BLUE JAYS' BATS MUST AWAKEN FROM SLUMBER
Pitching looks good, but slumping team has to find ways to get runs across plate
No offence to the Blue Jays' offence, but as the bats continue to struggle, something must soon give.
Either a trade for a left-handed bat must be engineered or the hitting-is-contagious mantra must finally be front and centre.
No panic buttons are being reached because the Jays do find themselves in playoff contention, even though they are not exactly playing like post-season contenders.
The schedule will turn soft, beginning with today's visit by Cincinnati as part of a threegame weekend series, and perhaps the prospect of the weather heating up will lead to a red-hot attack.
For now, questions abound amid few answers and even fewer options. It's one thing to tweak a lineup, quite another to see an offence that puts together solid at-bats that result in runners in scoring position crossing the plate.
The Jays have yet to sweep a series and were denied an opportunity Wednesday when Seattle left town with a 5-1 win. Toronto's lone run came on a bases-loaded walk.
For what it's worth, the Jays have been linked to Washington's Juan Soto, one of Major League Baseball's best young players. He's eligible for free agency following the 2024 season. The Nationals aren't very good and the club attempted to lock up Soto to a 13-year deal worth US$350 million. He declined.
The Jays were reportedly keen on Cleveland's Jose Ramirez before he decided to stick around by signing a long-term deal with the Guardians.
Rumours aside, the Jays' offence needs an injection of some kind. A boost might come from within and given the marathon nature of baseball, there's time for the team's hitters to make the appropriate changes, whether mechanical or mental.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is in the midst of a career-high 15-game hit streak, but he hasn't exactly been mashing the ball. Lourdes Gurriel Jr., who left Wednesday's game with hamstring tightness, has been scuffling, recording three hits in his past 11 games.
In the 10 games since he returned from the injured list, Teoscar Hernandez has two extra-base hits, a homer against Tampa on Saturday and a double against the Mariners in the series finale. Unfortunately for Hernandez, he would get picked off at second base, the sixth time the Jays have been picked off this season. On the same night, he left the bases loaded after Guerrero drew a walk.
“This is an offence that usually we swing the bats and everybody's fine and you can come back in a 4-1, 5-1 game,” said manager Charlie Montoyo. “But it seems like now somebody scores four runs and it seems like 10, and that happens when your offence is struggling.
“When (runners get picked off ) ... it's magnified. Just like when a reliever comes in and gives up a run or something, it's like, `Oh my God.' But the guys have been pitching good; it's a close game every game.”
Close games are quite common for the Jays, who find ways to produce one-run wins. Their record, which sits at 20-18 going into the Cincinnati series, would be much different if those onerun wins were one-win losses.
On the pitching side, Kevin Gausman has lost his past two starts and he even gave up his first home run as a Blue Jay when Seattle took him deep Wednesday. But the newest Jay has been impressed with the team's starters.
“I feel like we have a beast-calibre guy going any given day,” he said. “More than that, we have a lot of different looks that are coming at teams.
“From the left side, (Yusei) Kikuchi throws 97 with a split and then you got (Hyun Jin) Ryu from the left side, too, and it's a completely different pitcher. Then there's Jose (Berrios) and, obviously, (Alek) Manoah. All those guys are completely different.
“I think we match up really well against a lot of lineups because of it.”
Starting pitching isn't an issue and figures to be a strength of the team as Ryu tries to regain his form. General manager Ross Atkins has liked what he has seen from the team's starters.
“It keeps you in every game as we've been in every game, maybe one or two you can say we weren't, but seems like we've been in absolutely every single one of them and that starts with starting pitching,” said Atkins.
“That does take some pressure off the bullpen, as well.”
But with Jordan Romano (gastrointestinal infection) day to day and Tim Mayza (forearm) on the 15-day injured list, the pen is thinner.
Just as the need for a left-handed bat is obvious, the need for a bullpen arm with swing-andmiss ability is equally glaring.
Pitching and defence lined up perfectly on the many nights when Toronto's bats went dormant, which helps explain the one-run wins.
Eventually, the team's offence must step up. In the 16 games played in May, the Jays have hit nine home runs.
During that stretch, Guerrero has gone deep once. He hasn't had an extra-base hit in 11 straight games heading into today's game.
Santiago Espinal is on a careerhigh 12-game hit streak. For the month of May, Espinal has one fewer run batted in (four) than Guerrero (five).