Phillips and Mitchell make their predictions for the 2022 MLB season

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After missing a chance at the postseason by a single game last fall, the Blue Jays are set to play their first full season in Toronto since 2019 with the best top-to-bottom team this franchise has fielded in a long, long time.

Yes, that includes the lightning-in-a-bottle juggernaut back in 2015.

The excitement surrounding this club is palpable, and with good reason.

With the Jays’ nomadic status in the rear-view and a lockout now settled, a condensed 162 games and expanded postseason is sure to provide some summer excitement.

Once again, TSN baseball insider Steve Phillips and I are set to tackle some key questions when it comes to what needs to happen for the Jays this summer. We also take a shot at predicting the next seven-and-a-half months, all the way up to award season in November.

Check out last year’s predictions here.

How high should expectations be for this Jays team?

MITCHELL: Does sky high work for ya? Coming off a 91-win campaign that saw the club get better and better as the season went on, the Jays are a trendy World Series pick for many, and it makes sense. The rotation is more talented than the ones in 2015 and 2016, while the lineup, even sans Marcus Semien, is going to provide more than enough support on a nightly basis. The bullpen was the weak link last season, but it, too, got better as the season went along and there’s currently an interesting group of arms for manager Charlie Montoyo to sift through. It would be an extreme disappointment if this team didn’t win 90-plus games and secure a postseason spot, but it’s also a group that believes nothing less than a trip to the World Series will satisfy.

PHILLIPS: On paper, the Blue Jays are arguably the best team in the American