Happ-y thoughts

Last season was not a proper template to model.  You don't aim to go .500 for the 1st 100 games and then go win a ton of the remaining 62.  The reality is that this team should have had a much better record in the first 100 games than they did.  Their run differential was the best in the AL at the 100 game mark.  That happened by blowing away opponents in wins, while losing games by just 1 run.  There were far too many games that left us feeling like they should have won but didn't.  Whether it was the voodoo spells that seemed to be on Loup and other bullpen meltdowns,  balls going through Reyes' legs, misplays by Colabello in the outfield, etc. etc.  Too many games that brought out the "it's ovah" crowd onto Twitter to say that "playoff teams don't lose games like that".   Or the "fire Gibby" crowd that think any late game loss is because the manager doesn't know what he's doing.  There were certainly times of frustration with this team, only because we also saw how crazy good they are.

They fixed many of the weaknesses with the club at the trade deadline to turn the fortunes around.  After that, there were times where they seemed almost unbeatable.   Here are the fixes that were made in 2015 and how this carries forward into 2016:

1) Improving the defense.  Tulo instead of Reyes.  Revere instead of sticking a mish mash of infielders out there.

•  Now the Jays will have the benefit of having Tulo from the start of the season (please stay healthy Tulo)
•  Based on the outfield options available, the Jays won't be sticking Colabello out there thankfully.  Even if Revere doesn't end up with the club, I'd imagine we see Pompey or Saunders.  Someone who is an actual outfielder.

2) Improving the bullpen.  Sanchez moved to pen.  Added Lowe and Hawkins.

• Hawkins didn't pitch well out of the pen so that is not tough to replace
• Lowe was overall quite good.  Arguably I thought he was underutilized in favour of Sanchez.  I do think the Jays need to add some bullpen pieces this off season.  Don't forget that they just traded Hendriks too.
• Cecil made some mechanical adjustments in June 2015 after having a terrible start.  He didn't give up an earned run after that.  Hopefully Cecil starts where he left off in the regular season.  I'm sure his leg is fine now after injuring it in the playoffs.

3)  Added David Price

• Good assumption that David Price won't be a Blue Jay in 2016, but that doesn't mean they can't have a good rotation.  Price came into the rotation replacing a very weak 5th spot that was filled by Doubront at the time.  The weak 5th starters, from the time Sanchez was out of the rotation due to injury and later returning to the bullpen, were responsible for a lot of losses in June and July.  Removing that issue and bringing in a true ace was a huge upgrade.   But let's not forget that Stroman was out with injury at that time.  We had the benefit of having both Stroman and Price during the playoffs and for the last few weeks of the season but for almost all season we had neither of those guys or then just one of them.  If we want to compare the rotation at the start of 2015 to the start of 2016, the Jays may be much better off now with Stroman in it.
• At start of 2015 there was Hutchison, Dickey, Buehrle, Norris, Sanchez.  We know now that Hutchison really struggled on the road but many of those games happened to be when the Jays scored like 10 + runs to let him off the hook.  Dickey and Buehrle were pretty bad the first 2 months of the season.  Norris was going through dead arm, which may have had to do with the eventual health scare that he had.  Sanchez was walking guys all over the place but got into a bit of a groove before going down to injury in early June.  The rotation was a mess.  Dickey resolved some mechanical issues with his hips that completely turned around his season.   Buehrle went back to being Buehrle for June and July before breaking down again.  Estrada emerged as the Jays most consistent pitcher.  So it wasn't just adding Price that turned the rotation around.
• Now looking at 2016.  We hope Dickey continues his 2nd half success.  Estrada may possibly regress a bit but he should be pretty good anyway.  Stroman can be the ace.  Happ, who also made some mechanical adjustments in Pittsburgh may be a whole lot better than the Happ we remember in a Jays uniform.  The 5th starter can be either Chavez or Hutchison.  This is an upgrade over the 2015 opening day starting staff.

Let's not forget that this team still has a mind blowing offense.  They will win lots of games if they pitch half decent.  There will no doubt be some more moves on the way, but I wouldn't expect a big free agent signing.  Let's see what Happ-ens.

@bluejaystwit