The 2015 Toronto Blue Jays face plenty questions, but - barring the unforeseen - hitting should not be one of them. The question of how the team will be able to integrate its new pieces and, critically,  its young pieces into the existing veteran core will make or break a squad still scuffling towards the next level.

Of course, health comes into play when examining the Jays' 2015 chances, but it’s hard to imagine any team primed to succeed with its core pieces going down, so we’ll put that possibility aside as far as projections go. History tells us someone will eventually get injured, but to start the season we can only look at the face value of the pieces in place without factoring in “the unforeseen”.

Here are five storylines to watch with the Jays’ order as the team swings into 2015:

1.The Formidable Power Alley

Let’s start with the obvious: The Jays now possess one of the most terrifying power combinations in the majors. As if the double-threat of Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion was not enough in the heart of the order, the off-season acquisition of Josh Donaldson provides even more pop and production.

Jays fans know what to expect out of their two studs: 30-plus homers and around 100 RBI is the norm and Bautista’s sometimes-extreme patience at the plate often sets the table for Encarnacion to produce with at least someone on base.

Donaldson’s importance to the team is well beyond his raw numbers. Yes, he’s averaged just north of 26 home runs and 95 RBI over each of the past two seasons. However, when you look at the advanced stats, his value shines through. Donaldson’s Wins Above Replacement (WAR) over the past two seasons totals 15.4 trailing only Mike Trout in the American League. He was the only player to reach the top 10 in both the offensive (oWAR) and defensive (dWAR) side of the ledger last year.

2.Leading Off, Getting on Base.

Jose Reyes is going to start the year leading off. The plus for Reyes last season was that he played in 50 more games than he did in his first season with the Jays. The downside is that he posted his third-worst on-base percentage as a Major Leaguer at .328. If Reyes is going to set the table for the Jays, that has to rise.

Few Jays fans expect his OBP to hit his Mets highs of .384 or for him to come close to winning another batting title, but he’s less useful to the team if he’s not on base. The upside to Reyes’ 2014? He was caught stealing only twice in 32 attempts. Reyes likes to run and a 94-percent success rate definitely helps the club … when he gets on base.

3.Value, Patience  from the Two-hole

Melky Cabrera is gone from the two-hole, but the team added Russell Martin and his .402 OBP to fill the void. Like Donaldson, Martin’s value comes in both halves of the inning, but his ability to get on last season was simply amazing.

His average spiked last year compared to 2013, both when he was behind in the count (.248, a .050 improvement) and when he had two strikes (.229, a .100 improvement). Although Martin primarily hit fifth for the Bucs, he posted a higher average and OBP in the limited amount of time he spent batting second or third.

4.The Saunders Experiment

Michael Saunders will likely be the six option after spending last season in Seattle. Saunders posted career-highs in average and OBP last season, despite only appearing in 78 games. However, much of his success came at the top of the M’s line-up. Will he find similar success with the table set for him by the heart of the order?

Saunders’ freak spring training knee injury forced him out of Grapefruit League action and will start the season on the DL. His short-term replacement will likely come in Steve Tolleson, but Saunders’ miraculous recovery thus far indicates it’ll be a short-term fix. His absence could force Justin Smoak, Dioner Navarro or even Dalton Pompey (more on that next) up the order as an interim fix.

5.The Youth Movement

The final two spots appear to be going to the kids, Dalton Pompey and Devon Travis. The pair have just 17 career at-bats between them, but have both enjoyed productive springs. Pompey’s speed makes him a valuable commodity at the bottom of the line-up and may even be a dark horse to lead off at some point, thanks to his ability to stretch hits an extra base.

Should Pompey produce early, it’s also possible that he could slide up into the six-spot behind the Jays’ biggest bats. However, until he proves he can out-slug the veteran options and become a justifiable threat to move runners over and cash some in, he will likely be relegated to one of the bottom two spots.