it should be time to give Kirk more starts at catcher instead, rather than just platooning with Jansen, as Kirk is hitting .243 with one homer, nine RBI, four runs scored and eight walks, maintaining more or less his average output from the previous year. Jansen can then work out his issues in his spot starts for Kirk, as well as some time perhaps as the DH, platooning with Brandon Belt.

Honorable mention:

An honorable mention goes out to Nate Pearson, who has been crushing it down in Buffalo. Other than one subpar outing, Pearson has accumulated a 2.84 ERA, giving up two earned runs, with 14 strikeouts over 6.1 innings. More importantly, he has his blazing fastball working for him and appears healthy and strong again for once. What’s keeping him from joining the big league team already is currently the Jays don’t have a candidate they desperately need to send down right away. On the bubble to watch out for would probably be Trevor Richards and Anthony Bass. Richards struggled at first, but has had a decent recent couple of outings, whereas Bass has struggled for quite a while now. Any more faltering, Pearson would get his ticket back into town.

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