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The truth that the Toronto Blue Jays had been able to finish the year with a winning record (85-77) in the tough AL East last year was an accomplishment in itself. Still, it is not likely they will end a near-two decade playoff drought. Toronto topped the Majors with an stunning 257 home runs last season, but will struggle to come anyplace close to that number in 2011. Plus, their pitching staff lacks a shutdown Ace, but Brandon Morrow and Kyle Drabek are two up-and-coming candidates. Obtain out how the Blue Jays will fare in the division this season with our MLB predictions below.
Projected Lineup
Toronto lost a big chunk of their power with the departure of Vernon Wells to the Angels, but will extra than most likely still showcase one of the far better offenses in the league once more this season. The Blue Jays will be hoping for a similar season from Jose Bautista, who exploded for 54 household runs and 124 RBIs in 2010. Bautista will be creating the switch from the outfield to third base this season, and Toronto will be happy with anything close to the stats he put up last year. Adam Lind is an additional player the Blue Jays will be relying on for a solid year, as he takes more than at fist base. Lind is coming off a season where he hit just.237 with 23 household runs, but requirements to bounce back and turn out to be the hitter he was in 2009 when he hit.305 with 35 property runs. Second baseman Aaron Hill also struggled to get going in 2010 immediately after a solid 2009 season, exactly where he hit.286 with 36 household runs and 108 RBIs. Edwin Encarnacion will make the move from third base to DH this season, as he made a ton of errors at the hot corner. Encarnacion also had trouble staying wholesome, which limited him to just 332 at-bats, but he still managed to hit 21 property runs. Toronto also has high hopes for newly acquired center fielder Rajai Davis, who has 91 stolen bases over the last two seasons, and must be a productive leadoff hitter for this organization. Catcher J.P. Arencibia got off to a awesome start with two household runs in his debut last August, but genuinely struggled right after that. Arencibia did win the Pacific Coast League MVP, and it figures to be only a matter of time before he is a major force in this lineup. Toronto got Juan Rivera in the Wells trade, and are hoping he can perform like he did in 2009 when he hit.287 with 25 house runs and 88 RBIs. Shortstop Yunel Escobar and ideal fielder Travis Snider are two up-and-coming players, who could have a breakout season in 2011.
Projected Rotation
With Shaun Marcum now a member of the Brewers, Toronto has a ton of question marks surrounding their pitching staff, and for them to succeed this year, they want even better years from both Ricky Romero and Brandon Morrow. Romero is 27-18 with a three.99 ERA in his initially two seasons, and showed improvement with a three.73 ERA in 2010. Morrow went 10-7 with a 4.49 ERA in his initial full season as a starter, and posted a 10.9 SO/9 mark, which could mean large factors in 2011. Brett Cecil went 15-7 with a 4.22 ERA, but benefited from the offense scoring 5.9 runs per game in his begins. Kyle Drabek is a different guy who could truly turn it on this season. Drabek went -3 in 3 starts with Toronto last year, but will get his chance to display what he can do more than a full season. Jesse Litsch and Marc Rzepczynski will battle it out for the fifth and final spot in the rotation.
2011 Projection: 4th Spot AL East
The Blue Jays seem to have direction and a coherent strategy for the initially time in very some time. A lot of credit requirements to be given to General Manager Alex Anthopoulos has performed an stunning job, and we certainly like the hiring of new manager John Farrell. Toronto can slug it out with the Yankees and Red Sox, but they can't compete with either team or the Rays in pitching. At least it doesn't appear that way, though there is a ton of prospective here in Drabek, Morrow, Romero and Cecil who are all steadily improving.
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