Toronto Blue Jays Newcomer Has Been Massive Surprise On Offense This Season
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It has been a strong start to the season for the Toronto Blue Jays, who are currently in second place in the challenging American League East.
The Blue Jays were hoping to make some significant improvements coming into the year and so far that appears to be the case.
Toronto has been propelled to a hot start thanks to the pitching staff doing very well. Chris Bassitt is looking like an early candidate for the AL Cy Young, and the bullpen has been much better than in years past.
On offense, the lineup has been good with a couple of surprises early on, but this is a unit that features a lot of talent and could end up being one of the best in the league by the end of the campaign.
Overall, a lot of credit has to go to the front office for the work they put in during the winter. Toronto was extremely aggressive in both free agency and the trade market. While ownership isn’t afraid to spend money, recruiting players has been a bit of a challenge.
However, that all might be changing with the team being able to extend Vladimir Guererro Jr.
With a ton of new faces, it has been a surprise regarding who has arguably been the best newcomer on the team.
Keegan Matheson of MLB.com recently wrote about the top newcomer for the Blue Jays being outfielder Myles Straw, who has exceeded expectations.
“Yes, Jeff Hoffman already looks like one of the most dominant Blue Jays relievers in years and Andrés Giménez is fitting right in, but Straw deserves his share of the spotlight here.”
After what was an extremely busy offseason with a lot of talented new players added, it has been Straw early on who has been arguably the most impressive.
One of the main reasons why Toronto brought him in was to get some more international spending money to chase Roki Sasaki. Their pursuit of the talented pitcher fell short, but so far Straw has impressed.
In 17 games, the 30-year-old has slashed .314/.368/.457 with one home run and three RBI.
Even with Daulton Varsho expected to be back soon, Straw has likely done enough to continue to earn playing time for the Blue Jays.
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Nick Ziegler is an alumnus of the Connecticut School of Broadcasting. He has been working in sports media covering the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL for nearly a decade with various publications online. With his free time, Nick enjoys being at the Jersey Shore with his wife, daughter, and their golden retriever. You can follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @NickZiegler20.