Toronto Blue Jays: 3 bold predictions for the 2021 season

The Toronto Blue Jays will record100 stolen bases this season

For the past decade or so, the Blue Jays have been abysmal on the base paths. That ends in 2021.

The Jays got much faster this offseason with the additions of Springer and Semien. With the announcement that Jonathan Davis will make the Opening Day roster, the lineup is looking speedy.

More from Tip of the Tower

• Cam Phillips making his mark on Toronto Argonauts offence
• Toronto Argonauts: 4 storylines ahead of matchup against Redblacks
• Federico Bernardeschi ready for new challenge with Toronto FC
• Toronto Argonauts overcome Roughriders in entertaining Touchdown Atlantic
• Buffalo Bills: Von Miller drawing inspiration from Bruce Smith

Biggio and Bichette are also willing base-stealers, while Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Randal Grichuk can swipe the odd bag here and there. The only true cloggers are Guerrero Jr., Rowdy Tellez and Danny Jansen.

Last season some of this speed shone through. The Jays swiped 33 bases over 60 games. Over 162 games, that extrapolates to 89.1 steals.

In spring training, the Jays took that up a notch. Thus far, they’ve swiped 18 bags over 24 games. That extrapolates to 121.5 steals in a full season. That number would have been good for second place in all of baseball in 2019. To put that growth in context, the actual 2019 Blue Jays only stole 51 bags.

While Toronto made a plethora of base-running errors at the start of last season, we can chalk that up to a lack of spring training. The Jays might not reach 120 steals, but with the abundance of speed in the lineup and newfound aggressiveness, 100 steals is in reach.

What are your thoughts on the Blue Jays this season? Do you have any bold predictions for the team? Let us know in the comments below.