Blue Jays Proving They Did the Right Thing This Past Off Season

After today, the Toronto Blue Jays have won four games in a row, they swept the Kansas City Royals at home, and now sit second in the American League East with a 12-5 record. Certainly not the results that some were anticipating, but back in March, I predicted that Toronto was going to be a contender and these early results should come as no surprise.

When the offseason first started, many around baseball, fans and media alike, called for the Blue Jays to automatically enter the sellers arena and offer up anyone and everyone especially Josh Donaldson. Toronto did listen on Donaldson throughout the winter and received inquiries from teams such as, the St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Angels, and Atlanta Braves, but nothing ever materialized and here we sit with Donaldson still apart of the big league squad, albeit on the DL with a right shoulder injury.

Regardless, no matter what way you slice it or look at it, the way Toronto has performed thus far just proves that they took the right path this past offseason and why the game needs to be played on the field rather than on paper through silly predictions and analyst assumptions. A 12-5 record is nothing to sneeze at and why should anyone be shocked? It was just two years ago that Toronto had the best starting rotation in the American League and they still have a ton of talent on their 25-man roster including pieces that they supplemented their roster with from this past offseason.

Take for example infielder, Yangervis Solarte, who not only can play one position, but has the capability to play second and third base as well as shortstop. Solarte had a monster first game yesterday against the Kansas City Royals going 2-for-3 with a home run and 4 RBI. Solarte, acquired form the San Diego Padres this past off season, now leads the team in home runs (4) and on-base percentage (.409) over 54 at bats.

Ross Atkins & Company set out on a mission to upgrade their roster this past winter in a couple of different ways and acquiring Solarte was just one under-the-radar move that is already paying off dividends. You can't deny the fact of how impactful another offseason acquisition in, Aledmys Diaz, has been to this point either. Diaz, through 50 at bats, has 12 hits, 2 doubles, 4 home runs, 9 RBI, 26 extra-base hits, and a .520 slugging percentage.

Certainly can't go wrong with the offensive performance by either Solarte or Diaz, both of whom have combined for an Offensive Wins Above Replacement (OWAR) value of 0.7, here in the early going. Besides both of them, Kevin Pillar has really stepped it up at the plate as well and now leads the team in batting average (.338) and hits (22) over 65 at bats. Pillar has always been known for his glove, but to see him perform on this type of offensive level to start the season, is quite promising and something that should be celebrated by Blue Jays fans.

Besides the offense during Toronto's 8-2 stretch over the past 10 games, the Blue Jays quietly have the best bullpen ERA, as it stands right now, in the American League (2.22). So far this season, the Blue Jays bullpen has a .195 Opponent Batting Average Against, a 1.05 WHIP, and have given up the second fewest earned runs (14) over that span.

A big reason why the bullpen has been so successful for the Blue Jays is because of 23-year old closer, Roberto Osuna. Osuna locked down his 100th career save last week and became the youngest closer in MLB history to ever accomplish that feat. Just think, if the Blue Jays did decide to be sellers this past off season, Osuna would likely be wearing a different uniform right now and the Blue Jays bullpen would be in absolute shambles especially the back end.

Besides Osuna, Danny Barnes leads the team with a 12.10 strikeouts-per-9 rate over 9.2 IP and Tyler Clippard has been another valuable asset as illustrated by his 2.08 ERA over 8.2 IP. It's guys like, Barnes and Clippard, coming through in the big situations that will continue to keep the Blue Jays bullpen successful for the remainder of the year and into October, if Toronto does indeed clinch a postseason berth.

Regardless, none of us have a crystal ball and can accurately state whether or not the Blue Jays will continue to play up to this level or even continue to have one of the top bullpens in all of baseball. The only thing that we do know is that the Toronto's front office looks awfully smart right now for deciding to take the path of supplementing the roster they had last year this past offseason rather than tearing it down and going through yet another rebuild, which would have only broken the hearts of Blue Jays fans and the entire city of Toronto.