Toronto Blue Jays: 5 Reasons Why the Jays Will Continue to Win

It was just a few weeks ago that the Toronto Blue Jays wrapped up spring training and headed to Cleveland to kick off the 2012 regular season against the Indians.

However, despite a revamped bullpen and an excellent spring, many around the baseball world thought the Blue Jays would have a tough time posting a .500 record this year.

Well, 15 games into the campaign, the Blue Jays have nine wins and just six losses.

While a discussion about postseason baseball won't begin for another two to three months, here are five reasons that the Blue Jays will surpass expectations and continue to win ball games.

A Skilled Rotation That Continues to Grow

While the Blue Jays did a great job this offseason in bolstering their bullpen and still possess a fairly potent starting lineup, the one question mark heading into 2012 was the starting rotation.

With Brandon Morrow continually showing he has major issues controlling his dynamic pitches, Henderson Alvarez being just 22 years of age (as of the 18th of April) and the lingering injury problems to Dustin McGowan, there is certainly reason to be skeptical.

But the nice start to the year by Ricky Romero (save for an inning early in his Opening Day start), as well as Kyle Drabek's reminder to fans why he was the center piece in the Roy Halladay deal with his superb start, indicates that Toronto may have a rotation that can carry this team to a successful season.

If Henderson Alvarez can continue to grow into a top-of-the-rotation starter and Brandon Morrow can finally find a way to command his arsenal of pitches, the Blue Jays are sure to find themselves in the postseason discussion come August.

An Improved Bullpen

After the Blue Jays were dead last in blown saves a season ago, finding a new closer and some other late-inning arms was priority No. 1 this offseason for Jays general manager Alex Anthopolous.

His first move was to acquire closer Sergio Santos from the Chicago White Sox for pitching prospect Nestor Molina.

Next, he inked veteran left handed specialist Darren Oliver, who had just won back-to-back American League pennants with the Texas Rangers.

Finally, he went out and signed Francisco Cordero, who was one of the top closers on the free-agent market and had posted at least 34 saves in every season since 2007.

These arms, along with Luis Perez, Casey Janssen and Jason Frasor, combine for what could be one of Major League Baseball's best bullpens come September.

Team Chemistry

While this may not be something that can be measured or studied through statistics, those who follow the team know, that this is the most tight-knit team Toronto has seen in a long time.

With youngsters like J.P. Arencibia, Ricky Romero and Brett Lawrie going their development phases together, and several players being interactive with fans and local Toronto media, the current Jays team seems to be intent on bringing back a culture of baseball to Canada's biggest city.

Whether it be through team dinners, tweeting with each other and fans or naming themselves a "team unit"—as they have on social media all season—this squad is doing a great job of building that off-the-field chemistry so many good teams possess.

Top to Bottom Depth

This may be the most promising part of the current Toronto Blue Jays roster.

The ability of nearly every guy in the everyday lineup to hit 20 or more home runs puts them in a league with teams like the Yankees and Red Sox.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not implying that the Jays will hit nearly as many home runs in any given season, but they certainly have the ability to hit them from anywhere in the lineup.

The fact that so many of those everyday players are so young (Thames, Lawrie, Rasmus, Arencibia, etc.) only adds to the future prospects of this team.

Minor League Depth

While this may seem like more of a reason why the Blue Jays will win in the future and not necessarily this year, I feel like it could play an important part of this season's success.

With so many questions surrounding that fifth spot in the starting rotation, some are questioning whether or not the Jays will be able to make a serious run.

Drew Hutchison, who made his debut in Kansas City on Saturday, looked like he may be a reliable No. 5 starter early on, but he ended up letting Kansas City rally for five earned runs.

While this doesn't necessarily mean he will struggle all year, or that his performance in Kansas City was subpar, Jays fans can rest easily knowing that there are other pitchers in the organization like Jesse Sanchez (currently with the Las Vegas 51s) and Joel Carreno (also with the Las Vegas 51s) who're ready to step in if Hutchison needs to continue his development at the minor league level.

That kind of healthy competition within the organization will only serve to help the Jays moving forward.