Blue Jays Week in Review: A Strong Start and a Disappointing Ending

Weekly Snapshot: Mon, 6/16 through Sun, 6/22
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Record Last Week: 3-3 (Overall: 41-36)
Run Differential Last Week: +2 (Overall: -10)
Standings: Third Place in AL East (4.0 GB), Fifth in AL (Currently in second Wild Card spot, 1.5 games back of TBR and 1.5 games up on CLE and SEA)

Last Week’s Results
Game 72: ARI 4  - TOR 5 (walk-off)
Bassitt: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
Guerrero Jr.: 3-4, HR (9), 3 RBI
Bichette: 2-4, HR (9), RBI
Barger: 2-5, HR (8), RBI
Barger and Bichette with back-to-back HRs in the ninth to win 

Game 73: ARI 1 - TOR 8
Lauer: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K
Bichette: 3-5, HR (10), 2 RBI
Barger: 3-4, BB, RBI
Clement: 3-5, R

Game 74: ARI 9 - TOR 5
Gausman: 4.1 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
Kirk: 3-4, 2 HR (6, 7), 3 RBI
Clase: 1-3, HR (2)
Robertson: 0-4, 3K

Game 75: CWS 7 - TOR 1
Turnbull: 2.0 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
Fischer: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
Clement: 2-4
Bichette: 3-4, RBI

Game 76: CWS 1 - TOR 7
Berríos: 7.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
Bichette: 1-5, HR (11), RBI
Guerrero Jr.: 1-4, HR (10)
Schneider: 2-3, BB, 3 RBI 

Game 77: CWS 4 - TOR 2
Bassitt : 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
Bichette: 2-5 2 RBI
Clement: 2-4 

Highlights
Bo Bichette: Don't look now, but Bichette has been heating up again. Over six games this week, he went deep in three of them, had multi-hit games in four of them, and accumulated 22 total bases. He now leads the Blue Jays with 11 home runs on the season, and his 47 RBI also lead the team. That is an impressive feat, as he’s spent the whole season batting out of the leadoff spot. Overall, in just this past week, he raised his OPS by 42 points and is showing no signs of slowing down. Bichette has been known to get extremely hot in the past, and this week looks like the start of one of those runs.

Eric Lauer: Lauer has been officially named one of the five members of the starting rotation, and he took the opportunity and made an impressive first showing with it. In total, he threw five innings, allowed just four hits and struck out eight Diamondbacks on Wednesday. His performance continued a run of surprising success; he now has a 2.29 ERA and 36 strikeouts in his 35.1 innings pitched. This start was Lauer's first appearance of five or more innings this year, which the Blue Jays will likely want to see more of as he gets deeper into his season. As long as he can continue his run of allowing two earned runs or fewer (which has been the case in all but one of his appearances this year), then the Blue Jays might have found a pleasant surprise in Lauer.

José Berríos: When Berríos is on his game, there aren’t many pitchers who look as comfortable and composed as he does on the mound. He was certainly on his game on Saturday against the White Sox, throwing into the eighth inning and allowing just two hits and no earned runs. According to Baseball Reference's game score metric, this start matched his six-inning, two-hit, nine-strikeout performance against the Athletics at the end of May. The Blue Jays' rotation has more question marks than was expected coming into the season, but Berríos has been a staple, and he’ll have to continue to be just that going forward.

Lowlights
Jeff Hoffman: Hoffman has certainly had a very uninspiring season to date. After he was an All-Star last season in Philadelphia, he signed a three-year, $33 million deal with the Blue Jays to be the closer, and he’s certainly had his ups and downs. That trend continued this week, as he allowed two baserunners to reach on Sunday, which ultimately lead to a series loss against the lowly White Sox, Hoffman's other two appearances were fine, (he threw two innings and allowed a walk and a hit batter) but his struggles have been enough of an ongoing trend for the Blue Jays that maybe they will look to consider someone else in the ninth inning. For what it's worth, John Schneider says, “We still trust the s*** out of him,” so that may not be happening any time soon.

Andrés Giménez: Giménez really hasn't turned into the offensive threat at the plate that some people were thinking he could be this year. This week, he went 0-for-17 (with four HPB!!!) before getting a single in the fifth inning of Sunday's game. His OPS+ on the season now sits at a minuscule 61, which has fallen below the 82 and 96 he had in his final two years in Cleveland. In fact, out of all qualified hitters this week, Giménez was the only one in the majors that was held without a hit prior to games on Sunday. The defence has still been elite, but it's getting to the point where it's hard to justify having him bat any higher than eighth in the lineup until things start to turn around. 

Spencer Turnbull: Turnbull also struggled in his first start of the season. The Blue Jays were hoping to tap into the length he is able to offer, but it didn't happen in this start. He threw just two innings and allowed five hits and four runs before being lifted. With Lauer taking a spot in the rotation and Max Scherzer set to return at some point this week, it looks like Turnbull’s next outing will be coming from the bullpen.

Random Stats of the Week

• José Berríos reached career inning number 1,500 this week.
• Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. have now reached double-digit home runs this season, joining George Springer.
• Blue Jays hitters had a 25.7% line drive rate this week, which was the best in baseball (coming into the games on Sunday).
• Andrés Giménez's four HPBs were the most among all major leaguers this week.
• Will Robertson made his major league debut last Sunday. He’s the 44th different player the Blue Jays have used this season.
• Alan Roden’s triple yesterday was the Blue Jays' fourth of the season, moving them out of last place in that department.
• The Jays used four different center fielders in a game earlier this week, which is a franchise record.
• The Blue Jays' bullpen had an MLB-low 28.3% groundball rate this week.

News, Notes, and Not Playing

• RHP Erik Swanson has been DFA’d.
• LHP Justin Bruihl was recalled and then sent back to the minors. 
• RHP Nick Sandlin returned from the 15-day IL.
• OF Nathan Lukes returned from the 7-day IL.

10-Day IL: Anthony Santander, Daulton Varsho

• Anthony Santander still hasn't started hitting, as he’s recovering from his shoulder injury (via Keegan Matheson).
• Daulton Varsho should start rehab games at some point this upcoming week (via Matheson).

15-day IL: Yimi García, Bowden Francis

• Yimi García should get back into his first game action on Monday (via Matheson).
• Bowden Francis had a cortisone injection and will not be throwing for the next few days (via Matheson).

60-day IL: Max Scherzer, Ryan Burr, Alek Manoah,

• Max Scherzer finished his rehab assignment and, barring any last-minute setbacks, will take the mound on Wednesday in Cleveland (via Matheson).
• Ryan Burr has been pitching in Triple-A Buffalo on a rehab assignment, He’s allowed five earned runs over nine innings across three levels.

Trending Storylines
The Blue Jays finished their homestand with a 3-3 record, which might seem like a disappointment, especially after they took two out of three against the Diamondbacks, only to lose two out of three against the lowly White Sox. Overall, the Blue Jays haven't played that badly; the home run power has started to come around, with Alejandro Kirk, Bo Bichette, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. all hitting multiple home runs this past week. The main culprit was the starting pitching. As you would expect in a week in which they won three and lost three, the Jays had some good and some bad starts. Lauer, Bassitt, and Berríos all pitched well, while Turnbull and Kevin Gausman struggled in their turns.

The bullpen had some shaky moments, from Hoffman and Mason Fluharty in particular, but they also had some good moments. Yariel Rodríguez continued his dominant stretch by not allowing any runs this past week. Braydon Fischer and Chad Green both had good weeks out of the 'pen as well, continuing a trend of some good and some bad from the arm barn.

The Blue Jays will look to get back to putting everything together and get back to their winning ways this coming week. 

Looking Ahead
The Blue Jays look to continue their grind through a crowded American League playoff race with series against two teams that are just behind them in the standings. After an off day on Monday, the Blue Jays will head to Cleveland, where they will face the Guardians for the second time this year. Cleveland took two out of three against the Jays in Toronto earlier this season, with Daniel Schneemann's grand slam off Yimi García being the defining moment of that series. The Guardians are 5-5 in their last 10 games, but their offence scored an MLB-low 16 runs this past week, so the Jays pitchers will look to keep their offence ice cold. Eric Lauer, Kevin Gausman and Max Scherzer will get their chance to do so,

After Cleveland, the Blue Jays will head to Fenway Park to get their first look at the Red Sox post-Rafael Devers. The Blue Jays have played well against the Red Sox this season, going 5-2 in seven games, including a sweep the last time they played in Fenway. This will be the last time the Jays see the Red Sox until the final week of the season, so these games could play a pivotal role in the playoff race, as getting wins against teams in one's own division are always key. It’ll help, too, that if probable pitchers stay on schedule, the Blue Jays will miss Garrett Crochet.