Opening Day Starting Lineup

Finally, a calm in the Antho-storm off-season for me to do what I have been craving to do; SPECULATE!!

There may be a few more minor moves, (Kouzmanoff rumors, bluchhy) but for all intents and purposes, the team is basically set, so now all that's left to be decided is how best to deploy the troops. And I think it might a go... a little something... a like this...

SP-Ricky Romero
C- JP Arencebia
1B- Adam Lind
2B- Aaron Hill
3B- Jose Bautista
SS- Yunel Escobar
LF- Juan Rivera
CF- Rajai Davis
RF- Travis Snider
DH- Edwin Encarnacion

This is easy. There are no great mysteries here. This is how I would march them out there, this is how you would march them out there. This is how John Farrell will march them out there.

If we acquire a 3B before the season starts, he will start at 3B, Bautista can make the move to right field where he actually prefers playing, and have Snider slide over to left. This gives us a much better defensive outfield, and assuming this mystery man is one of the rumored players (Kouz or Figgins), we actually get better D at the hot corner too.

The strength of this defence lies in the middle of the infield with two of the flashier, long ranging middle infielders in all of baseball in Escobar and Hill. I expect to see amazing plays from those two on a regular basis, and  couldn't ask for two smoother sets of hands for turning double plays. Oh yeah, and if one of them misses a game, we have Johnny McDonald. He ain't bad either.

The weakness (potentially... well, probably) will lie with Lind's attempted transition into playing first base. This is an experiment, and while in peewee, this is where you stuck the kid that couldn't throw, the position holds massive implications for team defence and overall success. One dug-out short hopper vs. a ball skipping into foul territory can easily decide a game, and a game can decide a series and series' decide the season. I honestly can't see him being spectacular, but hopefully he picks it up quickly. Another positive is a focus on defence could take his mind of his AB's and let his natural stroke take over again. We need that.

I don't think there will be any debate over who will be the opening day starter, barring injury. Some narrow minded folks will make a case for the upside of Morrow as our supposed ace, and he may well end up with a better statistical season if he can carry some momentum from last year and maintain it, but Romero is the guy. He's the leader of this young staff, hands down, and we will largely live and die with his performance over the next several seasons. I think live. More on the starting rotation and bullpen to come later. Just wanted to set up the opening day battery.

Arencebia will have some growing pains behind the dish, but certainly has the raw physical ability necessary. Learning behind a defensive magician in Molina can't hurt either. He's got a cannon, but blocking might be an issue. Game calling will come with experience and familiarity. Fortunately, he has had the opportunity to catch all the expected starters, except for Morrow, mostly at the AAA level over the past few years. Dig it.

To round out the outfield, and the D entirely, Rajai Davis is a total speedster in CF. He may not take the precise routes that Vernon had a knack for, but will absolutely make up for any slow jumps with blazing speed. I don't think we lose too much there.  Rivera is serviceable, with an above average arm, especially in a left fielder, but below average range.

All in all, I believe the Jays will be a middle of the pack team defensively. Brian Butterfield is as good as they come in an infield instructor, and if his work with Lind pays off in spades they may even be an upper-tier defence.


NOW, what we are ALL anxiously awaiting, the opening day batting order;


1. Rajai Davis  R
2. Yunel Escobar  R
3. Aaron Hill  R
4. Jose Bautista  R
5. Adam Lind  L
6. Juan Rivera  R
7. JP Arencebia  R
8. Edwin Encarnacion  R
9. Travis Snider  L


I do not think this is their best line-up. That is not what I am speculating here. I do, however, believe this is the card Farrell will hand to the umpire before the opening pitch is thrown.

Davis is something the Jays haven't had since Rickey Henderson; a genuine speed threat on the basepaths. Not 1st to 3rd speed like Shannon Stewart and Vernon Wells had; take off flying for 2nd speed. The speed of Davis and the bat control of Yunel Escobar will give John Farrell a plethora of options should our leadoff man gets on. Rajai needs to see more pitches though. A high average is great, but a high OBP is much more important from that top spot.

I know Bautista had a monster, monster season in the 3 hole last year, and he's probably comfortable there, but, c'mon, you hit 54 dingers and you're the cleanup guy. Thats just how that works. Plus we don't really have another option there given Lind's irrational paranoia over the number 4. I suppose Hill could take some hacks there, but he doesn't quite offer the intimidation one would hope for in the heart of a lineup. Hill and Lind could swap 3 and 5 spots, but I like Aaron and his legs at the top of the lineup. I'd rather have him trying to score from first on a Bautista double than Lind.

The rest of the lineup is very interchangeable and I'm sure will be juggled a great deal, depending on who's hot. Rivera could easily slot lower but I figure John Farrell will want a veteran bat sandwiched in between two young sluggers. Someone who won't have the streakiness of an up and coming hitter.

Snider is a power guy, and realistically should be in the middle third of the order. I do see him hitting there later in the season, but for now he fits in at the bottom of the lineup. Encarnacion and he could flip flop periodically. Neither one is your typical 9-guy, but that might not be a terrible thing. I might be inclined to stick Encarnacion at the bottom. He basically strikes out or hits a dinger anyway, so you will get a lot of fresh starts at the top of the order. Get that man a pitching machine that throws nothing but sliders. He stinks.

One thing that you notice looking up and down the lineup is an imbalance of right handed hitters. While it would be nice to have more of a balance throughout the lineup to give opposing starters more to think about, it is a better problem to have than too many lefties. There is no such thing as a "righty specialist" that can come in and batters will have an especially hard time with. Hopefully teams will be more hesitant to have a lefty warming up just to face Lind or Snider should they come up in a critical situation.

So, how does the lineup look? Powerful. I don't think there is any doubt about that. Aside from the top 2 in Davis and Escobar, there is not a guy in there that doesn't have 25-30 HR power. The plan this year is to have more people on base when those HRs go flying out of the yard. Whether that happens remains to be seen.

We can definitely expect a little more small ball at the top of the order. I don't know about you, but the thrill of someone taking off for 2nd is something that has been sorely lacking from the overall entertainment value of a Blue Jays game for years.



SO.... how does the lineup look to you? Have a differing opinion of who the opening day starter will be? Have an even lower opinion of Edwin Encarnacion than I do?

Post your opening day lineup in your comments and tell me why I'm wrong, wrong, wrong.