The Blue Jays were expected to ride their vaunted offence all the way back to the playoffs again in 2016, only it didn’t go exactly as planned. The club qualified for the postseason again, but it was largely due to the performance of the pitching staff, especially the starters.
Aaron Sanchez emerged as one of the game’s best young starters, being voted as an All-Star, finishing 7th in Cy Young voting, and leading the American League in earned run average. J.A. Happ finished 8th in Cy Young tallies, and won 20 games.
We’ve only covered 40% of the rotation, and already some clubs would be green with envy.