The New Jays: What Areas the Blue Jays Need to Address if They Want to Contend

Nearing the end of only the first month of the baseball season, making a statement such as "There is no way this team will make the playoffs", sounds very reactionary and inexperienced. However, when applying such statement to the state of the 8-17 Toronto Blue Jays, day by day it is growing harder to argue the case that this team will make the 2017 MLB Playoffs. This dilemma begs the question "Why are the Blue Jays playing so poorly compared to the past two years"? The answer for that, though complex is glaring and quite obvious to those who have been following the team throughout 2017.

1. The Bullpen

The Toronto Blue Jays bullpen currently boast the 6th worse ERA and 3rd worse earned run total in baseball, and it has to do in large part to the poor job Toronto Blue Jays management approached restocking their bullpen. While the starting rotation is the brightest unit of the Toronto Blue Jays roster, it is growing increasingly more important in baseball to have a deep bullpen and that is something the Blue Jays lack. Amongst relief pitchers who have pitched in 7 or more games, only Joe Smith, Joe Biagini, and Aaron Loup have posted sub-3 ERA's. Dominic Leone, Jason Grilli, Roberto Osuna, and Ryan Tepera have all appeared in 7+ games, and all four boast ERA's over 5.00. To put it plain and simple; the Blue Jays do not have enough dependable arms to turn the ball too when their starters come out of the game. Although I do expect Osuna to return to form, Jason Grilli is 40 years old now and could be starting to slow down. Leone, Loup and Tepera have never proven to be reliable arms in the past, so there is nothing to lead one to believe that they will be solid options in the future. The 2-major acquisitions management made in the offseason were J.P Howell and Joe Smith. Smith has pitched well so far as a Blue Jay, and given his statistics in the past hi 2.31 ERA is roughly in line with his career number of 2.92, so if he can keep his ERA anywhere in that range he should be a dependable resource out of the bullpen. J.P Howell currently boasts a 20.25 ERA, but that has much to do with the limited amount of appearances he has made this season due to an injury. However Howell's velocity has decreased substantially this year and it could be a major concern for the Jays. Apart from Smith, Biagini, and Osuna who I believe will return to form, it is hard to have much faith in any other relief pitcher who plans to step on the mound for the Blue Jays,

2. Speed

Speed kills opponents, but lack of speed will kill you even quicker. Sounds pretty cool, eh? I just made that up but it applies to the 2017 Toronto Blue Jays whose fastest everyday player is Kevin Pillar. News flash: Kevin Pillar is not a burner. The Jays can not run the bases very well, and this seriously will affect the way they approach games. Not being able to play with speed limits what you can do on the base paths, and on a team where runs have been hard to come by, putting yourself in better positions with speed could help add runs on the board. Having speed on base also helps with forcing errors from the opposing teams defense. An example I look to derives from the first game of the series the Blue Jays played last week against the Cardinals. On a ball that was hit into right field, Ezequiel Carrera (One of the Blue Jays faster players) rounded 2nd a went to third. Now, with the way the ball was hit, anybody with average speed would've held up at 2nd base, but because Carrera possesses faster than average speed he was able to round 2nd and head to 3rd. The throw from the right fielder, Jason Heyward was off line and missed entirely by the 3rd basemen. Due to the error forced by Carrera's speed, he was able to score on the play. This is an example of speed making things happen on offense. It is no coincidence that the Blue Jays who have been lacking offense, also lack speed. The Blue Jays need to add speed, quickly.

3. Lack of Clutch Hitting

When there are runners on 2nd or 3rd with two out, you need somebody at the plate who can come through with a big hit. Last year, the Toronto Blue Jays top 3 on base percentages with runners in scoring position and two out belonged to Troy Tulowitzki, Russell Martin, and Edwin Encarnacion. With Edwin out of town, and Russell Martin off to an excruciatingly slow start, the Toronto Blue Jays are in desperate need of some clutch hitting. The Toronto Blue Jays currently own the 2nd worst batting average, and the 2nd worst on-base percentage when they have runners in scoring position. Unless the teams bats turn it around quickly, management will also have to address the glaring issue that is the team not being able to score runs when players are in scoring position. If the issue is not addressed, this team will not be in contention come September.

A team once projected by many experts to be a possible World Series contender currently sits 8GB of the division leader and that is not an anomaly. The Toronto Blue Jays through the first month of the season are what their record indicates. They are a team that can't rely on their bullpen, do not have quick legs on base, and do not have players who can come through at important times in a game at the plate. This is not an it's still early issue, this is a combination of multiple issues that are holding the team back from their full potential.