Monday, July 20, 2020

The Youth Movement Deferred?


Another in  the long line of burning questions about the 2020 season.

So, 2020, shortened or no, is the trial run of the new and improved Toronto Blue Jays. The infield is now completely youth-driven, with Brandon Drury taking over for Justin Smoak, and sophomores Guerrero, Bichette and Biggio taking the other positions. This is the first opportunity for us to see this team in full, with a restocked pitching rotation led by Hyun-Jin Ryu.

Because we only have 60 games and an earlier trade deadline, are we just  gonna get round two of this next year?

Other than one-year deal guys, I feel like a majority of this Jays team is gonna be back for 2021, and it's going to be mostly the same team. So because a lot of this team is young and formative, does this season not especially count as the first full picture of this youth-driven team? Are we going to have to wait until September 2021 to have gotten a real picture of how this team operates over the course of a season? 60 games may not be good enough of a picture.

Bo Bichette played 46 games last season, and his rookie numbers were insane, but perhaps they were insane solely because he only had 46 games to cover. It's like Rhys Hoskins in 2017, a great rookie start says a lot, but it doesn't say as much as  an entire season. Guerrero could hit .330 with 20 home runs this year, and it may not be indicative of anything because he doesn't have a June or July to either slump or keep the momentum going.

That being said, the Blue Jays might do sort of well, as they have more working for them than they have in previous years, and might be more of a factor into this shortened season than Baltimore and Boston. But who's to say if this small a sample size will be any indication of how good they are, or really how good any team is.

It's just a lot to consider.

Coming Tomorrow- A new member of the Braves outfield

1 comment:

  1. With a 60 game season a 10 game win streak or losing slump will make or break a season. Unfortunately with their youth, I'd expect volatility in results...just hoping it is on the winning side...

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