Toronto Blue Jays 2019 season preview: Guerrero Jr. highlights revamped Infield
By Austin Owens
Freddy Galvis, Shortstop
The Blue Jays have a lot of talented infielders in the pipeline. Bo Bichette, Cavan Biggio, and Kevin Smith are in the system, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is already pushing for more playing time. The former three, however, are still unready to be full-time major leaguers.
Galvis signed a one-year, $5-million contract with a team option for 2020 in January. He can be a stopgap while the team develops its prospects. In the present, he’s one of the best gloves that the league has to offer.
He hit .248/.299/.380 last year with 13 homers and 67 RBIs. Galvis also had a .986 fielding percentage and just nine errors in 160 games at shortstop in 2018.
“When it came down to the Freddy Galvis acquisition, it was the dual challenge of trying to improve our defence and not wanting to overexpose any one, two or three individuals,” general manager Ross Atkins told Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi in February.
Galvis has missed just 15 games over the last four years and appeared in every game the last two seasons. Atkins and Montoyo said that Galvis understands that he won’t appear in all 162 games, but he’ll be the starter for the majority of games.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Shortstop/Second Base
Due to the injury to Travis, it’s more than likely that we see Gurriel starting the season at the keystone.
The 25-year-old signed as an amateur free agent on the same day that the Jays signed Morales. After playing the better part of two years in the minors, Gurriel got his shot in the major leagues.
Following just a 65-game look, the utility man made sure that the Jays had no choice but to keep him around.
In 2018, Gurriel hit .289/.309/.446 with 11 home runs and 35 RBIs. He’ll be looking to build on those numbers over his first full professional campaign.
“Don’t want to give him too much pressure, but he hits better than me, runs better than me and plays better than me defensively,” his older brother, Houston Astros infielder Yuli, said last year.
Once Travis returns, Gurriel will go back to filling in wherever the team needs him. He has played in the outfield previously and could see some time at third when Drury isn’t in the lineup.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Third Base/Designated Hitter
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Last but certainly not least, Guerrero Jr. promises to make his long-awaited major league debut this season. It just won’t come right away.
In the ongoing saga of service-time manipulation by the franchise, Guerrero was going to spend at least 15 days in the minors, as the team would get another year of control. However, he was forced out of spring training action due to an oblique injury.
Guerrero is taking swings in the batting cage, manager Charlie Montoyo said, according to Sportsnet’s Arash Madani.
Montoyo added that the plan is for baseball’s No. 1 prospect to get an extended spring training before heading to Triple-A Buffalo.
When the 20-year-old does make his MLB debut, he’ll have the eyes of the entire league glued to him. After his memorable home run last year at Olympic Stadium, fans will be anxious to see the wonderkid hit his first major league plakata.
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Who – other than Guerrero – are you excited to see this season? What are your expectations for the younger players? And which guys do you think could have breakout seasons? Let us know in the comments below!