Jesse Burrill

We’re officially now into June, and the Toronto Blue Jays baseball season is in full swing. The Blue Jays have had their share of surprises, both positive and negative, and in turn have them slightly over the .500 mark as we head into the summer months. The Blue Jays' minor league system is no exception, and for the first time in what feels like a long time, the Blue Jays are having some notable, and dare I say, exciting (!!!) position player prospects coming through the pipeline. Let's take a look at some of these players and crown one of them as Blue Jays hitting prospect of the month for May: Honorable Mentions: - Manuel Beltre: A, Dunedin Blue Jays - .269/.356/.368 .724 OPS, 2 HR, 21 BB, 28 K, 13 SB - Alan Roden: AAA. Buffalo Bisons - .361/.446/.583 1.029 OPS, 3 HR, 9 BB, 7 K, 3 SB (Currently back with Toronto) - Edward Duran: A, Dunedin Blue Jays - .301/.399/.486 .885 OPS, 4 HR, 20 BB, 38 K Top 5 Minor League Hitters for May 5. OF David Beckles CPX, DSL Blue Jays - .338/.483/.529 1.012 OPS, 2 HR, 19 BB, 21 K Beckles, just 21 years old, was originally an undrafted free agent by the New York Yankees. After two seasons, he was released and signed a minor league contract with the Blue Jays. After a cup of coffee in the system in 2024, he’s started 2025 with a bang. His 1.012 OPS leads all qualified Blue Jays minor leaguers out of all qualified hitters, and even though he’s not going to appear on anyone's top prospect list (at least as of now), Anyone who posts an OPS that high deserves a shoutout here. Additionally, he was named Florida Complex League Player of the Week on May 12th, which is worth celebrating. 4. Will Robertson: AAA, Buffalo Bisons: .278/.397/.500, .897 OPS, 7 HR, 24 BB, 36 K Now 27 years old, Will Robertson is quickly proving he doesn't have that much more to prove in the minor leagues, coming off back-to-back 19-homer seasons in 2023 with New Hampshire and in 2024 with Buffalo. He’s continued right where he left off, with an increase in walk rate between 2025 and 2024 (15.9%-10.8%) and a decrease in strikeout rate (23.8%-31.3%). Combine that with a rise in average exit velocity (93.1 mph, up from 90.5 mph). He’s doing everything you want to see a prospect do. Even though the Blue Jays outfield picture is quite crowded right now, don't be surprised if Robertson makes his way into the picture by season's end, and by the way, he ended the month of May with four home runs in four straight games: 3. Yohendrick Pinango: AA, New Hampshire Fisher Cats: .294/.403/.513, .916 OPS, 8 HR, 27 BB, 42 K Pinango came in at number three in our Prospects for March/April and has done nothing to remove himself from that list. Daniel Labude noted that a lot of the success was due to his improvement in plate discipline. Not only has that maintained, its actually jumped to a 14.1 walk rate, which has him on base at over 40% of the time. Combine that with five of his eight home runs coming in May and he’s chipped in with four stolen bases too, he’s continuing to look like one of the best hitters in Double A. Not a bad return for Nate Pearson at last year's deadline if he can continue this hot stretch. 2. RJ Schreck: AA, New Hampshire Fisher Cats: .277/.390/.546, .936 OPS 9 HR, 20 BB, 38 K If Pinango isn't one of the best hitters in Double A right now, it's probably because his teammate, RJ Schreck, is standing in his way. Acquired at the trade deadline in 2024 in part of the Justin Turner trade, Schreck has been on fire over the past month. Over the last 30 days, Schreck's nine home runs are the third highest in all of minor leagues, with only the Astros, Shay Whitcomb (who has now been called up), and the Rockies' Ryan Ritter having hit more. On top of that, his 31 hits led all Blue Jays minor leaguers over that time. The strikeouts may become an issue in the long run, but the power is real here, and that's been evident over the last month. 1. Arjun Nimmala: A+, Vancouver Canadians .288/.369/.531 .901 OPS, 9 HR, 21 BB, 36 K Get ready to buy the hype. Nimmala started the year in High-A Vancouver and has done nothing but hit. A first-round pick by the Blue Jays in 2023, he has taken the minor leagues by storm; his 24 extra-base hits are tied for first in the Northwest League. In May, he has an .898 OPS and has even chipped in four steals, all while playing shortstop at a professional level. The prospects lists are starting to take notice: Baseball America has updated its top 100 list, placing Nimmala at No. 57, while MLB Pipeline has him at 59. Kiley McDaniel of ESPN has Nimmala up to 29th on his list. It seems like the sky is the limit, and it won't be a surprise if he ends up first on this list for June and other months as well. Did we mention that he’s just nineteen years old? View full article

Trading for Andrés Giménez was the first real impact move the Blue Jays made this past offseason, acquiring him and RHP Nick Sandlin from the Guardians in exchange for Spencer Horwitz and outfield prospect Nick Mitchell. The Blue Jays acquiring Giménez really shouldn't have come as too much of a surprise. The Jays have been one of the best defensive teams in the league over the last few seasons, and Giménez added to an already elite defence. From 2022-2024, his 59 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) were the best in baseball, while his 49 Outs Above Average trailed only Dansby Swanson for the best among qualified players over that time. It's no wonder he won the Gold Glove in three straight seasons. In addition, the Blue Jays believed they could get more out of his bat than what he had shown in the last few seasons. His OPS+ dropped from 141 in 2022, when he was an All-Star and finished sixth in MVP voting, down to 96 in 2023 and 81 in 2024. For context, 100 is league average. At the time of the trade, Ross Atkins said, “Everything about him was attractive. The work we did on his bat and the offensive impact that can be there” (via Keegan Matheson). And while Giménez's .195/.273/.305 season slash line and 65 OPS+ to date leave you wanting more, there is no question he is going to be a key part of this team going forward. Giménez has been out of the lineup since May 7 with a strained quad but has now begun a rehab assignment. In his first rehab game, he went 1-for-3 with a double and a walk. He is expected to be back with the Blue Jays before too long, presuming no setbacks. The assumption is that Giménez will return and be the everyday second baseman once he is ready to go. The question then becomes, what happens with the rest of the roster once he returns? When Giménez was sent to the IL, Michael Stefanic was called up. He has appeared in eight games, mostly at second base, but hasn't produced much with just three hits, all singles. He’s the most likely candidate to be sent down. Where it becomes trickier is figuring out what the Blue Jays can do with Ernie Clement. He has played in all 19 games since Giménez's injury, starting mostly at second, but has seen time at shortstop, third base, and first base as well. During this stretch, he’s hit a modest .273/.338/.333 with a home run and a stolen base. Where things get really interesting with Clement is that he’s got some very extreme platoon splits: vs. LHP: 15-44 (.341), 1 HR, 6 BB, 6 K, with a 173 wRC+ vs. RHP: 22-107 (.206), 1 HR, 4 BB, 17 K with a 29 wRC+ It makes the most sense to have Clement get into the lineup against LHP, and probably should be on the bench, or very low in the order against RHP. You could make the argument that you could just platoon Clement and Giménez at second base, as Giménez does hit better against RHP than LHP (82 wRC+ vs righties, and 36 wRC+ vs lefties in 2025), and I'm sure some of that will happen, but Giménez was an everyday player while on the field this year, and it's likely that will continue. Ernie does have the option to back up Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at 1st base, or Bo Bichette at short stop, and the latter may be coming true, as Bo had the day off on Wednesday with “a little lower back tightness.” although initial reports say Bichette has been feeling better, the Blue Jays are being “extra careful.” The next logical option means that Ernie steps in and plays a lot more third base. A space that Addison Barger has been in, and he has an .853 OPS since the Giménez injury, which trails only Alejandro Kirk for the best on the team. Ernie’s value doesn't come entirely from his bat; his best tool, aside from his versatility, has got to be his glove, and it has been excellent again this season. In terms of baseball Savant's Outs above Average, Ernie Clement is second in all of baseball. With someone who adds so much defensive value, it's hard to justify leaving that player on the bench, too, and he is clearly adding value, whether or not the bat is producing. The Blue Jays should look to use Clement as a mostly everyday role, bouncing between Infield positions, and could look to give Vlad and Bo more DH days, or this could force Addison Barger back to RF, and use Springer in left, or give him some more DH days. Either way, it seems like Nathan Lukes would lose more playing time in this scenario, and he’s holding his own so far this season (.768 OPS with 4 HRs). So that might not be the best course of action. The other move that may happen is maybe the Blue Jays finally bite the bullet and give Anthony Santander an IL Trip to deal with some shoulder/hip issues that he’s been dealing with. Earlier on Wednesday Keegan Matheson reported that Santanders' issues are limiting his big swings in hope to make more contact, but contact was never Santanders' game, and the Blue Jays need him to be more of a home run threat as aside from a few exceptions, the Blue Jays don't have a many people who have the home run upside that Santander has. In doing this, it gives Santander time to rest, reflect, and heal, and also opens up more DH at-bats for the rest of the roster. The Blue Jays have had opportunities to put Santander on the IL already and have refused to do so, so unless something else comes up, this might not be the route the Blue Jays go. Either way, it shouldn't take too long, but Giménez's return to the lineup may move things around more than originally expected, and is likely the biggest change since Daulton Varsho returned to the lineup at the end of April. His return is likely to shake up the playing time for more people than just Ernie Clement, and that's pretty important for the Toronto Blue Jays going forward. View full article

Weekly Snapshot: Mon, 5/19 through Sun, 5/25 *** Record Last Week: 3-3 (Overall: 25-27) Run Differential Last Week: +1 (Overall: -27) Standings: Fourth Place in AL East (7.0 GB), 12th in AL (3.0 GB of Third Wild Card) Last Week’s Results Game 47: SD 0 - TOR 3 Bassitt: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K Guerrero Jr.: 1-3, HR (6) Santander: 1-3, HR (6) Hoffman: 1.0 IP, K, SV (10) Game 48: SD 0 - TOR 14 Gausman: 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K Varsho: 1-5, HR (7), 4 RBI Lukes: 3-5, HR (4), 2 RBI Tied for the Blue Jays' highest-scoring shutout win in Rogers Centre history. Game 49: SD 6 - TOR 7 (11) Francis: 4.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K Barger: 3-4, RBI, 2 BB Varsho: 1-6, 3B, 2 RBI Yariel Rodríguez: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 3 K Game 50: TOR 1 - TB 3 Lauer: 4.1 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K Clase: 1-3, BB Springer: 0-2, 2 BB Fisher: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 4 K Game 51: TOR 1 - TB 3 Berríos: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K Guerrero Jr.: 1-4, HR (7) Santander: 2-2, 2 BB Game 52: TOR 0 - TB 13 Bassitt: 4.0 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 2 K Guerrero Jr.: 1-3, BB Santander: 0-4, 3 K Highlights Jonatan Clase quietly had a very strong week. He got into four games and recorded five hits. He had two doubles, four walks, drove in three runs, and also chipped in with a stolen base. He did get picked off first base in the finale against Tampa Bay and still has some things to work on, but he took advantage of the opportunities he had this week. Kevin Gausman turned in what was one of his best starts of the young season by allowing only three baserunners and striking out nine in his seven innings of work on Wednesday. His game score in this start was 80, which trails only his 82 game score from his eight-inning, 10-strikeout start at Fenway earlier this year. Most notably, his splitter seemed to return to peak Gausman levels, generating 13 whiffs on the 26 he threw. It had the lowest spin rate and most vertical movement (compared to horizontal movement) it has had all season, as Sportsnet's Blake Murphy pointed out. Jays Centre's Owen Hill made a nice video regarding Gausman and his plan of attack against Jackson Merrill, which you can watch here. If this trend continues, then Gausman might be about to go on a dominant run. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was the only Blue Jay to hit multiple home runs this week. First, he knocked a 97-mph Dylan Cease fastball to the pull side for his sixth home run of the season, the first time he’s hit a pitch that fast to the pull side for a home run since September of 2022 (per Chris Black on X). Then, on Saturday, he crushed his seventh homer of the year off of Shane Baz with a scorching 112.7-mph exit velocity, sending the ball 423 feet. Prior to this week, he had only recorded one home run in his previous fifteen games. This could be a sign that more power is about to come. Lowlights Bowden Francis struggled once again. He threw just four innings on Thursday and gave up two runs on three walks and yet another home run. His ERA on the season now sits at 5.54, and his 15 home runs allowed are the most in the major leagues. The Blue Jays chose to pull him early in this start to avoid him facing the Padres a third time through the order with a rested bullpen behind him. Still, Francis needs to be better. Limiting walks and finding a way to keep the ball in the ballpark would be a good place to start. Bo Bichette has really been in a slump as of late. This week, he went 5-for-28 with all five of those hits being singles. His OPS dropped from .757 to .725, fueled by a 72.7% groundball rate and a team-low negative 8.1-degree average launch angle. Look for Bichette to start to elevate the ball more going forward as he attempts to get out of his slump. Random Stats of the Week Yariel Rodríguez struck out Luis Arraez this week. He’s only the fourth pitcher to set the three-time batting champ down on strikes this season. Blue Jays hitters had a 12.3% walk rate this week, which trailed only the Athletics for the highest in baseball. The Blue Jays' hitters' 51.6% groundball rate was the highest in baseball this week. Braydon Fisher collected his first MLB win in extras on Thursday against the Padres. Michael Stefanic threw a scoreless inning as a position player pitching in Sunday's blowout. Myles Straw saw some time at second base on Sunday. It was the first time since 2019 he had appeared at the position. News, Notes and Not Playing RP Paxton Schultz was recalled from Triple-A Buffalo. C Ali Sánchez had his contract selected from Triple-A Buffalo. LHP Josh Walker was been DFA’d. Day-to-day: Anthony Santander Santander was in and out of games all week. He made a pinch-hit appearance on Friday and was in the lineup on Saturday and Sunday, while still dealing with a cranky shoulder. 7-Day IL: Tyler Heineman C Tyler Heineman was placed on the seven-day concussion IL after taking a couple of foul tips off the mask in Thursday's finale against the Padres. 10-Day IL: Andrés Giménez Giménez did some running drills early in the week but is likely to need a rehab assignment before returning to games (per Sportnet's Shi Davidi). 15-day IL: Yimi García, Nick Sandlin Yimi García was placed on the 15-day IL with a right shoulder impingement. Nick Sandlin threw a bullpen early in the week and will get a couple more side sessions before facing live hitters (via Davidi). 60-day IL: Max Scherzer, Erik Swanson, Ryan Burr, Alek Manoah Scherzer threw bullpens near his house in Jupiter, Florida. He will rejoin the Blue Jays in Texas, and assuming all goes well, he will face some live hitters again. Then, he will head for a rehab assignment (via MLB.com's Keegan Matheson). Erik Swanson made a pair of rehab appearances at Single-A. He faced a total of six batters, giving up one hit and striking out two. Ryan Burr also appeared in a pair of rehab games, one in Dunedin and one in Buffalo. He threw two innings between the two appearances, allowing three runs on four hits and striking out three. Alek Manoah was with the Jays in Florida and has begun throwing. He hopes to rejoin the big league team in the second half of the season (via Matheson). Trending Storylines This really was a story of two series for the Blue Jays. First, they took care of business against a San Diego Padres team that had already been slumping, earning shutouts in the first two games and a walk-off win on Thursday to complete the sweep. Then, they showed up at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa looking like a completely different team. They scored only two runs over three games, including a 13-0 loss on Sunday, continuing a trend of not playing well against the Rays in Tampa. Jeff Hoffman gave up a lead-off walk and a game-tying two-run home run on Thursday for his third blown save of the season, bringing his ERA up to 6.04. With Yimi García now on the 15-day IL, the Jays will need Hoffman to find some consistency in the ninth inning going forward. Looking Ahead The Blue Jays will continue a stretch of 13 games in 13 days as they head to Texas to face the Rangers. They will get their first look at Jacob deGrom and try to climb back to the .500 mark before they welcome the Athletics for a four-game weekend series at Rogers Centre. The Rangers are 3-7 in their last 10, and the A’s are 1-9. This, in theory, could be a good time for the Blue Jays to take advantage of their opponents who aren’t playing well, just like they did against the Padres earlier last week. View full article

Stealing bases has always been one of the most thrilling aspects of the game of baseball. The mind games going on between the baserunner and the pitcher are fascinating. Picking the right pitch to run on is an art, and just the threat of being a menace on the bases can sometimes be enough to get in a pitcher's head and make him forget about the batter at the plate and serve up a meatball. There is also a reason Major League Baseball instituted several rule changes before the 2023 season in an effort to increase stolen bases. MLB introduced the pitch clock to the game, severely limited defensive shifts, and brought in larger bases, increasing the bags from 15 inches on all sides to 18 inches. Well, it worked. League-wide stolen bases jumped from 2486 in 2022 to 3503 in 2023 and 3617 in 2024. It's safe to say that the league has to be happy with the results. With that being said, Rob Manfred and company must not be thrilled with Alejandro Kirk and the Toronto Blue Jays this season. On the offensive side, things are going well. Through 49 games this season, the Blue Jays have 32 stolen bases. Andrés Giménez leads the way with nine, George Springer is next with six, and each of Bo Bichette, Myles Straw, Ernie Clement, and Tyler Heineman (!!!) has stolen multiple bases. The Jays are currently on pace for 106 stolen bases, which would be their highest total since 2013 when Rajai Davis and his 45 stolen bases led the charge. Yet, the Blue Jays have really excelled on the defensive side. In terms of runners caught stealing this year, their 16 are tied for second in the major leagues. They were tied for fifth in that category in 2024 and 21st the year prior. If their current pace holds, the Blue Jays will have their first 50 caught stealing season since the turn of the century. The wild thing about all this is Kirk and Heineman aren't necessarily known for their arm strength. Kirk’s average arm strength of 79.2 mph has him ranked 35th out of all qualified catchers, and Heineman’s 75.5 mph is much lower than that. In fact, the catcher with the best arm in the organization is Christian Bethancourt, who in 2024 averaged 85.3 mph with his arm. He’s currently in Buffalo. So the question becomes, how are the Blue Jays having so much success throwing out baserunners? Is it just luck or small sample noise? Maybe, but you also have to be good to be lucky, and the Blue Jays catchers are doing some good things. Let's take Kirk as an example. In 2024, he took his first real jump in preventing stolen bases. Heading into the season, Kirk met up with bullpen catcher Luis Hurtado and came up with a plan to better control the running game. This involved adding weighted balls into his throwing program. He’d throw several reps with a ten-ounce, six-ounce, and four-ounce ball before starting his usual throwing program. It's safe to say it worked. Kirk threw out as many runners in 2024 (27) as he had in 2022 and '23 combined. Kirk's improvements go beyond his arm. His average pop time (which takes into account a catcher's footwork and exchange, as well as the velo on his throw) has also gotten better. Here’s a look at his career numbers: Pop time data via Baseball Savant. Updated on May 21, 2025. In this case, the lower the number, the better. Kirk's average exchange time is roughly the same as it was in 2023 and '24, but his arm strength has significantly improved. It's likely his footwork behind the plate has also played a part in this as well. Add it all up, and Kirk has thrown out nine of the 30 baserunners who have attempted to steal against him. Tyler Heineman has also held his own behind the plate. His 75.5-mph average throw puts him among the bottom 10 on Statcast's catcher arm strength leaderboard. But where Heineman really excels is with his pop time and exchange time. Let's take that previous chart and add Heineman: Pop time data via Baseball Savant. Updated on May 21, 2025. Heineman has always had this skill throughout his major league career. His 0.54 exchange time is currently the best among qualified catchers on the Statcast leaderboard. This helps explain why he’s successfully thrown out seven of the 12 baserunners who have attempted to run against him. It's good stuff. But throwing out baserunners has to do with more than just catcher arm strength, exchange speed, and pop time. Most savvy baserunners will tell you that stolen bases are stolen off the pitcher, not the catcher. The Blue Jays pitchers have done a notable job controlling the running game, too. Here is a chart comparing how their pitchers have controlled the running game this season compared to last: Data via Baseball Savant. Updated on May 21, 2025. There is a lot to unpack here, but I want to draw your attention to two key points. The first one is the “Net Bases Prevented” stat, which Baseball Savant describes as the number of "advances prevented and outs added assigned to the pitcher." In 2024, the Blue Jays were the second-worst team in baseball with -19. So far in 2025? They’re 14th, right in the middle of the pack. The other number that stands out is their average "Lead Distance Gained," which is the average distance that opposing runners have advanced from the start of the pitcher's delivery to pitch release. As you can see, baserunners aren’t getting as big of leads off of Blue Jays pitchers this season. That's particularly impressive considering left-handed pitchers (who naturally face first base from the mound) have pitched a lower percentage of Toronto's innings this year. Simply put, the Blue Jays pitchers have been better at keeping runners close. The table below shows the average "Lead Distance Gained" against each qualified Blue Jays pitcher between 2024 and '25: Pitcher 2024 2025 Difference Bassitt 4.4 ft 4.0 ft 0.4 ft Berríos 4.5 ft 4.7 ft -0.2 ft Francis 3.5 ft 3.3 ft 0.2 ft Gausman 4.4 ft 4.1 ft 0.3 ft Green 4.9ft 5.3 ft -0.4 ft Little 3.1ft 2.7 ft 0.4 ft Y. Rodríguez 4.5ft 4.0 ft 0.5 ft Data via Baseball Savant. Updated on May 21, 2025. Two of this offseason's biggest signings, Jeff Hoffman (+0.3) and Yimi García (+0.4), have also seen this number improve in 2025. One reason for this might be how often Kirk has been throwing behind runners at first base this year. Maybe that shows up on other teams' scouting reports when they come to play the Blue Jays. One thing is for sure: The Blue Jays' catchers and pitchers have improved at controlling the running game. The Blue Jays are still far from a complete team, but for a team that hasn’t been scoring as many runs as they would like to, improving their run prevention will help them win more ball games. Every time you earn an extra out on the bases and/or prevent the other team from moving up a base goes a long way. Even if that means upsetting Rob Manfred and his new rules just a little bit. View full article

Weekly Snapshot: Mon, 5/4 through Sun, 5/11 *** Record Last Week: 4-2 (Overall: 20-20) Run Differential Last Week: +11 (Overall: -22) Standings: Third Place in AL East (3.0 GB), 10th in AL (1.0 GB of Third Wild Card) Last Week’s Results Game 35: TOR 3 - LAA 8 Ureña: 4.1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K (Jose Ureña's Blue Jays debut!) Springer: 2-4, HR (4) Santander: 1-4, HR (5) García and Hoffman combined for 6 ER allowed Game 36: TOR 4 - LAA 5 Berríos: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 9 K Bichette: 1-4, 2 RBI Straw: 2-4, RBI Game 37: TOR 8 - LAA 5 Bassitt: 6.0 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 6 K Varsho: 3-5, HR (3) Guerrero: 3-4, 2 R Y. Rodríguez: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 5 K Game 38: TOR 6 - SEA 3 Gausman: 5.1 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 K Barger: 3-4, 3 2B Lukes: 1-4, HR (2) Game 39: TOR 6 - SEA 3 Francis: 6.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 9 K Bichette: 2-4, HR (2) Kirk: 4-5 Game 40: TOR 9 - SEA 1 Lauer: 4.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K (Ureña started: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K) Barger: 2-4, HR (1), BB Springer: 2-5, HR (5), 3 RBI Highlights Addison Barger looked the best that he ever has as a big leaguer, going 7-for-14 with three doubles and his first home run, all with some extreme exit velocities. All three doubles had an exit velocity of at least 109 mph, with the hardest one at 116.5 mph, the hardest batted ball of his career. The home run was another solid 107 mph off the bat. Combine that all with his go-ahead RBI single on Saturday and holding his own defensively at third base, and Barger looks like a key part of this team going forward. Another week, another Daulton Varsho master class. Not only did he hit his third home run in as many games, he also had another elite catch, this time timing the jump perfectly to rob a home run from Ben Williamson. John Schneider is showing faith in his center field, as he had him hitting third in the lineup between Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and George Springer, and it has been working so far. The bullpen as a whole was pretty effective all week (with a few exceptions), but Yariel Rodríguez needs to be highlighted here. In his first outing, he faced five batters and got four of them out, striking out two. In the finale against the Angels, he faced seven batters and got six of them out, five via the strikeout. In fact, he earned more fWAR (0.3) than any other Blue Jays pitcher this week. He’s always been a streaky pitcher, but he has the ability to be a high-leverage shutdown reliever, and he showed that this week. Lowlights Yimi García was one of the lowlights in last week's recap, and this week started similarly. He came into the eighth inning on Tuesday to protect a one-run lead, and the rough patch continued, as a walk, an error, a strikeout and a base hit led to García being removed from the game. All the inherited runners ended up scoring, pushing his ERA up to 4.20. On Friday, it looked like it was going to be more of the same. The command wasn't there, and he allowed the first three Mariners to reach base, although this time he was able to work out of the jam without the runs scoring and ultimately helped the Jays win. Here’s hoping that his rough patch was just a quick blip and the dominant García is back to stay. Jeff Hoffman also started to show some vulnerability. While he came into this week with a 1.10 ERA and just one home run allowed on the season, the Angels got to him hard. He gave up two long balls in his first appearance of the week, which gave the Angels some insurance. Then, in game two, he took his first loss of the season, allowing four of the five batters he faced to reach base as the Angels walked off the Blue Jays. The blip didn't last long, as in his two outings against the Mariners, he threw two scoreless innings with six strikeouts. He’ll be just fine. Random Stats of the Week: The Blue Jays scored six or more runs four times this week. They had only done that six other times this season. The Blue Jays had ten or more hits in five straight games, setting a season high for consecutive games with double-digit hits. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. did not have an RBI this week. It's the second time this season he's gone six or more games without an RBI. Yariel Rodríguez accumulated 0.3 fWAR this week, second highest among all MLB relievers. Mason Fluharty and Brendon Little were fourth and fifth, respectively. Blue Jays hitters had an MLB-high .380 BAPIP this week. News, Notes and Not Playing The Blue Jays recalled INF Michael Stefanic and OF Jonatan Clase from Buffalo. RP Braydon Fischer was selected and added to the bullpen. OF Alan Roden and RP Josh Walker were sent to Triple A. RP Dillon Tate and OF Steward Berroa were DFA’d. SP Jake Bloss has been sent for imaging after a recent start. There is still no word on his diagnosis. Day-to-day: Anthony Santander, Alejandro Kirk Santander played right field in Anaheim and was seen shaking and stretching out his shoulder a few times in the outfield. He was then out of the lineup for the next two days, and John Schneider described the injury as a “cranky" shoulder (via Keegan Matheson of MLB.com). He’s day-to-day for now. Kirk was removed from Sunday's finale after a follow-through of a swing hit him on the ear, He has a head contusion and is considered day-to-day 15-day IL: Nick Sandlin, Andrés Giménez Giménez has a quad strain and will be out until at least May 18. Sandlin has been playing catch from up to 60 feet. 60-day IL: Max Scherzer, Erik Swanson, Ryan Burr Scherzer threw a bullpen session on Wednesday and then faced live hitters for 20 more pitches. Schneider said “his stuff was really good," and this is a "step in the right direction" (per Andrés Soto of MLB.com). Both Swanson and Burr threw in the Florida Complex League. Next stop will be in Buffalo (via Matheson). Trending Storylines Coming into the week, the storyline surrounding this team was a lack of power and overall production from the offence. With a strong weekend performance, the Blue Jays seem to be turning a bit of a corner. They hit seven more home runs this week and have eleven since May 1, which puts them 12th in MLB during that time. It's not that noticeable yet, but if their power numbers continue to improve, this may be the week we look back on as when it all began. Even with the struggles from García and Hoffman early in the week, the Blue Jays bullpen looks leaps and bounds better than in 2024. Their bullpen as a whole racked up 0.7 fWAR this week, which was the second most in baseball (behind the Twins). They also led the league in strikeouts and allowed the sixth fewest walks. Mason Fluharty, Brendon Little, Chad Green and Yariel Rodríguez all pitched scoreless relief outings this week, and the 'pen is rapidly becoming a strength of this team. Looking Ahead The Blue Jays have escaped the West Coast and will return home for a nine-game homestand. After an off day on Monday, they welcome the Tampa Bay Rays for three games and then the American League-leading Detroit Tigers for another three. The Blue Jays are 11-8 at home so far on the season and will need to keep that going against two tough teams coming into Rogers Centre this week. View full article

The Jays' struggles at the plate continue, and it's not just a lack of power. They're failing to score runs that the data says they should be scoring, and it's costing them games. What's going on? The Toronto Blue Jays aren't scoring enough runs, but that's not new news. The team's lack of offence has been the storyline of the young season, with several articles written about it. Back in early April, it was noted that the Blue Jays were just hitting the ball on the ground too much, and three weeks later, Leo Morgenstern followed up with a piece about how the Jays need to trade contact for impact. It reached the point where John Schneider was asked about the team's lack of power after an 8-3 loss to the Mariners in April. He said he was not concerned and that the power would come "fairly quickly." Well, here we are over two weeks later, and the Blue Jays' lack of power is still relevant. They rank 27th in baseball in runs scored, 28th in isolated power, and 30th in home runs hit. But as we all know, there are more ways to score runs in baseball than just hitting home runs. Getting guys on base, moving them over and bringing them in has been a recipe for success for baseball teams going back to the deadball era. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you’ve been watching as many Blue Jays games as I have this season, then you know that they’ve been struggling to score runs that way too. Take last week's series against Cleveland as an example. Gavin Williams was very clearly not at his best in his start. He allowed a lead-off home run to Bo Bichette (the shortstop's first of the season), and when all was said and done, Williams had allowed seven hits and walked five (and allowed another runner to reach via a dropped third strike) through only four innings of work. If I were to tell you the Jays had 13 baserunners through four innings, you’d probably think they were off to the races. Instead, they eked out just two runs by the time Williams left the mound. Because the Blue Jays couldn't add more runs early in the game, it was close late, and Yimi García came in for the third time in four days, threw a season high 32 pitches and ultimately took the loss in a game that should have never been in that place in the first place. Game three featured a similar moment as well. In the eighth inning with the Jays down by one, they got a lead-off walk from George Springer and a base hit by Alejandro Kirk to get runners on first and second with no one out. The rest of the inning went as follows: Ernie Clement hits a sac bunt, moving the two runners to second and third. Myles Straw flies out to right. Nathan Lukes pops up to third. And just like that, the Jays were held off the scoreboard. In the ninth inning, by then down by two, the Blue Jays got off to a similar start. Andrés Giménez reached on an error, Bichette singled to right to set up runners at the corners, and then the Jays went: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. sac fly Anthony Santander groundout George Springer strikeout And just like that, the Jays lost by one and ultimately lost the three-game series against the Guardians, a series the Blue Jays felt they should have won. It wasn't just this series either. FanGraphs has a stat called RE24 (run expectancy based on the 24 base-out states), and I’ll leave a link to the complete definition here. But essentially, RE24 measures how many runs a team should expect to score in each plate appearance based on how many outs there are and where the baserunners are placed on the bases, using data from the previous year's season to determine the average run expectancy for each base-out state. Here’s what the run expectancy chart looks like using 2024 data, courtesy of FanGraphs' Ben Clemens: Run Expectancy, 2024 Bases/Outs 0 1 2 — .491 .265 .096 1– .890 .533 .228 12- 1.487 .930 .447 123 2.324 1.612 .821 1-3 1.910 1.224 .514 -2- 1.125 .689 .346 -23 2.031 1.408 .601 –3 1.403 .960 .356 Based on the two examples given prior, the Jays would be expected to score just shy of 1.5 runs in a situation with runners on first and second with zero out, or just shy of two runs with runners on first and third and zero out. In reality, they just scored one across both innings. RE24 tracks changes in run expectancy. For example, the average run expectancy (using 2024 data) leading off an inning is .491 runs scored. If the leadoff hitter reaches first, the run expectancy climbs to .890, so that hitter is credited with the difference between those two numbers (in this case, 0.399). That means the batter's RE24 would climb by 0.399. If the leadoff hitter made an out instead, the run expectancy would drop from .491 to .265, and this hitter would then be debited with the negative difference (-0.266 in this scenario). On the season, the Blue Jays have not done well in this category. Their -32.88 RE24 ranks 26th in the league, ahead of only the Rangers, Royals, Pirates and Rockies. That's not the company the Blue Jays imagined themselves amongst. FanGraphs also has a stat called REW, which takes RE24 and attempts to convert that number into wins above or below average. According to REW, the Blue Jays have cost themselves -3.43 wins so far this season, which makes sense considering they are currently three games below .500. On the individual player level, the RE24 leadboard makes for an interesting list. Springer leads the team, followed by Guerrero and Tyler Heineman. You can see the full list below: Player Games PA RE24 REW George Springer 32 119 6.32 0.63 Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 35 152 4.59 0.48 Tyler Heineman 13 34 4.06 0.39 Nathan Lukes 22 56 2.15 0.24 Bo Bichette 35 160 1.07 0.11 Daulton Varsho 6 21 -0.82 -0.08 Jonatan Clase 1 4 -0.90 -0.09 Will Wagner 20 68 -0.91 -0.11 Myles Straw 27 60 -3.91 -0.41 Davis Schneider 10 21 -3.92 -0.41 Addison Barger 14 39 -4.49 -0.48 Alejandro Kirk 27 109 -4.77 -0.48 Andrés Giménez 35 140 -5.01 -0.52 Alan Roden 28 84 -7.71 -0.77 Ernie Clement 33 92 -8.88 -0.91 Anthony Santander 34 150 -9.74 -1.00 Yikes. Santander, Clement and Alan Roden being at the bottom of this list is tough, especially because those three players were all expected to have an important impact on the offense going into the season. Instead, those three are all in the bottom 25 out of all players in MLB. More yikes. Per REW, just those three have cost the Blue Jays 2.69 wins on the season already. For a team that has goals of making the postseason, the Blue Jays need to do better in this department. On the pitching side, the Blue Jays rank 21st in baseball, and their RE24 dropped substantially after Tuesday night's lopsided loss to the Angels. Chris Bassitt and Jeff Hoffman are leading the way (5.55 and 3.48 RE24, respectively), while Easton Lucas (-6.02) and Bowden Francis (-8.45) are at the bottom of the list. If the Blue Jays are ever going to get the offence going, then they need to start hitting the ball out of the park, or they need to be better at just scoring the runs that they are supposed to. Either one will work fine, and the two of those naturally go hand in hand, but it's starting to get to be "now or never" for the Toronto Blue Jays' offence this season. View full article

I also like triples

Over the first month of the season, the offence was a sour spot for the Toronto Blue Jays. They ranked among the bottom five teams in runs scored, home runs hit, isolated power, and slugging percentage. It wasn't the start the Blue Jays were hoping for at the plate, and they are in clear need of improvement going forward. With that being said, the Blue Jays have had some moments of success on the offensive side of the ball, and this is a good time to reflect on some of the positives that have occurred so far this season. These are the names that stand out the most. Honorable Mentions Tyler Heineman – .448/.467/.655, 1 HR, 1 BB, 5 K, 228 wRC+, 0.8 fWAR Here is a quick look at the Blue Jays' position player fWAR leaders through the end of April: Hands up if you had Tyler Heineman leading all Blue Jays in fWAR after the first month. I certainly didn't. It's a testament to two things: just how much the offense has struggled, but also the fact that Heineman has played quite well when he’s gotten into the lineup. Heineman has suited up ten times for the Blue Jays so far and has started eight games. In those eight games, he has a hit in seven of them, including two separate three-hit games and one where he even hit a home run, his first in the big leagues since 2019. Going forward, it's hard to imagine that Heineman has truly found another level to his game, especially as he has a career OPS of .625 and is in his age-33 season. But the Blue Jays will absolutely take every ounce of production they can get from the backup catcher spot. Myles Straw – .304/.347/.435, 1 HR, 3 BB, 10 K, 127 wRC+, 0.4 fWAR If you didn't have Heineman as number one on the position player fWAR list, then I'd bet you're also surprised to see Myles Straw in fifth. But credit where credit is due, Straw had a good spring and made the team out of camp, and that success has continued over the regular season. Straw started strong out of the gate. After going 0-3 in his first start of the season, he had a 10-game stretch where he had 11 hits, including three extra-base hits and his first home run. Add to that two stolen bases and some flawless outfield defence, and the Blue Jays have to be very happy with the production Straw has given them early in the season. His ability to provide a spark off the bench could be key at some point later in the season. 3. Bo Bichette – .295/.328/.364, 0 HR, 5 BB, 19 K, 99 wRC+, 0.2 fWAR Here we are, one month into the season, and it's a disappointment that the Blue Jays' no. 3 position player so far is roughly a league-average hitter, but that's just where we are. Bo Bichette has shown some signs of hope, and it has been an improvement on his 2024 season in which he only played 82 games and was a below-league-average hitter (71 wRC+), but his 2025 still leaves you wanting more. The most notable number is the zero in the home run column, especially after a spring training in which he hit four home runs. Bichette has taken his contact-heavy approach to the next level, as his walk rate has dropped to a career low 3.6% and his strikeout rate has also dropped to a career low 13.9% He has has been swinging early and often, and while he is still getting his hits, it's been mostly an empty batting average so far: 29 of his 38 hits in the month were singles. It's worth noting, too, that pitchers have taken note of Bichette's aggressive approach and are throwing him fewer first pitch strikes than ever before. There are some positives. For one, his line drive rate is at a career high, and his xwOBA is also a career high (.375), but the Blue Jays and Bichette alike would like to see things get better, especially in the power department, going forward. 2. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. – .268/.362/.402, 3 HR, 16 BB, 23 K, 123 wRC+, 0.6 fWAR Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has had a very eventful 2025 season so far, from entering the season without a long-term contract to quickly signing the longest and most lucrative deal in franchise history. A lot of pressure has been put on him to perform, and he’s done that for the most part. His lack of home runs (like the rest of the team) has been underwhelming, but he’s still doing a lot of things that have made him a successful big leaguer. The barrel rate is right in line with his recent averages, and the 123 wRC+ means he's still producing like a well-above-average hitter. Vlad still hits the ball hard. Very hard. In fact, no one in baseball has hit a ball harder this season than Vlad’s 120.4-mph exit velocity groundout against the Mariners on April 18. Since 2021, only Giancarlo Stanton, Oneil Cruz and Ronald Acuña Jr. have hit a ball harder. Guerrero still has to do more to be the MVP-type hitter he was in 2024, but the start has been promising. If you're a betting person, it's likely a safe bet that when this list comes out in May, Vlad is likely to be at the top. 1. George Springer – .306/.406/.482, 2 HR, 15 BB, 24 K, 157 wRC+, 0.6 fWAR What year is this?!? George Springer has had a renaissance at the plate, reaching base at a .400 clip and providing some much-needed thump at the plate. The profile has been extreme; he's striking out more often but is trying to do damage on the pitches he can handle. It's a message that new hitting coach David Popkins has brought over to the team, and Springer has been handling it well. MLB.com's Mike Petriello had a good thread on Bluesky explaining what is going on at the plate with Springer, but to summarize, he’s swinging a lot harder at fastballs and slower on off-speed pitches, and he is squaring up the baseball more often. It's something that is absolutely welcome, especially as a resurgence at age 35 for the veteran outfielder. He’s also added four stolen bases and has spent more time in center field than most people imagined. Springer ends the month of March/April with a 157 wRC+, making it the best offensive month he has had since August of 2022, when he was coming off an All-Star selection. Many Blue Jays fans, myself included, did not think that Springer had a month like this left in him. Now, he's locked into the clean-up spot in the lineup and should be there until he cools off. Just look at all the red on his Baseball Savant page: The Blue Jays certainly need more production at the plate as a team, but Springer is certainly doing his part. 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Arjun NimmalaTrey YesavageRicky TiedemannOrelvis MartinezJake BlossKhal StephenAdam MackoJosh KasevichAlan RodenCharles McAdooKendry RojasJuaron Watts-BrownFernando PerezLanden MaroudisJohnny KingBrandon BarrieraEnmanuel BonillaJonatan ClaseEddinson PaulinoPeyton Williams

Last week was tough for the Toronto Blue Jays. The lack of offence really showed, as they went just 1-5 and were outscored by 24 runs. Now the Jays return home and hope to get the offence going against Garrett Crochet and the Boston Red Sox. Weekly Snapshot: Mon, 4/21 through Sun, 4/27 *** Record Last Week: 1-5 (Overall: 13-15) Run Differential Last Week: -24 (Overall: -27) Standings: Fourth Place in AL East (4.0 GB), 11th in AL (2.0 GB of 3rd Wild Card) Last Week's Results Game 23: | TOR 0 - HOU 7 Gausman: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 6 K Springer: 1-3, BB, 2 SB Bichette: 1-4 Game 24: | TOR 1 - HOU 5 Bassitt: 5.1 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K Lukes: 1-3, HR (1) Clement: 1-3 Game 25: | TOR 1 - HOU 3 Francis: 4.2 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K Springer 1-3, 2B Giménez 1-3, SB Game 26: | TOR 4 - NYY 2 Berríos: 5.1 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K Guerrero JR.: HR (2) Barger: 2-4, Lukes: 2-4 Game 27: | TOR 2 - NYY 11 Gausman: 2.2 IP, 3 H, 6 ER, 5 BB, 2 K (threw 53 pitches in the third inning) Barger: 2-2, RBI Straw: 3-4 Game 28: | TOR 1 - NYY 5 Bassitt: 5.2 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K Santander: 1-3, HR (3) Guerrero Jr.: 1-3, BB Highlights It was a pretty tough week for the Toronto Blue Jays. Not only did their one win mark the lowest win total in a week they’ve had this season, but the previous trend of not being able to score many runs continued. They scored nine runs and gave up 33. But there were some positive moments as well Nathan Lukes came back from his paternity leave and hit his first home run of the season, Addison Barger went 4-9 with two doubles, and Anthony Santander and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. both hit home runs. Alejandro Kirk threw out a few more would-be base stealers, too. On the pitching side, the Blue Jays got their first look this season of Dillon Tate and Josh Walker. Tate allowed two hits in his inning and a third, and Walker pitched in two games, giving up seven hits and two walks while striking out six in his appearances. José Berríos had the best start of the week, throwing 5 ⅓ IP with five hits and no earned runs, striking out four. He was the starter on the mound for the only game the Blue Jays won this past week. Lowlights The trend of the young season continues, and the Blue Jays are simply not scoring enough runs. As previously mentioned, they scored just nine runs in their six games last week, and they aren't going to win many more games if that trend continues. It has now been two full weeks since the Blue Jays scored more than four runs in a game. It's hard to pick out just one player, as the power outage seems to be affecting the whole team. Here are some notable Blue Jays stat lines from last week: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: 3-21, HR, 2 BB, 7 K Anthony Santander: 1-18, HR, 3 BB, 8 K Andrés Giménez: 1-19, 2 BB, 5 K Bo Bichette: 5-24 (all singles), 0 BB, 4 K Alan Roden: 0-13, 1 BB, 5 K Tyler Heineman, Jonatan Clase, and Will Wagner all combined to go 0-for-17 with 2 BBs and 5 Ks this past week as well. On the pitching side, it wasn't much better. Kevin Gausman tied a franchise record by throwing 53 pitches in an inning in a start where he walked five and gave up six earned runs. Chris Bassitt gave up eight earned runs over his two starts, and the Blue Jays didn't get a single quality start from any of the four starters that pitched last week. The bullpen was also bad. Collectively, they pitched to a 5.59 ERA, which was ahead of only the Atlanta Braves for the worst in baseball. Almost every reliever who pitched gave up a run, with the only exceptions being Yimi García and Jeff Hoffman, who weren't relied on much this past week. Paxton Schultz and Walker each gave up multiple runs. Subpar starting pitching, an under-performing bullpen, and a dreadful showing at the plate all make it feel lucky that the Blue Jays even won one game this week. News, Notes and Not Playing The Blue Jays claimed RHP Casey Lawrence from the Seattle Mariners. The 37-year-old has spent some time with the Blue Jays in the past, pitching 18 innings in 2022. It's unclear if he will pitch out of the bullpen or make a spot start for the team. Jacob Barnes, who elected free agency after being released by the Jays on April 22, is now back on a minor league deal. The Blue Jays have also signed RHP Connor Overton, who appeared in spring training with the New York Mets. He will head to Buffalo. Jonatan Clase was called up to be the 27th man in the doubleheader on Sunday and is now back in Buffalo. 10-day IL: Daulton Varsho Daulton Varsho spent the week between Dunedin and Buffalo and was able to play some time in the outfield. It sounds like he will be back with the Blue Jays tonight. 15-day IL: Erik Swanson, Max Scherzer, Nick Sandlin Max Scherzer threw a 27-pitch bullpen session. Still no update on a rehab assignment yet. Erik Swanson is beginning a rehab assignment and will pitch today in Dunedin. 60-day IL: Alek Manoah, Ryan Burr Burr was transferred to the 60-day IL to clear up a 40-man spot. Looking Ahead The Blue Jays return home and will face the Boston Red Sox for the second time this season. After that, they will get their first look at the Cleveland Guardians. The Red Sox have heated up since their slow start and are now in second place in the AL East. The Blue Jays will have a tough task facing Garrett Crochet in the opener on Tuesday. The Guardians are also in second place in their division, and with them comes Carlos Santana, who historically has always hit well against the Blue Jays. If the Blue Jays are going to have success at home this week, getting more life from the bats is going to be crucial. View full article

Twenty-year MLB veteran Rich Hill is looking for a new team. Could the pitching-strapped Blue Jays be a fit? “Pitching keeps you in the games. Home runs win the game.” That's a quote from the late Earl Weaver, a long-time manager of the Baltimore Orioles and an esteemed broadcaster and author. Weaver saw a lot of baseball throughout his life, some good, some bad, but he was always good at developing pitchers, as during his managerial career, Orioles pitchers won six Cy Young Awards, and the O's had 22 20-game winners. This means that his team must have had a good mix of, as Weaver put it, "pitching and three-run homers." If that's the case, Earl Weaver would not be a fan of the 2025 Toronto Blue Jays. The three-run home run has been the primary issue. As of Thursday, the Jays have only managed to hit one three-run home run this season. They rank 25th in baseball in runs scored, and their home run total of 13 is ahead of only the Kansas City Royals for last in the league. But this article isn't about that; this article is about the first point from the famous Weaver quote, “Pitching keeps you in games,” and exploring if the Blue Jays have enough to keep that going as the long season continues. The Blue Jays made it known over the offseason that they needed some more starting pitching. That was evident when they signed Max Scherzer to a one-year $15.5 million deal at the end of January. Scherzer battled a thumb injury all throughout spring, and although he was able to make his first start of the season, he has yet to appear in a game since then. Yariel Rodríguez, who made 21 starts in 2024, seems to have found a home in the bullpen, and Easton Lucas, who had two very good starts, has had two terrible ones since and is now pitching down in Buffalo. As things stand right now, the Blue Jays don't have a fifth starter in their rotation, taking advantage of the off days on the calendar to pitch their four healthy starters on regular rest for the time being. But eventually, the team is going to need a fifth starter again. Jays Centre managing editor Leo Morgenstern wrote a nice article about the internal options the Blue Jays have, but Jake Bloss has been inconsistent in Triple-A, and while Eric Lauer has had moments of big league success, he currently has a 5.68 ERA in his 19 innings pitched in Buffalo. There are names to consider, but the next best option might be one that is currently not in the organization. The Blue Jays are in an interesting spot, as they have both Alek Manoah and Ricky Tiedemann returning from Tommy John surgery, and they will likely want to get a look at what both players look like at the end of the season. Assuming Chris Bassitt, José Berríos, Kevin Gausman and Bowden Francis all stay healthy and effective, the Blue Jays really only need an extra arm until one of Scherzer, Manoah or Tiedemann shows they're ready to join the rotation. The smart choice of action may be to find someone outside of the organization to fill that role, and if the Blue Jays choose to go that route, Rich Hill might be the best choice to do that. Rich Hill (a.k.a. Dick Mountain) isnt a perfect pitcher. He’s 45 years old, and with that comes a lot of the age-related skill changes you would expect; his fastball averaged just 86.3 mph last season. Still, the Blue Jays have seen quite recently that pitchers can have success with a low velocity. Just look at Ryan Yarbrough last season. The potential isn't exciting. It's hard to imagine a player at the age of 35 getting better, much less so at 45, but Hill has indicated he wants to pitch again this seasonm and according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive, one AL East team (that is notably not the Boston Red Sox) has shown interest in the left-hander. You don't have to squint too hard to see where the fit would be on the Blue Jays. The team has shown an interest in older veteran players on short-term deals (Scherzer, Justin Turner, and Brandon Belt all come to mind), and the veteran southpaw would surely be okay with a short-term contract. If that is the case, Hill would then join Kelly Johnson and Steve Pearce as the only players in MLB history to appear for all five AL-East teams, which Immaculate Grid players will love. But on the field, it may be more than just a feel-good story. Hill only appeared in the big leagues for four games for the Red Sox in 2024, but he did throw in November for the WBSC Premier12 tournament in Japan and didn't allow an earned run over the 10 ⅓ innings he threw in the tournament. The Blue Jays don't need anything special from Hill, just good quality starting pitching to hold them over until the reinforcements arrive. They need someone who has the ability to keep them in ballgames until the offence can figure it out. That's something even Earl Weaver could appreciate. View full article

Brendon Little is soaring to new heights thanks to a curveball that's both unhittable and impossible to lay off Remember the 2024 Blue Jays? Of course, we do. A season that was full of optimism fell apart pretty quickly for the team. Bo Bichette struggled to stay healthy and the run scoring as a whole was a problem, which ultimately led to the Blue Jays being sellers at the trade deadline. They ended with 74 wins, finishing last in the AL East. Part of the reason the team struggled was the performance of the bullpen. Jordan Romano only pitched 13 2/3 innings and had a 6.59 ERA when he was on the mound. The pitching staff as a whole saw 34 different pitchers toe the rubber, and only two, José Berríos and Bowden Francis, had a bWAR above 1.0. The end result meant the Blue Jays bullpen had a 4.82 ERA, a FIP of 4.84, and a negative WAR total, all of which were the worst in the American League. The Blue Jays knew this would be a problem and made some notable additions. Jeff Hoffman has been excellent in the early part of the season, and you could say the same for Yimi García, who was brought back to Toronto in free agency after a deadline trade to Seattle. Even with the new additions, the Blue Jays were expecting to get some bounce-back performances from some of the holdovers, and while Hoffman and García have been getting most of the attention, Brendon Little has been thrust into a higher profile role. Taking over Génesis Cabrera's spot as the undisputed number one lefty, he has excelled early in the season. On the surface, the numbers look pretty good. He’s gotten into a team leading 10 games, giving up just three earned runs in his eight innings pitched on the young season. He’s done well at protecting leads this season too. His five holds are best on the Blue Jays and are third-highest in the league, although he's not the name out of the bullpen most fans would expect to lead this team in holds. What is so interesting about Little is that he appears to have taken another step forward with his pitch development, particularly on his curveball. On the season, on at-bats ending on his curveball, batters have gone 1-for-15, with 11 of those 15 at-bats ending in strikeouts. The one hit? It was the Jesse Winker triple with a 95% catch probability that George Springer crashed into the wall attempting to catch. Those are video game numbers. To get a better perspective on just how good that pitch has been, here’s a list of whiff rate leaders on the curveball across all of baseball so far this season. Now that's a list! There’s more, too! Getting swings and misses is excellent (and something this 'pen has really needed), but Little is doing it so often by inducing chases. Here are the heat maps for his three pitches: That curveball is almost exclusively thrown below, and yet, hitters are still swinging at it. That is exactly what you want to do if you're a pitcher. Get the hitters to swing at pitches they aren’t going to do much with. Little has been excellent at that in the young season. Take Wednesday's game for example, Little came in to relieve Chris Bassitt and continued his dominance. He faced four batters, walked one, and struck out the other three. The curveball was again excellent. He threw seven, only two in the zone (earning called strikes on both of them). He bounced three and then got swinging strikes on the other two he threw out of the zone. Pair that with an effective sinker, and you're looking at an outing where Atlanta’s hitters took six swings and missed all six of them. The Stuff+ numbers seem to agree with what Little is doing too. His 120 Stuff+ is the best on the Blue Jays and 13th in baseball, ahead of names like Josh Hader, Tarik Skubal, and Mason Miller. It's exactly the type of company you want to be in. Part of the reason could be the lowering of his arm slot. It had been 35 degrees over the first part of his career, and that has dropped to 32 degrees this season. Little's sinker is also slower, but it's featuring more sink that it did last season. It could be he’s just gotten significantly better at pitch tunneling or sequencing, or maybe it's a little bit from each category. One thing is for sure: Brendon Little is quietly putting together a very impressive campaign, and it won’t be long until he joins the Jeff Hoffman and Yimi García on the short list of best relievers on this team, if he’s not there already. View full article

Easton has been just the surprise the Blue Jays needed to start the season. The Blue Jays' starting pitching has been phenomenal so far this season. Take away a clunker from José Berríos on Opening Day, and the rotation has a 2.20 ERA, which would be the best in baseball. Pair that with an innings total that's third highest during that time and a 0.96 WHIP that's second in baseball. It's impressive work, and they’ve done most of it without Max Scherzer, was pulled after three innings in his only start and has since been put on the 15-day IL after his chronic thumb injury flared up. Taking his place in the rotation was 28-year old Easton Lucas, who came into this season with just 18 1/3 innings pitched an ERA of 9.82 in his brief big league career. Expectations were not that high, but then his first start went well. Matching up against the Nationals' Mackenzie Gore, he threw five innings, only allowed one hit, struck out three and ultimately got the win. As Davy Andrews wrote, he officially “aced” his first start. Then came a real test. No offense to the Nationals, but the Red Sox at Fenway Park are a much tougher test. Lucas took the mound matched up against Garrett Crochet, one of the best left-handed starting pitchers in the game, and stood his ground. Against leadoff batter Jarren Duran, Lucas used a mix of sweepers and four-seam fastballs before getting a swing and miss on a slider for strike three. Next up, the suddenly red hot, three-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger winner Rafael Devers. It didn't matter. Four pitchers later Lucas had struck him out too. After a pop-out to end the inning, Lucas took the mound for the second, and it was more of the same. Three-pitch strikeout, six-pitch strikeout, and another popup, and Lucas was officially in cruise control. When all was said and done, his line looked like this: 82 pitches, 5 1/3 innings, three hits, one walk, eight strikeouts, and no runs. Most importantly, when he left the mound, the Blue Jays had scored four runs off Crochet and ended up winning, 6-1. The two-start stretch that Lucas has been on has been historic. He becomes the fourth Blue Jay ever to record consecutive starts with at least five innings pitched, no runs or extra-base hits, and four or fewer baserunners allowed, sharing that distinction with Dave Steib (1988), Marcus Stroman (2014), and Ross Stripling (2022). It's great company to be in. After the game, Lucas said, “I have a lot of confidence in where I’m throwing my pitches, that was something that clicked at the end of spring training. I was struggling with commanding my fastball last year and dealing with the adrenaline, so this year I’ve focused on being under control and commanding my fastball, and after that, it opens up everything else.” Locating the fastball and pitching with confidence sounds like a traditional pitching cliché, but clichés are just that for a reason: because they can be true. Lucas threw 46 fastballs in this start, 67% of them in the strike zone, and got five whiffs on the 25 swings that the Red Sox took against it. On paper, a fastball that sits 92 mph and touches 95 mph is slow compared to other starters across the big leagues, but Lucas has found something with that pitch that has led to early success. Lucas’s early success has to feel like found money for the Blue Jays. For a team whose main weakness might be its pitching depth, Lucas has taken his opportunity and shown he can run with it. His teammates are noticing it too. Bo Bichette spoke highly of Lucas’s performance, saying, “He’s a big part of our team right now. For him to pitch like that against a lineup like that? It’s cool for all of us to see.” Lucas’s next test will come on Sunday against another good offence in the Baltimore Orioles, and although the run of success may not last forever, he’s bought himself and the Blue Jays a bit of a run to work through it. It removes pressure on Blue Jays to rush a 40-year old Max Scherzer back from injury too quickly. Every successful baseball team needs the surprise impact player nobody saw coming. The Blue Jays really haven't had a pitcher come up and soar right from the get-go, aside from Bowden Francis late last season. So far, the title of surprise player belongs to Easton Lucas View full article

The Blue Jays do a great job of hitting the ball hard. They do a less great job of turning all that hard contact into run production. Power is a low-hanging fruit. At least, that’s what Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said in a press conference last October when asked about adding some thump to the lineup this off-season. That quote spread its way all around social media and frustrated many Blue Jays fans, as it came from a team that hit 156 home runs in 2024, sixth-worst in baseball. During the offseason, the Blue Jays did go to the tree and pick some of that fruit, signing Anthony Santander to a five-year, $92.5-million contract. Santander's 48 home runs trailed only Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani. The intention was that Santander would hit behind young superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and those two players would mash baseballs all through the summer. While that dream is still alive, it hasn't come to fruition thus far. Through 11 games, the Blue Jays have five home runs, tied with the Rays for the lowest in baseball. It's simply not where you want to be if the postseason is your goal. Andrés Giménez has done his part. His three home runs out of the cleanup spot have been a pleasant surprise. Tyler Heinemann’s home run last week was also a welcome surprise, and George Springer launching one in his 29 at-bats was right on par with his home run rate from the 2024 season. The real surprises here have been the players at the top of the order. Bo Bichette, who left the park four times in 51 spring at-bats, has yet to homer. The aforementioned Anthony Santander has a zero in the home run column. Most notably, Guerrero has yet to hit a home run either. In fact the Blue Jays are the only team in baseball who do not have a home run from the players who regularly hit 1-2-3 in the batting order. So what’s the culprit here? Well, firstly, the Blue Jays simply aren’t swinging hard. Since Statcast has induced their bat tracking data, the Blue Jays are dead last in baseball in bat speed. Averaging 70.3 mph on their swings, which is half a tick lower than the 29th-ranked Miami Marlins. Swing speed isn't everything. The San Diego Padres had the slowest swing speed in baseball in 2024, and they were in the top half in home runs hit that season. But on the whole, hitting the ball harder will generally lead to more home runs. But there has to be more to it than that. In order to hit home runs, you’ve got to hit the ball hard, and you’ve got to hit it at the right launch angle in order to have it go over the fence. The Blue Jays' hard-hit rate is in the bottom third in baseball, and their average launch angle sits at 13.4 degrees, right in the middle of the pack. The real issue lies when you mix the two. Since 2022, the Blue Jays have prioritized hitting the ball hard but not necessarily hitting it in the air. Their average launch angle on hard-hit balls ranks 26th in baseball, and if you look at just the 2025 season so far, it's sixth-worst in baseball, as seen in the Baseball Savant screengrab below. It takes a whole lot of prominent players to get such uniformity at the team level. Since 2022, 454 major league players have hit at least 100 hard-hit balls. Here's where some prominent Blue Jays rank on that list in terms of launch angle. Ernie Clement: 229th George Springer: 276th Andrés Giménez: 318th Alejandro Kirk: 377th, Bo Bichette: 393rd Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: 413th This trend might have been expected to change when David Popkins took over as hitting coach, but early in the 2025 season, the Blue Jays are again sixth-worst in baseball at launching their hard-hit balls in the air. This comes to light when you compare the Blue Jays' hard-hit rates with their barrel rates: Barrels are the perfect combination of exit velocity and launch angle, and barrelled balls all have at least a .500 batting average and a 1.500 slugging percentage. The Blue Jays do a pretty good job of the first part of that equation. Their hard-hit rate sits at 41.7%, in the top 10, but their 6.1% barrel rate is fourth-worst. Hitting the ball hard on the ground isn’t necessarily a bad thing. All things considered, you'd rather hit the ball hard wherever you hit it. But it's much easier to score runs with one elevated hard-hit ball than it is to string two or three of those hard-hit grounders together, especially because major league defenses keep getting better. To some degree, a hard-hit grounder is a waste of a hard-hit ball. We're only 11 games into the season Ten games into last season, Santander had a .632 OPS and Guerrero’s wasn't much better at .712. The two players would end up hitting a combined 78 home runs. There is a long way to go, but elevating those hard-hit balls will be a major key. If the Blue Jays don’t want to stay afloat against a very tough schedule to start the season, then they need to start sooner rather than later. View full article