The Toronto Blue Jays (Projected) Line Up

On February 11th the official Toronto Blue Jays website gave us all an early Valentine’s Day gift; the projected line up and pitching staff of your 2010 Toronto Blue Jays!

Wooo!

Alright, so here is what the experts are saying will be the batting order (I will include their 2009 numbers just to remind you of the good times we all had last season.)

And here we go!
1. RF Jose Bautista: .235 BA, .349 OBP, .408 SLG, 13 HR, 40 RBI
2. CF Vernon Wells: .260 BA, .311 OBP, .400 SLG, 15 HR, 66 RBI
3. 2B Aaron Hill: .286 BA, .330 OBP, .499 SLG, 36 HR, 108 RBI
4. DH Adam Lind: .305 BA, .370 OBP, .562 SLG, 35 HR, 114 RBI
5. 3B Edwin Encarnacion: .225 BA, .320 OBP, .410 SLG, 13 HR, 39 RBI
6. 1B Lyle Overbay: .265 BA, .372 OBP, .466 SLG, 16 HR, 64 RBI
7. C John Buck: .247 BA, .299 OBP, .484 SLG, 8 HR, 36 RBI
8. LF Travis Snider: .241 BA, .328 OBP, .419 SLG, 9 HR, 29 RBI
9. SS Alex Gonzalez: .238 BA, .279 OBP, .355 SLG, 8 HR, 41 RBI

Alright, well it’s not the 1927 Yankees, but there are some quality players in this batting order.

Aaron Hill is only 27 years old, which really means that he’s entering his prime as a ball player. That’s an exciting time, right? No, in all seriousness that is pretty exciting. This is probably the one player worth paying to see 81 times this season (not including John Buck, of course.)

Then there’s Adam Lind who is only 26 years old (and shares my birthday, because I know all two readers care.) He’s a great bat to have behind Hill. A 40 to 50 home run season is not out of the question with this kid.

John Buck is holding it down in the 7 spot. He’ll bring the veteran savvy and defensive wizardry behind the plate day in and out. Can you believe that the Royals let him go and that the Jays picked him up for ONLY $2,000,000! Wow, really puts things in perspective doesn’t it? I mean if John Buck is only worth $2 million what am I worth? $1.72? $0.84? I don’t really want to think about it anymore.

Now behind the Mormon Masher we’ve got Travis Snider. He was born in 1988! That really makes me think about what I’ve accomplished in my 25 years on this earth. Especially while I sit alone in my bachelor apartment writing something that maybe four people will read. In all honesty though I think this kid will be a very decent ballplayer soon enough.

Now let’s get to the starting rotation.

For the first time since the dinosaurs roamed the Earth the Jays will not have Roy Halladay as the anchor of the rotation and the main reason that Toronto residents went to Blue Jays games in the first place. The question will be “who will even attempt to be the ace of this staff?” Well, according to the Toronto Blue Jays this is the projected pitching rotation (again I will include 2009 numbers.)

1. Shaun Marcum: Did not play.
2. Ricky Romero: 13-9, 4.30 ERA
3. Brandon Morrow: 2-4, 4.39 ERA
4. Brian Tallet: 7-9, 5.32 ERA
5. Marc Rzepczynski: 2-4, 3.67 ERA
6. Brett Cecil: 7-4, 5.30 ERA

You know what, this could go either way. By either way I really mean that the pitching staff could be decent and get the Jays another 3rd place finish or that they could be the main reason the Baltimore Orioles finally get out of 5th place in the AL East.

It’s a young staff, that’s for sure but Marcum and Romero should be able to challenge batters in the AL. Tallet could pitch well, but the Jays might move him to the bullpen for long and middle relief so who knows about his role. The other three pitchers, well we’re not looking at Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz here.

The bullpen is bound to see a lot of innings this year so let’s see how the experts view it.

Closer Kevin Gregg: 23/30 saves, 4.72 ERA
RH Setup Man Jason Frasor: 11/14 saves, 2.50 ERA
LH Setup Man Scott Downs: 9/13 saves, 3.09 ERA

Now I’ve already said that I don’t hate this at all. If the Jays bump Tallet from the rotation they’d have a nice little bullpen going.

I’m going to be completely honest when I say I have absolutely no idea how this season will unfold. The Jays have some nice pieces in Hill, Lind, Marcum and Romero and their bullpen looks pretty solid. That being said this whole team could pull a Vernon Wells and simply crap the bed.

Ain’t Baseball great?