There’s little question that in the final analysis, the 2015 Toronto Blue Jays will be looked upon as one of the greatest collections of players in the franchise’s history, if not the very best.
With the bright gleam of new superstars like Josh Donaldson, Russell Martin, David Price and Troy Tulowitzki adding to the glimmer from stalwarts like José Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion, this is truly a team with a blinding shine about it. There’s little question that to succeed and excel, you need high-impact players such as these who can provide premium production, and fans are certainly grateful for such a bounty.
Any team has its share of stars and its share of scrubs, but what distinguishes the 2015 Blue Jays apart from some recent squads is the surprisingly dependable performance of the players standing in the shadows of those all-stars and MVP candidates.
Coming into the season, pundits and fans noted the holes in centre field, second base, left field, first base, the back of the rotation and bullpen, and not entirely without merit. There seemed to be something of a catch-as-catch-can approach around the edges of the roster, especially after injuries felled Marcus Stroman and Michael Saunders.
Were fans really expected to believe that Kevin Pillar was an every day centre fielder? That Devon Travis could make the jump to the majors, skipping past the triple-A level altogether? What would happen if Ryan Goins needed to play more than just the occasional spot off the bench? Is there anything left to the dream of Justin Smoak as a big league first baseman? Would a patchwork of Danny Valencia and Ezequiel Carrera be able to cover left field? How long until young Roberto Osuna ended up back in the minors?
And was anyone asking themselves anything about Chris Colabello at the end of April?
One couldn’t blame fans if they had anticipated the worst coming into this year, especially given how much disappointment there has been with individual performances in recent seasons. Seeing Colby Rasmus or Brett Lawrie post one or two win seasons respectively when so much more was expected, or Juan Francisco sucking the life out of an offence, or living through consecutive seasons of J.P. Arencibia defiantly play below replacement level is enough to turn an optimist into a cynic.
While there have been disappointments and setbacks along with injuries that are to be expected with any team, the vast majority of the Blue Jays’ secondary players have elevated their games, often playing a key part in wins or streaks.
In the rough going early in the season, when many of the team’s star bats were mostly dormant, Devon Travis might have been the Jays’ best player, leading the team in wins above replacement through the first month, and making an early case for his rookie of the year candidature.
Kevin Pillar has managed well enough with the bat — with one exceptional month mixed in — while being a pleasant surprise with exceptional defence. His fielding performance should elicit a campaign for a Gold Glove down the stretch, as only Tampa Bay’s Kevin Kiermaier has managed more defensive runs saved as an AL outfielder this season.
Ryan Goins has unexpectedly seen his playing time spike with injuries to regular middle infielders, and while his glove is beyond reproach, his offensive production has been close to league average for second basemen. His .318 OBP is just percentage points off the league average (.319), and his wOBA of .298 is approaching the league average of .309. More to the point, though, is that Goins’ production in the second half (.398 OBP and .365 wOBA) has been far above average, and showing progressive improvement.
(As a side note, I pitched this piece before Goins walked off the Clevelanders this week, so please think of me as prescient rather than reactive.)
Left field has been a mish-mash of miscellany this season, but while the presumptive starter Michael Saunders managed to eke out a -0.1 WAR in his 36 plate appearances, the combination of temporary solutions all kept their heads above water as far as WAR is concerned, including Valencia (0.7), Colabello (0.5, and weighed down by terrible defensive metrics), Carrera (0.2) and Dalton Pompey (0.1) before handing the role over to Ben Revere (0.3 in 120 PAs).
It also might be worth noting that last season’s incumbent in that corner, Melky Cabrera, has posted a -0.2 WAR in his first season after signing a free-agent deal with the Chicago White Sox.
In the rotation, few would have imagined the exceptional season Marco Estrada has provided when stepping out of the bullpen early on. Not only has Estrada started 22 games for the Jays, he’s at times been the team’s most reliable starting pitcher. While the predictive nerd stats don’t necessarily love him, he has managed to keep his home run rate at a reasonable level, and provided much better value than one might suppose from a fifth starter/swingman.
This season hasn’t been without incident or disappointment, as some of the April youth movement took a step back into the minors or out of the organization. But as the season has progressed and the Jays rattled off a number of win streaks, the stars of the team have been ably buttressed by the strong play of their supporting cast.