The Toronto Blue Jays have been a changed team since making the flurry of moves that landed them David Price, Troy Tulowitzki, Ben Revere, Mark Lowe and LaTroy Hawkins. This is not remotely surprising; turning over 20 percent of your roster is a reliable method for giving your team a new look.
However, the Blue Jays have responded to the deals better than general manager Alex Anthopoulos could have anticipated. Since the trade deadline the team has won nine of 10 games.
For the most part the players Anthopoulos added fit a clear need. Price slotted in as the long-coveted staff ace. Revere gave the team a base-stealing threat. Lowe and Hawkins bolstered an ailing bullpen. Tulowitzki, by virtue of his superstar status, was an upgrade. The way the deals improved the team was easy to conceptualize.
A little more subtle was the way the team improved its defence by making the trades. By adding Revere and Tulowitzki, the Blue Jays have shored up two positions that had been problematic all season.
Both of the new additions made their defensive presences known in their debuts with the team. For Tulowitzki, it was a matter of showing off his patented jump throw.
Meanwhile Revere used his speed and sacrificed his body to make a leaping catch in his first game in Blue Jays uniform.
Neither player is among MLB’s absolute elite with the glove, but they are both significantly better than the fielders the Blue Jays had run out at shortstop and left field, players who had been well below league-average.
| Position | Defensive Runs Saved | MLB Rank | Ultimate Zone Rating | MLB Rank | Errors | MLB Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shortstop | -5 | 19th | -3.1 | 17th | 66 | 23rd |
| Left Field | -12 | 29th | -20.0 | 30th | 8 | 30th |
Not only are these numbers poor, they are actually artificially inflated by the fact that excellent defenders Ryan Goins and Kevin Pillar spent time at these spots earlier in the year. The players who played the most at shortstop and left field for the Blue Jays this season were Jose Reyes and Chris Colabello, and their defensive struggles are well-documented.
Tulowitzki and Revere figure to be better in general, but they also help fix specific problems the Blue Jays had with their incumbents.
The biggest issue with Reyes this season was untimely errors, but Tulowitzki is extraordinarily sure-handed. The 30-year-old doesn’t cover ground like some of the players at his position, but he doesn’t make many mistakes.
His career-high for errors is 11. Comparatively, Reyes has already posted 14 this season. Tulowitzki is a steadying presence on the infield, who can make the odd fantastic play with his plus arm strength.
The skill Revere brings to the table that the Blue Jays’ left fielders lacked is range. Converted infielders like Colabello and Danny Valencia simply could not get to enough balls. That’s not a problem for Revere.
While he sometimes takes questionable routes, he reaches almost everything while playing an outfield corner. When he gets on his horse he can reach balls that most outfielders can’t.
Although his metrics in centre are less kind, Ultimate Zone Rating figures that his range alone has been worth seven runs in the 84 games he’s played in left field.
It is unwise to delve to too deep into defensive stats in a small sample, but the early return on both Tulowitzki and Revere has been good for the Blue Jays. In their combined 184 innings with the team they’ve been worth three runs in the field according to DRS and 4.2 according to UZR. Given the highlight-reel plays the duo has already produced those numbers don’t seem too far-fetched.
This type of marginal difference isn’t going make as many headlines as adding an ace like Price, but it’s a change that’s subtly helping the Blue Jays win games.
