Top 5 Blue Jays storylines to monitor this spring training

As spring training has gotten underway for the Toronto Blue Jays, the team will be preparing for a new season of glory ahead as they set their sights once again to make the playoffs. But before we can look that far ahead, there are various storylines to monitor during this pre-season as the Jays look to put together their ideal contending roster for 2024. Let’s take a closer look at five things this spring that will shape the Jays for the upcoming regular season.

Alek Manoah’s rebound

2023 was a year that was certainly worth forgetting for pitcher Alek Manoah. Coming off a Cy Young-calibre performance the year prior, Manoah was looking to anchor the Jays pitching staff and help lead them to success into the postseason. However, it quickly became a nightmare for the 26-year-old as almost everything that could have possibly gone wrong for him, did. In the end, he put up the worst numbers of his career by posting a 3-9 record, 5.87 ERA, 1.74 WHIP, giving up 57 earned runs along with 79 strikeouts in just 19 games started. Much more worrisome was the fact he struggled mightily with his control and command, leading to a whopping 59 walks over 87.1 innings of work. He was even demoted to the minors to work on his pitching mechanics, but the stint didn’t provide the antidote to his otherwise throw away season.

Nevertheless, entering 2024, Manoah still had GM Ross Atkins’ vote of confidence in that he believes there's a bounce back coming and Manoah will have a legitimate shot at a starting rotation spot. That belief is now further supported by Manoah’s recent health and workout regimen, as he appears to be in great shape and ready to go this spring. How he will turn out in the coming weeks will go a long way in determining if the Jays will be strong contenders for the upcoming year, along with whether or not they need to add more starting pitching depth as insurance.

Yariel Rodríguez’s role

One of the major offseason signings by the Jays included Cuban phenom Yariel Rodríguez. He is an intriguing addition to the team’s pitching staff because he has a ton of potential and could excel both as a starter and as a reliever given his track record.

Having pitched mainly in the Cuban and Japanese leagues in the eight seasons prior to last year, Rodríguez has collectively compiled a 48-38 record with a stellar 3.06 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, with 645 strikeouts in 731.1 innings pitched. More impressively, he has registered 14 complete games including 4 shutouts in just 76 career starts. In the last season that he pitched two years ago, he put together one of his best seasons of his career with the Chunichi Dragons by posting a 6-2 record with a minuscule 1.15 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, giving up just 7 earned runs along with 60 strikeouts in just 54.2 innings of work.

However, the Jays and their fans will need to temper their expectations, at least in the early going, as Rodríguez recently indicated that his pitching arm was only at 75% after not pitching at all in 2023. As a result, he will need some time to get back up to game speed and to ultimately regain his effectiveness that he had established prior to coming to North America. This spring, if he manages to progress more rapidly than predicted, he could challenge for a spot in the starting rotation, putting the pressure on Manoah and the incumbent Yusei Kikuchi to perform right out of the gate. However, as a safety precaution due to the long layoff, starting Rodríguez in the bullpen would likely make the most sense to build up his arm strength once again.

Justin Turner’s role

When the Jays were looking for a power bat to inject some offense into their lineup for the upcoming season, they nabbed two-time All-Star and World Series champion Justin Turner from the free agent market. The wily veteran has proven to be both a consistent solid hitter and run producer throughout his 15-year career. More impressively, despite being 38 last year with the struggling Red Sox, he still showed he had lots of game left in him by posting very strong numbers with a .276 batting average, .800 OPS, 86 runs scored, 31 doubles, 23 home runs, and a career-high 96 RBI in 146 games played.

Given now that he has turned 39 entering the upcoming season with the Jays, many have already assumed that he will just take over full-time duties as the team’s designated hitter to replace Brandon Belt. However, Turner actually saw some time at first base, second base and third base last year in addition to his primary DH role. With the Jays not set on a firm starter at either second or third, Turner could perhaps provide some flexibility in being used in the field if needed to help with matchups against various opponents.

However, despite his positional versatility, the Jays should be wise on where to place Turner. That is because although he seemed fine last year when starting at first and second base, he was a huge liability in the field when playing at third as he committed 3 errors on just 19 chances in seven games for an .842 fielding percentage and a -3 DRS. So any starts at third can quickly become an eye sore for Jays’ fans if that indeed ends up happening.

Infield position battles

In terms of the infield positions on the Jays, without a doubt the starters at shortstop and first base going into 2024 are Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., respectively. However, the starting second and third base gigs are pretty much up for grabs following the departures of Matt Chapman and Whit Merrifield. That leaves the frontrunners in Biggio, Espinal, and IKF to battle it out this spring to prove who can secure the everyday spots.

In any event, one of the three aforementioned players will likely get the short end of the stick here. Since last season, a similar situation arose when Biggio, Espinal and Merrifield fought for the starting second base job. In the end, Merrifield and Biggio got the bulk of the playing time while Espinal ended up seeing the bench more often than not. While the former two prospered, the latter struggled as a result, compiling the worst numbers of his career with a .248 average and .644 OPS along with 9 errors and -2 DRS in the field. With Biggio having a strong second half in 2023 where he hit .272 with a .765 OPS following the All-Star break, along with the speed and Gold Glove defence that Kiner-Falefa can provide, Espinal will have his work cut out for him if he wants to secure a starting spot for 2024.

To make matters worse, we already brought up the notion from before that Schneider could also be deployed at second base, along with Turner perhaps being used sparingly at second and third as well. The potential “traffic jam” that will be created at the two positions could further complicate things throughout the season.