Right Field
Travis Snider, in his third year in the majors, is looking for more consistency and a clean bill of health; 2011 could be the year that he achieves both. Snider hasn’t had a smooth path to the majors, but has shown at different times that he is more than capable of excelling at the highest level.
Snider should take over starting duties in right field, with the occasional start by Jose Bautista to give him a day off. Bautista will get most of his starts at third base unless the Jays acquire another player between now and spring training, and will back up Snider in right.
Snider batted .378 in May with a .711 Slugging Percentage before the injury that took him out for all of June and July, then rebounded with a .304 average in September and October. A full year of at-bats should see an impressive increase in production with a batting average likely around .290.
Center Field
The longest serving member of the Blue Jays, Vernon Wells, will again return to his position in center field. The veteran outfielder will work to unite the young Snider and new Rajai Davis into a defensive unit with his responsible play and experience. Wells has had over 500 at-bats over the last eight seasons, remaining relatively injury free, despite struggles with his wrist last year. His resurgence in power saw him post his best home run and RBI totals since 2006, at 31 and 88 respectively.
Davis will cover for him on his off days, creating a chain effect that will see Snider move to left field and Bautista to right, or Corey Patterson filling in where needed.
Left field
The speedy new acquisition Rajai Davis will be taking over left field for the Toronto Blue Jays. They will try to have him in the line-up as much as possible so they have a legitimate base stealing threat in the leadoff position. Davis has stolen 142 bases over the last four seasons, including 50 last season alone—far more than even the next closest Jay.
Corey Patterson is slotted to be the fourth outfielder right now, another base stealing threat with 21 last season.
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