Blue Jays Week in Review: The Bats Come Alive

Weekly Snapshot: Mon, 5/26 through Sun, 6/1
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Record Last Week: 6-1 (Overall: 31-28)
Run Differential Last Week: +21 (Overall: -5)
Standings: Second Place in AL East (5.5 GB), Seventh in AL (0.5 GB of Third Wild Card as of 6/1)

Last Week’s Results
Game 53: TOR 2 - TEX 1
Gausman: 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
Varsho: 3-5, HR (8)
Hoffman: 1.0 IP, 3 up/3 down, SV (11)

Game 54: TEX 2 - TOR 0
Francis: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
11 runners left on base, 0-for-10 with RISP

Game 55: TOR 2 - TEX 0
Schultz and Lauer: 6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K
Bichette: PH HR

Game 56: TOR 12 - A’s 0
Berrios: 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 9 K
HRs: Clement (2), Guerrero Jr. (8), Bichette (6), Springer (6)
Kirk: 3-for-3 and flirting with .300

Game 57: TOR 11 - A’s 7
Bassitt: 5.0 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
HRs: Clement (3), Barger (3)

Game 58: TOR 8 - A’s 7
Lucas: 4.2 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K (Fisher opened)
HRs: Barger (4), Bichette (7), Springer (7 and 8)

Game 59: TOR 8 - A’s 4
Gausman: 4.2 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
Barger: HR (5)
5-for-10 with RISP

Highlights
Kevin Gausman followed up his best start of the season in the Jays' 14-0 win over San Diego with an even better performance against Texas despite a much smaller margin for error, going eight innings and willing the team to a 2-1 win. Leo Morgenstern flagged him as the ace most likely to step up for the Jays and I just named him Jays Centre Pitcher of the Month in part because of performances like this. 

The whole offense against the Athletics was a highlight. In a four-game sweep of the nomadic A’s, the Jays scored 38 runs (almost erasing their negative run differential on the season) on 56 hits, including 11 that left the yard. Leading the charge was former Athletic Ernie Clement, who recorded 11 of those hits and an absurd wRC+ of 418 in the series.

In a week when the bats came to life, it was Addison Barger who really took notice. His 254 wRC+ on the week led the team, as did his 0.53 WPA. For the Statcast fans, he was neck and neck with Vladdy and Alejandro Kirk on the EV and distance leaderboards all week too.   

Lowlights
Daulton Varsho was a triple short of the cycle in the opener against Texas, but then it was during his pursuit of a triple against the A’s that he pulled up in a great deal of pain and landed himself on the IL. There was nothing about his play this week that would have put Varsho in the lowlights section, but when the team is going to be without the best defensive outfielder in the league for any length of time, there’s going to be some worry.

Anthony Santander was the only Jays batter to go without a hit this week. He’s been battling a number of ailments and finally (mercifully?) ended the week by going on the IL.

Jeff Hoffman picked up three saves this week, and two of them were pretty routine. Entering the game against the A’s with a three-run lead to walk away with a one-run save is always a scary proposition. While there is always an element of bend-not-break from some reliever appearances, this one had the opportunity to get ugly if not for Ernie Clement flashing the glove to end the game.

Random Stats of the Week

• Jacob deGrom faced 23 Blue Jays batters on Monday and didn’t strike anyone out. It was the first time in his 229 career starts that he left without a K.
• Bo Bichette’s pinch-hit home run was the first of his career.
• Ernie Clement’s five RBI in one inning tied Edwin Encarnacion’s team record.

News, Notes and Not Playing

• Ali Sanchez recalled from Triple A
• Josh Walker traded to Phillies for cash considerations
• Alan Roden recalled from Triple A
• Easton Lucas recalled from Triple A (and then optioned back)
• José Ureña designated for assignment
• Erik Swanson reinstated from the IL
• Davis Schneider recalled from Triple A

7-day IL: Tyler Heineman
Caught on the weekend and is expected to be activated for this week's series against Philly.

10-day IL: Andrés Giménez, Daulton Varsho
Giménez played on the weekend at Single A and is expected to be activated for the series against Philly. Varsho was diagnosed with a Grade 1 hamstring strain and will be evaluated weekly.

15-day IL: Nick Sandlin, Yimi García
Sandlin is currently throwing BP to hitters and expected to ramp up over the coming weeks. García had a cortisone shot and is not scheduled to throw in the coming days.

60-day IL: Max Scherzer, Ryan Burr
Like García, Burr also had a cortisone shot and was shut down from throwing for a couple of days. Scherzer threw live BP on May 30, and if all feels well, he is expected to continue throwing this week.

Trending Storylines
After a quiet series in Texas, the bats got loud at home against the A’s, reminding us how much fun dingers can be when it’s your team hitting them. With Clement and Barger leading the charge, the question of what the Jays will do when Andrés Giménez returns will be a real story to watch. Jesse Burrill gave us a nice breakdown of what could happen, but the decisions are always tougher when the bats are hot.

Looking Ahead
The Jays have an off day Monday after their 13 in a row. They’ll welcome Philly for a three-game set at Rogers Centre before hitting the road for a weekend series in Minnesota.