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.
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.
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
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
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
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.