The Toronto Blue Jays have all of their starting position players under control for the 2016 season, but that doesn’t mean the club won’t make any changes to the offence.
While the team had the best hitting lineup in baseball this season, one area the Blue Jays could look to address is a lack of left-handed hitters at the top of the batting order.
“That would be ideal. We are so right-handed heavy,” manager John Gibbons said Monday on Baseball Central on Sportsnet 590 The Fan. “We talked about it last year. We have our main guys up top. They’re really good against right-handers. (But) if you’re on the opposite side, it makes it real easy to set up your bullpen. It’s not easy to get us out but it would make it a lot tougher. Stick a good lefty in the middle of it or the tail end of those three guys.”
The Blue Jays could look towards the trade route or a free agent class that will feature prominent left-handed hitters including first baseman Chris Davis, outfielder Alex Gordon, outfielder Jason Heyward, and switch-hitter Ben Zobrist.
Otherwise, Gibbons didn’t seem too down about the ALCS loss to the Kansas City Royals, who he dubbed the most well-rounded team in baseball, and sounded very excited about the future of the Blue Jays, pointing to some of the ascending young pitchers on the roster.
“The core group is still there,” he said. “(The) main group is still there. (Roberto) Osuna stepped up and played a vital role for our team. (Aaron) Sanchez started to come into his own as a starter until he got hurt and was great again in the bullpen. (Marcus) Stroman kind of came out of nowhere and saved us a bit. Those are three pretty good young pitchers. They’ve proved it at this level already … The state of the union is great.”
