Blue Jays: End of Season Review

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As it turns out, it is pretty hard to start 6-16 and make the playoffs.

This was a disappointing season.

But there were some fun moments!

Like a Morales walk-off.

Or a Goins walk-off.

Or Peace's walk-off Grand Slam.

Or scoring 7 runs in the bottom of the ninth and Pearce hitting his second walk-off Grand Slam in just a matter of days.

Or Kevin Pillar's catch, after catch, after catch.

Let’s be clear - the playoffs were not out of reach after the Jays started 2-11. Nobody actually knew that for sure at that time. There was still loads of baseball left. It was early. They had time to make up the lost ground. And you know what? For a time, it looked like they were going to. Despite that miserable start, they were one game below .500 on June 2nd. Obviously they never passed the .500 threshold, but at that time, it really did look like they had enough in them to at least get back in the Wild Card race. So no, the season didn’t end in at 2-11 on April 18th.

What killed this team was injuries. It wasn’t the slow start, it wasn’t Roberto Osuna’s late-season struggles, and it wasn’t Kendrys Morales’ disappointing showing. It was injuries. Few teams could see Aaron Sanchez make eight starts, Josh Donaldson miss 40+ games, Devon Travis feature in only 50, and an abundance of missed time from Russell Martin and Troy Tulowitzki. Yes, the Jays were lucky with regards to injuries in recent years, but they were terribly unlucky this year. Ultimately, it was too much to overcome.

Where does this leave them for 2018? As Mark Shapiro recently said, they will enter the season in essentially the same position as they entered 2017. They will still have an old team, they will still start the year with a strong rotation, and they will still have some question marks in the lineup. I wouldn’t expect a massive overhaul this winter. But if they get consistent production from Sanchez, Travis, and Donaldson, then that alone will be a huge step in the right direction. Toss in a competent right fielder and some better depth next year (think Urena instead of Barney and Borucki instead of Bolsinger), and the team could very well be back in the playoff picture. A lot will still need to go right, but it’s not some unrealistic dream that should be dismissed.

While there likely won’t be big moves this winter, I’m still excited for it. We should see at least one new outfielder brought in, some starting rotation and middle infield depth, and a decent lefty for the bullpen. With any luck, we will also add some pieces to the farm.

The last few games of the season were all about Jose. After all the memories, all of the home runs. All the gems and soundbites, this was about him. And Buck couldn't have said it any better.
"He came here as Jose Bautista, but he leaves here as Joey Bats."
Bautista forever changed baseball in Canada, and the Blue Jays forever changed him.

Best line of the season, Buck. Well done.

And thank you, Jose. Thank you for 54. Thank you for the Flip. Thank you for making this team exciting again.

Again, this was a disappointing season. It’s really tough to be able to definitively say that we won’t be in the playoffs. The good news is that the Jays are still in a position to compete next year, even if you might not want to believe it.

-Drew Hockridge

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