2016 Blue Jays Season Review: Ryan Goins

By: Jay Blue and @JaysGirlEmily

Blue Jays From Away

Now that the season is over, the crew at Blue Jays from Away will take a look at the Blue Jays one by one and review how each player’s season went, whether he met expectations (or not) and look at how he fits into (what we think of) the Blue Jays’ plans going forward.

Ryan Goins, in his fourth big league season got another chance to prove himself with the extended absence of Devon Travis from the lineup. Goins set career highs in games and OPS in 2015, getting into 128 matches with a .672 OPS but in 2016, the Blue Jays relied much more heavily on Darwin Barney who was better at the plate.

Overall, Goins hit .186/.228/.306 for the Blue Jays, regressing across the board and playing in just 77 games with 196 plate appearances. In the majors, was unable to do anything against left-handed pitchers (.167/.189/.194) and his 37 plate appearances against them speaks volumes to the fact that the management did not trust him to face southpaws.

Goins made his major league debut as a pitcher on July 1, throwing an inning of one-walk, two-hit ball before leaving the game after completing the 18th inning against Cleveland, a game he didn’t hit in. He injured his arm and hit .327/.365/.388 for the Buffalo Bisons while rehabbing before returning to Toronto on August 1, playing one game (going 0-for-4) before going back to Buffalo, slugging .514 with three doubles and two home runs in 11 games before coming back to Toronto. Goins played three more games in Toronto (going 4-for-9) before finishing out the minor league season in Buffalo and going 2-for-11 in his final big league stint.

Goins played in the ALCS against Cleveland and was 1-for-5 with an RBI, a run and a walk.

Contract Status

Goins is just short of being arbitration-eligible with two years and 106 days of major league service and is out of options for 2017.

Emily Says

Towards the end of 2015, Ryan Goins seemed to be turning things around at the plate. He developed a new timing mechanism, began taking more walks, and put up numbers significantly higher than his career averages in August and September.

Unfortunately, those adjustments seemed to fail him in 2016 and he hit .186 for the season. He was off and on for April, and seemed to hit in every other game he played in. He had the odd multi-hit game, including one on April 13 against the Yankees where he went 3-for-4 with two doubles and a pair of RBI. He also hit his first home run of the season on April 29. But in all his month was pretty indicative of what was to come – a .173 average, .215 OBP and 13 hits to 19 strikeouts.

He homered twice in May but batted .152 and saw his playing time reduced somewhat, with Darwin Barney being used as the primary second baseman. Then when Devon Travis returned from the disabled list, Goins’ playing time was reduced even farther. June was the first month where his average was over two hundred, with .211 and a slugging percentage of .368. He hit two triples but only walked once for the entire month.

On the first of July, Goins made a memorable pitching appearance in the 18th inning of the marathon Canada Day game against Cleveland. He gave up hits to the first two batters, then got a fielder’s choice out and loaded the bases with an intentional walk before getting a double play to miraculously escape the inning unscathed. With his debut pitching appearance, Goins has now played seven positions in his career (in fact he played all seven this season alone) – everything but center field and catcher.

Following his pitching debut, he was placed on the disabled list with a forearm tightness. He was then assigned to Buffalo after his rehab assignment was completed. He returned on August 19th, played in four games and had four hits in the month (for an average of .308).

In September he had only two hits in 11 at-bats as he was primarily used as a pinch-runner or defensive replacement. His slash line was .186/.228/.306 on the season with three home runs, nine doubles, and two triples. He had nine walks and 48 strikeouts, for a K-rate of 24.5%. He scored 13 runs and drove in 12.

His defense being his main asset to the team, Goins played mostly at second base (291 innings) or shortstop (150.2 innings), with six appearances at third, two at first and three in the outfield. He made five errors on the season, three at second and one each at short and third. He turned thirty-six double plays and his fielding percentage was .990 as a shortstop and .981 as a second baseman, the highest of any Jay who played the position more than once.

Goins didn’t make the ALDS roster, but played in the ALCS after an injury to Devon Travis. He had one hit in five at-bats, walked once, struck out twice and drove in a run.

Regular Season Grades

Jay: D
Emily: D+

Postseason Grades

Jay: C
Emily: C