Justin Smoak’s breakout 2017 season ended with a whimper, as the Blue Jays first baseman dealt with fatigue and a then-undisclosed injury. Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com reports that Smoak dealt with patella tendinitis in one of his knees during the season’s final two months, during which he produced just a .211/.311/.406 batting line. However, the former top prospect made some adjustments to his offseason workout routine to try and avoid similar struggles in 2018. “I feel like I’ve done some things this offseason to make that better, and I just have to keep doing the things that I was doing to keep it strong and try to alleviate that pain.” The 31-year-old will try to build on a surprisingly dominant 2017 season during which he earned his first All-Star appearance and hit a career-high 38 homers. Though Smoak had been near replacement level for his entire career, he was worth 3.4 fWAR last year; whether that production is sustainable will be an interesting storyline to watch this season.
More news from up north…
- Though right-hander Joe Biagini endured his fair share of struggles last season, Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker has faith in him (h/t Ben Nicholson-Smith of sportsnet.ca). “I still envision him as a quality major-league starter,” says Walker. A Rule 5 Draft pick of the Jays back in 2015, Biagini has just two full seasons and 18 MLB starts under his belt. Though his 5.34 ERA last season wouldn’t seem to offer much promise on the surface, it doesn’t tell the entire story, either. Biagini showed flashes of potential last season by going at least seven innings on four separate occasions, including a September start during which he struck out ten Orioles hitters and posted an 87.5% ground ball rate. If he can harness some of that ability, he may yet become a valuable member of Toronto’s rotation.
- In retrospect, right-hander Marco Estrada feels good about his decision to sign a one-year deal with the Blue Jays (via Nicholson-Smith). “I’m blessed and happy that I was able to take care of that stuff early so I had none of those headaches and none of the stress about where I was going to end up,” Estrada said earlier this week. “It was really nice to enjoy this off-season.” Outfielder Curtis Granderson, who is one of two elected MLBPA Player Representatives, also offered his views on the offseason to this point. “Everything is still moving up. Revenue is at an all-time high. Minimum salaries are at an all-time high,” he said. “As long as everything continues to move in the right direction, in the same direction, I think it’s going to be a good thing.”
Granderson is part of the problem then. The latter part of the CBA has minimum salaries tied to CPI and not revenue growth. Also, FA salaries seem to be moving down, at least for the non elite class
15Granderson is part of the problem then. The latter part of the CBA has minimum salaries tied to CPI and not revenue growth. Also, FA salaries seem to be moving down, at least for the non elite class
Well said.
Love joe and hope he ends up back in the set up role for the jays… but considering smoak is part owner of worst average in mlb history with runners in scoring position I see major regression. Smoak and morales are going to hinder the jays chances of success this year for sure!
What are you talking about? Smoak hit .278 with a .884 ops with runners in scoring position last year.
Year before last not so much
Smoak couldn’t hit anything prior to 2016, he was a strictly fastball/changeup hitter who couldn’t hit any slow or hard breaking ball.
He hit those pitches for the first time in his career last season because of a mechanical change in his swing process to just make contact and use his natural strength to drive the balls.
I think this is a good year to see what they have in Biagini. As the #6 starter, he will get major league innings on a team that will likely end up #3 in their division.. Happ and Estrada are free agents this year, and having a reliable starter would answer a lot of questions. He’s a big horse with a good arm, so he has all the tools if he can learn to get major league pitchers out..
Maybe his fate will be decided by how well Axford and Breslow do in Spring Training.
Estrada signing early looks so good right now
For Estrada? He probably would’ve gotten 2/18-20 in FA this year with some incentives to bump him up. He’s better than cashner and vargas who got a guaranteed 16 plus incentives. I think the deal he got is fair for both sides. Maybe Estrada got the better end of the bargain.
I just came to see if that Yankee fan somehow trys to say how Smoak is better than Rizzo.
We need to build up depth in our rotation because Estrada’s back is going to be a problem this year. My guess is he makes 20 starts this year. Hopefully Sanchez’s finger isn’t a problem. We could use a Brett Anderson signing, or something of that ilk.
I also think Biagini is NOT the solution in the rotation. If he was going to be an asset in the rotation, the Giant’s wouldn’t have let him go via the Rule 5 draft. Put him back in the bullpen to set up Osuna.
Although I am sceptical on biagini in the rotation. You aren’t correct by saying the giants wouldn’t have let him go, there are plenty of rule 5 draft success stories.
I wouldn’t be against bringing Anderson back either, he pitched well when he was with the jays