At 19-25, the Toronto Blue Jays are in the AL East cellar, and their minus-49 run differential is better than only the Chicago White Sox (minus-94) and Oakland Athletics (minus-56) in the American League. Toronto is scoring the second fewest runs per game (3.61) and allowing the ninth most runs per game (4.73). That's a bad, bad combination.
The Blue Jays blew a 4-0 lead against the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday (TB 5, TOR 4), just hours after GM Ross Atkins expressed confidence in his group. Atkins also acknowledged that it's not that early anymore, and things need to turn around soon.
"We believe in this talent. There is time left, but there's a massive sense of urgency and we need to get it turned around soon," Atkins said before the game (via Sportsnet). "... We're at the quarter pole and once you get to the halfway mark, there's not much you can do if the whole remains the same. We'll see. You always are prepared for any angle or any pivot that you have to make."
Outside additions would help -- Toronto could use a third base bat and bullpen help, among other things -- though it's difficult to make impact trades this time of year. Not impossible (see: Luis Arraez), just difficult. More than anything though, the Blue Jays need the players on the roster to be better. It really is that simple. This group in particular needs to get going:
| PA | AVG/OBP/SLG | OPS+ | HR | WAR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
172 | .217/.279/.306 | 70 | 2 | -0.3 | |
174 | .197/.270/.287 | 62 | 3 | -0.3 | |
150 | .231/.300/.381 | 96 | 4 | 0.0 |
Turner stopped hitting about a month ago and Springer's poor performance continues a downward trend that started two years ago. Given their ages -- Springer is 34 and Turner is 39 -- it's fair to wonder if age-related decline has taken over. Bichette has no such excuse. He's been dreadful. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is at least hitting for average and getting on base. Bichette's doing neither.
The Blue Jays have hit only 36 home runs, third fewest in baseball, so the lack of power is a problem. They've made a few changes to their lineup recently -- Davis Schneider is now an everyday player and Danny Jansen has more or less replaced Alejandro Kirk as the starting catcher -- but either Bichette, Springer, et al. will hit and Toronto will turn things around, or they don't and they won't.
Sunday afternoon, the Blue Jays will look to avoid their fourth straight loss and being swept by the Rays. They have not scored more than four runs in a game since last Saturday. The Blue Jays will welcome the White Sox to Rogers Centre for a three-game series starting Monday. That's a golden opportunity to get the season back on the rails.
