Blue Jays Hot & Not: Bichette, Varsho, Kikuchi, Jansen

The Toronto Blue Jays are very close to kicking off their 2023 season, a season with very high expectations. Coming off a strong 2022, a disappointing playoff exit and a very aggressive offseason, the Blue Jays are letting the world know they’re not messing around. There is a new air of uber focus and professionalism coming from Spring Training. And, while the games, etc don’t matter as much, everyone means business. This season is going to need everyone to chip in, riding highs and lows along the way. Let’s take a look at some of those early highs and lows.

Bo Bichette

There may not be a Blue Jay who has come to camp more focused and determined. Recently, Keegan Matheson wrote that everyone in Spring Training is talking to him about Bo, whether he asks or not. In fact, even Bo sees a difference in himself: “I think I found out that I’m really good, to be honest. I always knew what I was capable of, but I now understand who I am.” Perhaps, that confidence is allowing him to relax a little bit, because he certainly is playing like it is.

Currently, Bo is putting up a shiny 1.020 OPS on the strength of a .378 average. But, we know he can hit. He’s led the league in hits in each of the last two seasons. He’s also got 2 HR, 6 RBI and 2 SB. While he may be more relaxed or focused, he’s still the aggressive hitter we know and love having struck out 8 times and only walking thrice. Of course, if he were to stop being aggressive, he wouldn’t produce, so I’ll take it.

Danny Jansen

When the Blue Jays traded Gabriel Moreno to Arizona, they were telling the world that they believe their catching duo of Alejandro Kirk and Jansen was good enough to win now and in the next few years. And, they’re right. This is a formidable pair to put behind the plate. That is especially true if Jansen has indeed found his bat like we were led to believe late in the latter part of the 2022 season.

However, Jansen’s Spring Training hasn’t lived up to the expectations set during that hot streak. Right now, Jansen is sitting on an OPS of .514, which is made up of an average of .172. He’s got just 5 hits in 33 plate appearances. He’s struck out 8 times and walked 4. It’s definitely not a strong showing.

The only thing saving concern here is that Jansen has a massive job in Spring Training, as indeed every big league everyday catcher does. He’s got to learn his pitching staff, and whatever new thing each hurler is working on, while trying to get himself ready for a long season. It’s not an easy task, but it is obviously the priority, especially up until this point in Spring Training. That means, while Jansen is putting up NOT Hot numbers, we shouldn’t be too concerned about it at this point.

Daulton Varsho

Sending Gabriel Moreno and Lourdes Gurriel Jr.to Arizona for the very talented Varsho is one of those baseball trades that make sense, but for some fans to really get excited about it, they need to see more from the new guy just to be able to truly see why Toronto paid such a hefty price. The challenge there is that it is going to take time. Much like we can’t put too much stock into Spring Training numbers, we really can’t when the player is brand new and has only had a couple of weeks to adjust to his life with a new organization.

That said, the 26 yr old has started his time in Toronto rather cold. He’s put up an OPS of .496 with a .184 average, 6 hits and 11 strike outs. To go along with his offensive struggles, he has had a couple of rough plays in the outfield that can be explained by ‘learning your new surroundings’, but really just show a guy who isn’t quite comfortable yet. He hasn’t found his groove just yet and since we’re still a couple of weeks away from Opening Day, it isn’t cause for concern yet.

Yusei Kikuchi

The entire winter, we had to wait and see if Kikuchi had a role in the Blue Jays’ rotation. He struggled mightily in his first of his three year deal. His struggles resulted in him losing his spot and becoming a bullpen piece, which seemed to work better for him even if the results weren’t exactly night and day. Regardless, if he was going to win a rotation job, he was going to have to make some serious adjustments.

And, man, has he ever. Sure, it’s early and Spring Training numbers can’t be trusted wholeheartedly, but for a guy like Kikuchi, who is looking to earn a job for the season, his early innings do matter. That is good for him because he’s enjoying some very good innings. His ERA sits at 1.38 in his 13 innings of work. He’s struck out 16 and given up 6 hits, none of which were homers. He has walked 9 batters, but is doing a good job of working around them as only two runs have scored on him. Yes, it’s early. Yes, it’s Spring Training. Yes, it’s Yusei Kikuchi, but of his adjustments are sustainable, this lefty arm can be quite the 5th starter.