Toronto Blue Jays: The franchise’s best-ever player at every position
By Kevin Henry
In an earlier article, we looked at the five greatest outfielders to ever take the field for the Toronto Blue Jays. That article, however, also got us thinking about the best players to ever play at every position for the Blue Jays.
So we took a look at all nine positions on the diamond and dug through the record books to find which players had had the biggest impact for each position in Toronto franchise history. For this article, we examined WAR (Wins Above Replacement) according to Baseball-Reference.com, as well as other factors such as individual statistics and accolades. Additionally, for players to have been considered as the best at a various position, that player had to actually play more than 50 percent of his games with Toronto at that position.
These are the best players at each position in Toronto Blue Jays franchise history
Who was the best catcher in Toronto Blue Jays franchise history?
Ernie Whitt — 19.3 bWAR
No catcher in Blue Jays history had a bigger impact on the franchise than Ernie Whitt, who racked up 19.3 bWAR while playing 12 seasons (1977-1989). He would hit 131 of his 134 homers in a Blue Jays uniform, including a very memorable one in his final season with the team.
Take a look at this home run swing, with a grand slam off the bat of Whitt completing a Toronto rally from 10 down at Fenway Park. By the way, Whitt hit the monster bomb off Hall of Fame relief pitcher Lee Smith.
Whitt would slash .253/.327/.420 in 3,977 plate appearances covering 1,218 games with Toronto.
Other candidates: Gregg Zaun (10.8 bWAR), Russell Martin (8.3).
Who was the best pitcher in Toronto Blue Jays franchise history?
Dave Stieb — 56.9 bWAR
Pitching for Toronto in all but four games of his 16-year career, Dave Stieb racked up 56.9 bWAR in 2,873.0 innings for the Blue Jays. He is Toronto’s all-time leader in innings pitched, strikeouts (1,658), games started (408), complete games (103), shutouts (30), and wins (175).
Maybe, just maybe, it’s time for the Blue Jays to retire his number?
Stieb was a seven-time All-Star and paced the American League with a 2.48 ERA in 265 innings over 36 starts. That was the second consecutive season where Stieb held an ERA under 3.00 (2.83 in 1984) while making 35 or more starts.
Over the course of nine consecutive seasons, Stieb showed his ability to be a workhorse in Toronto, making 31 or more starts in each campaign.
Other candidates: Roy Halladay (48.4 bWAR), Jimmy Key (29.7)