Blue Jays Yankees

Blue Jays Yankees

Blue Jays Yankees

Toronto Blue Jays 2009 Baseball Season Preview

The 2009 edition of the Toronto Blue Jays is, how do you say, odd. With a mixture of established players, over the hill veterans, youngsters and a few legitimate stars the roster features a little bit of everything. Now will this mixture be enough to earn Toronto its first MLB playoff appearance since 1993?

Rotation

The rotation has had its fair share of injuries in the past year. Front line starters such as Shaun Marcum and McGowan will both most likely miss the entire season. Number two starter AJ Burnett was lured by over $100 million to join the New York Yankees. Even back of the rotation pitching options such as Casey Jannsen have suffered injuries. This leaves the blue jays with a mix of veterans and youth in the rotation. The number one starter will be former American League Cy Young award winner (as well as 2008 runner-up) Roy Halladay. Following him will be Jesse Litsch and David Purcey. Rounding out the rotation will be Scott Richmond and Ricky Romero. Even with the injuries this is a strong staff.

Bullpen

The bullpen is stocked. Some would say that there are too many good pitchers in the bullpen. The closers is BJ Ryan, although Brandon League and Jeremy Accardo
are both very capable of filling the closer role at the major league level. Left-handed pitcher Scott Downs is the go to pitcher out of the pen. Rounding things out are Jesse Carlson and others. The Jays can seemingly take any pitcher and turn them into a strong bullpen hand. Pitching is certainly the strength of the ballclub.

Offense

The offense is a mixture of former all-stars and youngsters. Scott Rolen, Vernon Wells and Alex Rios have all made all-star appearances in the past. Rios would probably be considered the Jays strongest batter, followed by Wells. Playing first base is lefty Lyle Overbay. At second is the returning Aaron Hill. Hill missed the majority of the 2008 season due to injury. Marco Scutaro will play short and can play virtually anywhere on the diamond. Scott Rolen is of course the third baseman. In the outfield are the youngsters that we've spoken about, Adam Lind and Travis Snider. Both are left-handed power hitters that can hit one out of the park or strike out at anytime. The Jays really have four outfielders, with Lind, Snider, Wells and Rios, so one of them will have to hit in the DH role from time to time (most likely Lind or Snider). Behind the plate is Rod Barajas, although a young prospect in the minor league system named J.P. Arencibia is quickly approaching the major leagues. The Jays run a "lay and pray" offense that is built around walks, doubles and home runs. Under manager Cito Gaston the Jays attempted the fewest stolen bases of any major league club in the second half of last season.

Will the 2009 Toronto Blue Jays be able to find success? The AL east is certainly tough but many baseball experts will tell you that pitching wins championships. With arguably the AL's best overall pitching staff the Jays have a chance to surprise experts and fans alike in 2009.

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Toronto Blue Jays 2009
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