We have all spent nearly the entire first quarter of this season bemoaning the lack of offence from the Toronto Blue Jays so far.
The spectacular lineup, one that returned basically unchanged from the 2015 club that pretty much lapped the field in runs scored, has been shooting blanks on a routine basis and the trend continued through the first seven innings of the Blue Jays’ opener of a weekend series in Texas. Although the Blue Jays scored five runs in the game, they went into the eighth inning having scored only two, one of which came in on a wild pitch.
They won, though, and that’s the thing – the Blue Jays have won more games than they’ve lost despite the fact they’re not hitting at all. Like, at all.
The Blue Jays managed those five runs Friday night on just nine hits, winning the game because of the brilliance of much-maligned knuckleballist R.A. Dickey, who threw eight innings of three-hit shutout, finishing with a flourish by retiring the last 14 batters he faced and 19 of the last 20.
Some troughs are much deeper than others, but right now there’s only one member of the Blue Jays’ regular lineup who is hitting even decently lately, and that’s Michael Saunders. The Victoria, B.C., native has made the Blue Jays very happy they didn’t complete that trade for Jay Bruce back in February – he’s having a great season overall and is hitting .342/.432/.500 in the month of May.
Justin Smoak, who doubled twice and walked twice Friday night, deserves mention as well. Back in the regular lineup after not starting in San Francisco with the Blue Jays unable to use a DH, the switch-hitter is hitting a blistering .452/.571/.655 so far this month.
As for Toronto’s other regulars, well, up and down the lineup it’s been ugly with a capital ugh. Warning: ARBITRARY END POINTS COMING! The following numbers illustrate just how bad things are at the moment.
Even the MVP is not immune. Josh Donaldson had four hits in the Blue Jays’ extra-inning loss in San Francisco on Wednesday, but even with that big day he’s still just 10 for his last 43 with only one extra-base hit, batting .233/.353/.250 over that span. And he’s the best of the rest.
Edwin Encarnacion belted a home run Friday night, but since his six-RBI performance last Thursday in the Blue Jays’ 12-2 win over Texas – their only double-digit run output so far this season (they had seven by this point last year on the way to a total of 53) – he’s just 5-for-30, hitting .167/.219/.400.
Jose Bautista continues to get on base, but he has more walks than hits in the last three weeks. In his last 97 plate appearances the slugger has just 11 hits and is batting .139/.278/.291.
Kevin Pillar was on fire, the Blue Jays’ hottest hitter since he was moved out of the leadoff spot after the season’s first 12 games. Back atop the order (coincidence, I’m sure), Pillar went 1-for-San Francisco and has just two hits in his last 21 trips, hitting .095/.136/.095 over that span.
Troy Tulowitzki homered Friday night and had that big game Tuesday against the Giants, but while he’s on pace to belt 31 round-trippers this season, he’s also on pace to hit just .175. More recently, Tulowitzki is eight for his last 56, hitting .143/.234/.268.
The troughs are deepest for Ryan Goins and Russell Martin, neither of whom played on Friday night.
Martin popped out of his slump briefly, after the neck spasms that plagued him early, but he’s right back in the doldrums. Since he posted back-to-back two-hit games, Martin is just one for his last 19 with one walk and no extra base-hits. After belting a career-high 23 home runs last season, he’s still looking for his first this year.
As for Goins, he had three hits back on April 13, a performance that raised his batting average 71 points to .321. Since then he’s had an extraordinarily difficult time, with seven hits in 72 at-bats, hitting .097/.156/.153.
Devon Travis started a rehab assignment on Friday, going 1-for-4 with a double for the Dunedin Blue Jays, and though he won’t be back for two or three weeks at least, he’ll give the team a shot in the arm when he does return.
The good news is that there’s no realistically imaginable scenario in which the Blue Jays bats stay as collectively cold as they have been recently – and recently the team is 8-4 in May regardless. When they do heat up, as they should, if the starting pitching stays anywhere close to what it’s been to this point, it’s going to be a very fun summer.
