Opening Day is almost here! Is there anything greater than
the optimism that abounds at the beginning of a Major League Baseball season?
Thankfully, this long, cold hellscape of ice and snow is beginning to thaw,
just in time to enjoy a few cold ones while watching the Blue Jays play.
Okay, let’s be honest: there aren’t a lot of reasons to be
optimistic about the 2019 Toronto Blue Jays. Yes, yes, “anything can happen”,
“we still have to play the games”, and whatever other platitudes you feel like
throwing out there about every team having a chance, but the sad reality is
that there’s virtually no chance of a Blue Jays playoff berth this season, and
if it wasn’t for the woeful Baltimore Orioles, it’s likely that the Jays would
be staring a last-place finish right, straight square in the eyes.
Aside from Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s impending callup – set for
sometime after his recovery from an oblique strain and when the Blue Jays’
brass decides his defence is up to snuff (which will, in a near-miraculous
coincidence, happen within a few days of when the Blue Jays gain another year
of control of the 20-year-old wunderkind) – what is there to look forward to
ahead of this woebegone season?
That preamble isn’t to say it’s all doom and gloom though! There
are a few things on which we should keep our eyes, a couple glimmers of hope
for this season and beyond. And maybe – just maybe – a reason or two to head
out to the ballpark amid mounting losses. Here are a few of them:
