Toronto Blue Jays
2017 Record: (76-86) 4th in AL East
Off Season Transactions:
Signed: Yangervis Solarte, Randal Grichuck and Curtis Granderson
Traded: J.B. Woodman (RP) for Aledmys Diaz (SS).
Released: Ryan Goins (2B) and Tom Koehler (P).
Projected Starting Rotation
Marco Estrada – He had a really good year last year for the Blue Jays and is a good option in DFS especially for cash games. Not a whole bunch of upside with him but at his price he will allow you to get bats that you want. He isn’t a huge strikeout pitcher but works by changing speeds to throw hitters off. When his changeup is on he will have really good games.
Marcus Stroman – He is probably one of my favorite MLB players just because of the way he plays the game. He has a lot of heart and determination. As a pitcher, he isn’t going to blow it by you but has a nice combination of pitches that work to throw hitters off. He mostly pitches to contact but can strike guys out as well. He is a solid DFS option against teams that strikeout but mostly for cash game considerations.
A. Happ – You can either use this guy as a pitcher or you can stack bats against him. It all depends what kind of day it is for J.A. In the right matchup, he can have upside you will just have to try to identify when it is going to be his day.
Aaron Sanchez – He initially had a starting role last year and then was moved to the bullpen. He is a promising young guy with good stuff but last year he had some really bad outings. I think he will get it together this year and I would think we see him have a better year. He should be on your radar.
Joe Biagini – He is a guy you aren’t really going to take bats against because he is an extreme ground ball pitcher which doesn’t yield a whole lot of upside for bats. He also isn’t going to be someone you want to pitch because he doesn’t strikeout many guys.
Bullpen:
A middle of the road bullpen with a couple of solid arms but the feature guy is Roberto Osuna.
Starting Lineup:
Kevin Pillar (OF) – He is always at a price where he is tempting because he is never really too expensive. He has some upside because he can flash some power and steal some bases. Keep him in mind but is never a guy I’ll love.
Yangervis Solarte (2B) – Coming over from the Padres he gets a boost in the ballpark. I like him. He is a solid option because he was never really too expensive and he is a good player. I’m excited to see how he fits into Toronto’s lineup.
Josh Donaldson (3B) – This was probably my favorite 3rd baseman to roster last year. The dude can absolutely mash and has massive upside with a potential 2 or maybe 3 home run game. He will have them this season, just hope you are on him when he does. You are always going to want to consider Donaldson. One thing to note here is that Donaldson doesn’t hit the slider well so against pitchers who have a good slider I would pass on him.
Justin Smoak (1B) – He is another really good DFS option because he is never really too priced up unless he is on a hot steak. He has upside due to his power. He is a switch hitter who showed more power from the left side of the plate and hit for a better average from the right side of the plate. However, there is about 3 times the amount of At Bats from the left side and the numbers show he could keep pace with the power numbers from the right side of the plate with more opportunities.
Kendrys Morales (1B) – All the Blue Jay hitters are very similar. Morales has a lot of upside as well because he has power and can drive in runs. He is a switch hitter who actually hits better when he is vs left handed pitching batting right handed.
Russell Martin (C) – He is a decent option at catcher every day as long as he isn’t too expensive. He has upside as he has decent power and is able to have huge games.
Troy Tulowitski (SS) – I kept waiting for this guy to break out of it last year but he never really did. Was one time an MVP candidate and last year was a disappointment. On a given slate there were other better options than Tulo.
Curtis Granderson (OF) – He isn’t going to be someone you really consider on a daily basis but on the right slate he could turn into an option. He had a couple massive games which led to GPP winning lineups if you rostered him.
Randal Grichuck (OF) – He is coming over from St. Louis. He is fine. If he is sitting around the 2.5k range I will entertain him but anything over that I’ll probably pass. He has power that is for sure, the problem is he doesn’t have consistent power and can’t put the ball in play consistently either.
Playing Field:
Rodgers Centre
Ball Park Factor- 8th
This is definitely a hitter’s park! The ball can fly out of here so a huge boost to the hitters.
“Must Knows” of the Toronto Blue Jays going into 2018 MLB DFS:
The Blue Jays are the ultimate boom or bust hitting team in DFS. You can stack them in great spots and they can just dud or they can be in a tough spot and go off for 12 runs. Another thing to note is that they are a pretty deep team 1-9 in their lineup so when stacking them make sure you’re considering some of the cheaper options.
