Best duos in Toronto Blue Jays history
In Major League Baseball, it takes more than one skilled player to field a championship contender. It takes talent all over the field at a variety of positions, both in terms of pitchers and hitters. While having a star pitcher and a star hitter at the same time is no guarantee of success, it does put your team in a position to have the type of season that fans will talk about for generations.
While it's not quite the same as the NBA, where one standout duo can take a team from the cellar to playoff contention, it's not uncommon for an outstanding season from a pitcher and position player duo to add 20 wins or more, according to Baseball Reference's wins above replacement player metric. The number is designed to illustrate the difference between a star player and the type of player that would be considered "replacement level"—that is, one who could be easily signed as a midseason free agent or called up from the minor leagues.
The following is a list of the top pitcher/position player duos in Toronto Blue Jays history. Using wins above replacement, Stacker compiled a list of the seasons in franchise history that had a pitcher and hitter with the most combined value. Note that, for the purpose of capturing and examining the game's "modern era", only seasons after 1969 were used for this list.
#10. 2009 Toronto Blue Jays
- Aaron Hill: 5.8 WAR (#18 position player in 2009)
- Roy Halladay: 6.9 WAR (#3 pitcher in 2009)
- Total: 12.7 WAR
#9. 1983 Toronto Blue Jays
- Lloyd Moseby: 6 WAR (#16 position player in 1983)
- Dave Stieb: 7 WAR (#2 pitcher in 1983)
- Total: 13 WAR
#8. 1998 Toronto Blue Jays
- Carlos Delgado: 5.4 WAR (#35 position player in 1998)
- Roger Clemens: 8.1 WAR (#2 pitcher in 1998)
- Total: 13.5 WAR
#7. 1985 Toronto Blue Jays
- Jesse Barfield: 6.8 WAR (#8 position player in 1985)
- Dave Stieb: 6.8 WAR (#4 pitcher in 1985)
- Total: 13.6 WAR
#6. 2021 Toronto Blue Jays
- Marcus Semien: 7.3 WAR (#1 position player in 2021)
- Robbie Ray: 6.6 WAR (#3 pitcher in 2021)
- Total: 13.9 WAR
#5. 2003 Toronto Blue Jays
- Carlos Delgado: 5.9 WAR (#13 position player in 2003)
- Roy Halladay: 8.1 WAR (#1 pitcher in 2003)
- Total: 14 WAR
#4. 1997 Toronto Blue Jays
- Orlando Merced: 2.5 WAR (#89 position player in 1997)
- Roger Clemens: 11.9 WAR (#1 pitcher in 1997)
- Total: 14.4 WAR
#3. 2011 Toronto Blue Jays
- Jose Bautista: 8.3 WAR (#2 position player in 2011)
- Ricky Romero: 6.4 WAR (#8 pitcher in 2011)
- Total: 14.7 WAR
#2. 1986 Toronto Blue Jays
- Jesse Barfield: 7.6 WAR (#2 position player in 1986)
- Mark Eichhorn: 7.3 WAR (#4 pitcher in 1986)
- Total: 14.9 WAR
#1. 1984 Toronto Blue Jays
- Lloyd Moseby: 7.3 WAR (#4 position player in 1984)
- Dave Stieb: 7.9 WAR (#1 pitcher in 1984)
- Total: 15.2 WAR
