Rival Watch: What MLB analysts are saying about the 2023 Blue Jays

Baseball

Published 01.04.2023

Rival Watch: What MLB analysts are saying about the 2023 Blue Jays

After an exhilarating Opening Day 10-9 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday, the 2023 Toronto Blue Jays have set course on their pursuit of a World Series championship.

Of course, the beginning of any season brings predictions and projections aplenty as pundits attempt their hand at setting the stage for the yr.

If you haven’t learn what Sportsnet’s baseball specialists needed to say concerning the upcoming season, you possibly can verify that out in our MLB Preview Roundtable.

But what are MLB analysts within the United States saying relating to projecting the Blue Jays? Here is a pattern of what some have predicted for Toronto in 2023:

ESPN: 2023 MLB predictions: Wild Cards, Playoffs, World Series, extra

Although most of ESPN’s voters took the New York Yankees to win the AL East, 11 out of 28 tabbed the Blue Jays to take the division.

Eric Karabell wrote: “The Blue Jays were plenty dangerous last season until facing the Mariners in October. They had the lineup and the aces to advance as the Phillies did. This season, the Jays will take the AL East over the Yankees and Rays. Rotation depth matters, as well as bullpen and lineup depth, and the Jays have it all. They needed offensive upgrades, notably from the left side, and added Brandon Belt and Daulton Varsho. Getting defensive stalwart Kevin Kiermaier was critical, too. Jose Berrios and Yusei Kikuchi will bounce back. This is a complete team that can represent the AL.”

All however one of many voters had Toronto making the playoffs — whether or not through division title or a wild-card berth — however six went a step additional, selecting it to win the American League, and only one had the Blue Jays rising as champions at season’s finish.

Jumping over to the awards predictions, one voter named Vladimir Guerrero Jr. because the 2023 AL MVP, whereas Alek Manoah and Kevin Gausman obtained three votes every to win the AL Cy Young — together with a vote for Gausman from Jeff Passan.

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MLB.com: The 2023 award winners can be … and One daring prediction for all 30 groups

Over at MLB.com, they polled 87 employees members to foretell who will win every award. Although no Toronto gamers topped any of the lists, supervisor John Schneider was the decide to win AL Manager of the Year.

“Schneider replaced Charlie Montoyo as Blue Jays manager last July, and Toronto removed the interim tag after he led the club to a 46-28 record (.622 winning percentage). Schneider’s task in his first full season at the helm? Helping a talented Blue Jays team get to the next level. Toronto has reached the postseason in two of the past three years but hasn’t finished first in the AL East since 2015 or won a playoff game since 2016.”

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Additionally, MLB.com’s beat writers made one daring prediction for every group. For the Blue Jays? Keegan Matheson projected a 30-30 season for shortstop Bo Bichette.

“José Cruz Jr. (2001) and Shawn Green (’98) are the only Blue Jays to have done this, but Bichette’s game should give him a real shot in the coming years. We know that Bichette has the power to hit 30 out, and when you combine his speed with the Blue Jays’ eagerness to be more aggressive on the bases, there’s a path to him swiping 30 bags. Bichette has been one of the most impressive players in camp from Day 1, and if he can carry over his hot finish from last September — which many coaches and teammates are expecting — then a 30-30 season is realistic.”

The Athletic: MLB 2023 predictions: World Series champ, MVP, division winners and extra

In a ballot of its MLB employees, The Athletic could have proven probably the most like to the Blue Jays of any outlet.

16.10 per cent of voters pegged Toronto to win the World Series, and 45.2 per cent have it successful the division.

Hall of Fame author Jayson Stark wrote: “Maybe it’s because I’ve seen a lot of the Blue Jays this spring, but they have a lineup that keeps coming at you. They have better left-right balance in the lineup than in the past and the ability to use their legs to exploit the new rules. I love Alek Manoah/Kevin Gausman at the top of their rotation. And Jordan Romano is one of the most underrated closers in baseball. Easily one of the five most talented teams in the game.”

Yahoo Sports — 2023 MLB Opening Day: Picks for division winners, World Series, MVP, Shohei Ohtani and extra

Yahoo additionally has excessive expectations for the Blue Jays in 2023, with every member of the MLB group selecting Toronto to make the playoffs and Chris Cwik choosing them to knock off its opening sequence foe, the Cardinals, to take residence the World Series.

While no Blue Jay was named in Yahoo’s award picks, newly acquired Daulton Varsho made each Hannah Keyser‘s and Liz Roscher‘s lists because the American League’s breakout hitter.

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The Ringer: The Ringer’s 2023 MLB Preseason Predictions

Both Zach Kram and Ben Lindbergh — two-thirds of The Ringer‘s employees collaborating within the predictions — have the Blue Jays making the World Series and successful the AL East. However, Kram has them in the end falling to the Atlanta Braves and Lindbergh selected the San Diego Padres to win all of it.

Here’s what Kram needed to say about selecting the Braves and Blue Jays to satisfy on baseball’s largest stage: “Atlanta won 101 games last season without receiving full campaigns from Spencer Strider, Michael Harris II or Raisel Iglesias; without Sean Murphy behind the plate; and without a healthy and fully functional Ronald Acuña Jr. Losing Dansby Swanson hurts, but Atlanta still boasts the most talented roster, top to bottom, in the league. Meanwhile, I’m still in on the Blue Jays, even though I was a tad overenthusiastic last season—much like I overhyped the Padres in 2021, only to see them fulfill their potential a year later. I foresee a rematch of the 1992 World Series, with the opposite team winning this round.”

While as soon as once more no Toronto gamers made The Ringer‘s award ballots, the third member of the prediction group, Bobby Wagner, picked Varsho as his 2023 breakout participant.

“If it weren’t for the Diamondbacks being a multitude in 2022, I believe Varsho would possibly’ve damaged out final yr. The 26-year-old part-time catcher, part-time outfielder will almost certainly spend a majority of his time within the outfield this season for the Blue Jays, who acquired Varsho after buying and selling away Teoscar Hernández earlier within the offseason and who already roster two big-league catchers.

“Varsho is such a good defender in the outfield that, despite just barely clearing league average at the plate, his 2022 was still good for 4.6 fWAR. His underlying profile at the plate isn’t showing much life at the moment, ranking in the middle of the pack or near the bottom in most Statcast measurables. But he’s just so versatile as a player that, now that he’s on an interesting team with designs on the playoffs, if he realizes even just a fraction of the offensive potential in his prospect profile, he’ll be extremely important in Toronto this year.”