Blue Jays Week in Review: What is this team?

Weekly Snapshot: Monday, June 9 through Sunday, June 15
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Record Last Week: 3-3 (Overall: 38-33)
Run Differential Last Week: -11 (Overall: -12)
Standings: Third place in AL East (4.5 GB), Fifth in AL (currently in 2nd Wildcard spot, 1.5 games up on SEA in 3rd)

Last Week’s Results

Game 66: TOR 5 - STL 4 (10 innings)
Berríos: 6.2 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
Kirk: 4 for 5, HR (4)
Clase: 2 for 4, HR (1)

Game 67: TOR 10 - STL 9
Bassitt: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
Bichette: 3 for 5, 3 runs
Kirk: 3 for 5, HR (5)
Giménez: 2 for 5, HR (4) and 4 RBI

Game 68: TOR 5 - STL 2
Lauer: 4.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
Clement: 3 for 4, HR (4)

Game 69: PHI 8 - TOR 0
Gausman: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 7 K
Kirk: 2 for 4
Rest of team: 3 for 28

Game 70: PHI 3 - TOR 2
Francis: 3.2 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
Guerrero Jr. and Clement: 2 for 4 each
Rest of team: 1 for 24

Game 71: PHI 11 - TOR 4
Berríos: 4.2 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
Clement: 3 for 4, 2 runs
Robertson: 1 for 4, first major league hit and RBI

Highlights:
Alejandro Kirk has been hot. So hot that Leo Morgenstern noted he’s catching fire. This week, he led the team in hits (11) and had the highest wRC+ at 217. He also had the highest Win Probability Added and was the only Jay to go yard more than once. All of that on top of his elite work behind the plate. Catcher is a deep position in the league this season, but Kirk is making a case for All-Star inclusion.

Another player refusing to be ignored from All-Star consideration is Ernie Clement. In another great read from Mr. Morgenstern, he highlighted how great Clement has been with the glove, despite not having a true position. This week he brought his bat too. Tied with Kirk for most hits (11), in a week when no other Jay got more than six, it was nice to feel like not every bat had left town early.

Alan Roden didn’t see a tonne of action this week, but when he did, he left his mark. With just nine plate appearances on the week, his wRC+ of 144 was behind only Kirk and Clement. Three singles and a pair of RBI isn’t usually going to get you into the Highlight section - but when we talk about the mark left by Roden this week, we’re going to be talking about the mark his eyeblack left on the outfield wall in Philadelphia (not to mention the face imprint) going all out to take an almost sure hit away from Nick Castellanos.

Lowlights:
Bowden Francis has been in the lowlights section a few times now, and this might be the most unfair of them all. Through the first three innings in Philadelphia, he looked, if not sharp, then at least the best we’ve seen him in a while. A single to Brandon Marsh, the Phillies' #9 hitter, was the only blemish through 3 frames. The fourth started promisingly, with Francis getting the first two outs. The next five batters would combine to load the bases and score twice on three walks and two HBP, and that ended Francis’ day. If/when the Scherzer spot in the rotation solidifies, we might see Francis moving into it, but with the next projected start coming against the White Sox, he has a clear chance to make it into next week’s highlights section.

News, Notes, and Not Playing:

• Will Robertson contract selected from Triple-A.

7-day IL: Nathan Lukes

• Lukes is said to be progressing from his concussion protocol and could see a return to action this week.

10-day IL: Daulton Varsho, Anthony Santander

• Varsho is continuing to recover and is lightly throwing and hitting, but has not yet begun running activities. The hope is that a clearer timeline for his rehab and return will be announced this week.
• Santander has begun light baseball activity and is not expected back ahead of Varsho (Schneider via Matheson)

15-day IL: Yimi García, Nick Sandlin

• It was reported that García’s bullpen session this week went well, and his rehab is continuing.
• Sandlin threw 16 pitches in a rehab outing and will be re-evaluated.

60-day IL: Ryan Burr, Max Scherzer

• Burr threw live BP on Saturday and will be evaluated for how he feels following that session.
• Scherzer threw 56 pitches on Friday (was scheduled to throw 60-65) and felt good afterwards. He is scheduled to make another rehab start on Wednesday with a target of 70-75 pitches as he builds back up.

Trending Storyline:

The Jays were rolling, having won 12 of 14 games and five series in a row (including a win over Philly in Toronto) at the end of their set in St. Louis. Then they rolled into the city of Brotherly Love and got outscored 22-6 over the weekend. As bad as the Philly games were, we’re only one series removed from watching this team play its best baseball of the season, and there’s reason to believe that with the series coming on the horizon, this might just be a blip.

Looking Ahead:
The Jays get a much-needed off day on Monday before welcoming the Arizona Diamondbacks, with former Jays: Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Randal Grichuk, and Gabriel Moreno for a 3-game set. The Diamondbacks are similar to the Jays in that they’re hovering around .500, but doing it in a tough division (minus the Rockies), so we could see some close games. Then it's the AL-worst Chicago White Sox in for the weekend. These are a couple of prime series to shake the Philly-stink off of the Jays and get the bats swinging again.