With one of the more potent lineups in baseball, the Toronto Blue Jays were expected to get off to a roaring start in 2016. But with some of their stars struggling, Toronto has yet to hit a consistent groove.
Despite losing David Price to free agency in the offseason, the Toronto Blue Jays appeared to have enough depth in their pitching staff to uphold what should be a forceful offense. The Jays are currently 29-26 and third in the American League East, but that record looks much better than the sub-.500 mark they owned exiting April.
After finishing 2015 as the top offense in baseball, the Jays have yet to hit a stride at the plate, as they’re currently 14th in the majors with 232 runs scored. Aside from Troy Tulowitzki, most of their stars are hitting for power, and even Michael Saunders has emerged as one of the better contact hitters on the team. But Russell Martin has struggled tremendously to start the season, and a proven backup may be necessary.
With questions surrounding the pitching staff entering the season, the team has been rock solid on the mound. They’re currently 6th in the majors with a 3.58 ERA and are averaging 2.94 walks per nine innings.
Budding ace Marcus Stroman has yet to assert himself as a force atop the rotation, but Marco Estrada and J.A. Happ have pitched admirably at the back-end of the rotation.
The bullpen, aside from closer Roberto Osuna, has been one of the areas of concern and may be where the team looks to add pieces to catch the first place Boston Red Sox down the stretch. But after whiffing – to this point – on the struggling Drew Storen in the offseason, the Jays may be reluctant to give up major pieces for a reliever.
Now that the Blue Jays are heating up, it’s almost certain that they’ll be buyers heading into this year’s trade deadline. Here’s a look at a few areas they can improve, and which pieces they’ll have to move.
Next: Adding a Southpaw to the Bullpen