Blue Jays Clutch Plays: Week 2

[Matthew Creally]

Welcome back to Blue Jays Clutch Plays, a recurring post that highlights the six most pivotal plays (three pitching, three hitting) from the past week of Blue Jays baseball, according to MLB's win probability model. Click here to read last week's edition.

The Blue Jays have quickly been pushed into survival mode in the early portion of April, losing consecutive series to the Dodgers and Twins at home. George Springer is the latest to join a long list of regulars on the IL, fracturing his toe after fouling a ball off his foot on Saturday. Fragments of what made last year's team such a joy to watch were on display in the scrappy finale against L.A. and the relentless offensive showing to open the Minnesota series, but they still couldn't manage to make it a winning homestand. Here are the moments worth building on from another tough week.

Pitching

3. Dylan Cease: Freddie Freeman Double Play, Top 1, 4/8 (+9.4% WPA)

Wednesday afternoon's contest ended well for the Jays, but it didn't start on the most hopeful note. Dylan Cease fought his command, there was traffic on the bases early, and it momentarily seemed like things would go from bad to worse when Freddie Freeman hit a hanging slider on a line to the right side. Fortunately, it happened to land in Ernie Clement's glove, at which point Kyle Tucker was a deer in the headlights between first and second base. Clement flipped it harmlessly to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at first to complete the double play, and Cease got out of the jam.

2. Jeff Hoffman: Freddie Freeman Strikeout, Top 9, 4/8 (+12.2% WPA)

Freeman found himself up in a big spot again in the ninth with the tying run in scoring position. Ahead in the count 1-2, Jeff Hoffman elevated a fastball and blew it by him. Brandon Valenzuela hung onto the foul tip to put the Blue Jays an out away from snapping their six-game losing streak. The Opening Day home run Hoffman gave up to Shea Langeliers remains the only considerable blemish on his season; he now leads qualified AL relievers with a 48.4% strikeout rate.

1. Jeff Hoffman: Max Muncy Groundout, Top 9, 4/8 (+13.9% WPA)

It can be argued that Hoffman pitched in too many high-leverage spots to start 2025, leaving him fatigued down the stretch. With the Jays starting slowly this year, it now feels like there haven't been enough spots where it makes sense to use him. Wednesday was an exception, and he delivered. He didn't make it easy for himself after Tucker and Will Smith reached with one out, but perfectly fielded Max Muncy's tapper back to the mound here to complete the save.

Hitting

3. Andrés Giménez: Single, Bot 8, 4/8 (+16.6% WPA)

Andrés Giménez fell behind 0-2 to Ben Casparius but sat back on a curveball in the zone and rolled it up the middle for a base hit. The ball wasn't hit hard, so Davis Schneider took third on the play, setting the table for the groundball that would score him and put the Blue Jays ahead for good. It was another big knock for Giménez, who's responsible for the Jays' offense's second and third most pivotal swings of the year so far and four of their top 10.

2. George Springer: RBI Double, Bot 7, 4/8 (+25.2% WPA)

After lying dormant for over a week, the bats finally came through in a big spot in Wednesday's comeback win. Jack Dreyer missed up with a slider, and Springer shot it the other way, bouncing it off the top of the right field wall to cut the Dodgers' lead to 3-2. This left a second-and-third situation with just one out for Daulton Varsho, who would tie the game with a single. The Blue Jays squandered a golden run-scoring opportunity in the seventh inning the night before but would not let this one slip by.

1. Brandon Valenzuela: 2-Run HR, Bot 4, 4/10 (+25.4% WPA)

An unlikely hero flipped the score as the Jays slugged their way to a 10-4 victory on Friday. A string of doubles and an RBI single by Giménez brought Toronto back to within a run after being down 4-0, and then Valenzuela took a hanging splitter from Simeon Woods Richardson and lined it into the visitor's bullpen for his first big league home run. It was the team's biggest moment in an effort that featured 10 unanswered runs and saw eight of the nine members of the starting lineup record a hit. This one came off the bat at 111 mph, and Valenzuela was rewarded for it, starting at catcher in all three games of the series against the Twins.

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