After a thrilling Opening Day 10-9 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday, the 2023 Toronto Blue Jays have set course on their pursuit of a World Series championship.
Of course, the start of any season brings predictions and projections aplenty as pundits try their hand at setting the stage for the year.
If you haven't read what Sportsnet's baseball experts had to say about the upcoming season, you can check that out in our MLB Preview Roundtable.
But what are MLB analysts in the United States saying when it comes to projecting the Blue Jays? Here is a sample of what some have predicted for Toronto in 2023:
Although most of ESPN's voters took the New York Yankees to win the AL East, 11 out of 28 tabbed the Blue Jays to take the division.
Eric Karabell wrote: "The Blue Jays were plenty dangerous last season until facing the Mariners in October. They had the lineup and the aces to advance as the Phillies did. This season, the Jays will take the AL East over the Yankees and Rays. Rotation depth matters, as well as bullpen and lineup depth, and the Jays have it all. They needed offensive upgrades, notably from the left side, and added Brandon Belt and Daulton Varsho. Getting defensive stalwart Kevin Kiermaier was critical, too. Jose Berrios and Yusei Kikuchi will bounce back. This is a complete team that can represent the AL."
All but one of the voters had Toronto making the playoffs — whether via division title or a wild-card berth — but six went a step further, picking it to win the American League, and just one had the Blue Jays emerging as champions at season's end.
Jumping over to the awards predictions, one voter named Vladimir Guerrero Jr. as the 2023 AL MVP, while Alek Manoah and Kevin Gausman got three votes each to win the AL Cy Young — including a vote for Gausman from Jeff Passan.
Over at MLB.com, they polled 87 staff members to predict who will win each award. Although no Toronto players topped any of the lists, manager John Schneider was the pick to win AL Manager of the Year.
"Schneider replaced Charlie Montoyo as Blue Jays manager last July, and Toronto removed the interim tag after he led the club to a 46-28 record (.622 winning percentage). Schneider’s task in his first full season at the helm? Helping a talented Blue Jays team get to the next level. Toronto has reached the postseason in two of the past three years but hasn’t finished first in the AL East since 2015 or won a playoff game since 2016."
Additionally, MLB.com's beat writers made one bold prediction for each team. For the Blue Jays? Keegan Matheson projected a 30-30 season for shortstop Bo Bichette.
"José Cruz Jr. (2001) and Shawn Green (’98) are the only Blue Jays to have done this, but Bichette’s game should give him a real shot in the coming years. We know that Bichette has the power to hit 30 out, and when you combine his speed with the Blue Jays’ eagerness to be more aggressive on the bases, there’s a path to him swiping 30 bags. Bichette has been one of the most impressive players in camp from Day 1, and if he can carry over his hot finish from last September — which many coaches and teammates are expecting — then a 30-30 season is realistic."
In a poll of its MLB staff, The Athletic may have shown the most love to the Blue Jays of any outlet.
16.10 per cent of voters pegged Toronto to win the World Series, and 45.2 per cent have it winning the division.
Hall of Fame writer Jayson Stark wrote: "Maybe it’s because I’ve seen a lot of the Blue Jays this spring, but they have a lineup that keeps coming at you. They have better left-right balance in the lineup than in the past and the ability to use their legs to exploit the new rules. I love Alek Manoah/Kevin Gausman at the top of their rotation. And Jordan Romano is one of the most underrated closers in baseball. Easily one of the five most talented teams in the game."
Yahoo Sports — 2023 MLB Opening Day: Picks for division winners, World Series, MVP, Shohei Ohtani and more
Yahoo also has high expectations for the Blue Jays in 2023, with each member of the MLB team picking Toronto to make the playoffs and Chris Cwik selecting them to knock off its opening series foe, the Cardinals, to take home the World Series.
While no Blue Jay was named in Yahoo's award selections, newly acquired Daulton Varsho made both Hannah Keyser's and Liz Roscher's lists as the American League's breakout hitter.
The Ringer: The Ringer’s 2023 MLB Preseason Predictions
Both Zach Kram and Ben Lindbergh — two-thirds of The Ringer's staff taking part in the predictions — have the Blue Jays making the World Series and winning the AL East. However, Kram has them ultimately falling to the Atlanta Braves and Lindbergh chose the San Diego Padres to win it all.
Here's what Kram had to say about picking the Braves and Blue Jays to meet on baseball's biggest stage: "Atlanta won 101 games last season without receiving full campaigns from Spencer Strider, Michael Harris II or Raisel Iglesias; without Sean Murphy behind the plate; and without a healthy and fully functional Ronald Acuña Jr. Losing Dansby Swanson hurts, but Atlanta still boasts the most talented roster, top to bottom, in the league. Meanwhile, I’m still in on the Blue Jays, even though I was a tad overenthusiastic last season—much like I overhyped the Padres in 2021, only to see them fulfill their potential a year later. I foresee a rematch of the 1992 World Series, with the opposite team winning this round."
While once again no Toronto players made The Ringer's award ballots, the third member of the prediction team, Bobby Wagner, picked Varsho as his 2023 breakout player.
"If it weren’t for the Diamondbacks being a mess in 2022, I think Varsho might’ve broken out last year. The 26-year-old part-time catcher, part-time outfielder will most likely spend a majority of his time in the outfield this season for the Blue Jays, who acquired Varsho after trading away Teoscar Hernández earlier in the offseason and who already roster two big-league catchers.
"Varsho is such a good defender in the outfield that, despite just barely clearing league average at the plate, his 2022 was still good for 4.6 fWAR. His underlying profile at the plate isn’t showing much life at the moment, ranking in the middle of the pack or near the bottom in most Statcast measurables. But he’s just so versatile as a player that, now that he’s on an interesting team with designs on the playoffs, if he realizes even just a fraction of the offensive potential in his prospect profile, he’ll be extremely important in Toronto this year."
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