The Toronto Blue Jays’ lead in the American League East has shrunk to just one game over the New York Yankees with five games remaining, due in large part to an ongoing offensive slump.
Toronto fell 4-1 to the visiting Boston Red Sox on Tuesday, mustering just three hits against Lucas Giolito and the Red Sox’ bullpen.
That loss marked the fifth time in the past six games the Blue Jays have scored one run or fewer - a span in which the Jays have won just one game and seen their AL East lead dwindle from five games to one.
“We know what’s going to come, it’s going to come down to the wire,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. “I think we’ve just got to continue to stay focused on what we have to do, rather than anyone else.
Toronto clinched a playoff berth on Sunday with an 8-5 victory over the Kansas City Royals, but seeding still matters down the stretch. Toronto currently holds the best record in the AL - which comes with an automatic bye to the AL Division Series. But if they fall behind the Yankees, they will drop into a wild-card slot and be forced to play a three-game wild-card series.
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what has gone wrong for the Blue Jays in the batter’s box recently. Toronto ranks fifth in the majors in runs scored (4.90 per game), lead the majors in average (.266) and on-base percentage (.334) and have struck out the second-fewest times of any team in the league (1,060).
The Blue Jays have maintained their bat-to-ball ability - they’ve struck out six times or fewer in six consecutive games - but the contact they are making is just not leading to production. The Blue Jays have tallied more than four hits in a game just once in in the last six games.
For one reason or another, a host of Blue Jays bats have gone silent in the last 14 days:
| Batter | Average last 14 days | Season average | OPS last 14 days | Season OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alejandro Kirk | .167 | .283 | .395 | .756 |
| Vladimir Guerrero Jr. | .224 | .297 | .541 | .866 |
| Andres Gimenez | .176 | .208 | .521 | .593 |
| Davis Schneider | .241 | .240 | .723 | .809 |
| Nathan Lukes | .216 | .251 | .626 | .714 |
| Addison Barger | .184 | .244 | .562 | .750 |
| Daulton Varsho | .231 | .231 | .660 | .832 |
Of the Blue Jays lineup regulars, only two (Ernie Clement and George Springer) have continued to produce during the team’s current cold spell.
Toronto’s on-base plus slugging percentage of .711 as a team in the month of September is its lowest since March/April, when the team tallied a .657 mark and went 14-16.
One way or another, the Blue Jays will have to figure out a solution for the offensive struggle by season’s end on Sept. 28. The Blue Jays have been swept out of the postseason in their last three appearances, and have lost seven consecutive playoff games dating back to the 2016 AL Championship Series.
Toronto may have two boosts to their lineup by the time they play their opening postseason game in the form of shortstop Bo Bichette and outfielder Anthony Santander.
Bichette was placed on the Injured List with a knee problem on Sept. 7, and the difference with him in the lineup versus without have been stark: Toronto has scored 3.80 runs per game and gone 8-7 with him out of the lineup in September, compared to 82-60 and averaging 5.01 runs per game before he left the lineup.
The 27-year-old leads the majors in hits (181) and doubles (44), and is among the leaders in batting average at .311. Bichette resumed hitting earlier this week but still has no firm timeframe for a potential return to the lineup.
Santander has been out of the lineup since the end of May with a shoulder issue, but was reinstated from the 60-day IL on Monday. The 30-year-old struggled in 50 games before he was placed on the IL, hitting just .176 with six home runs, but earned a Silver Slugger a year ago with the Baltimore Orioles after hitting 44 home runs and has the potential to provide major power to the middle of the lineup.
Santander hit two home runs in 10 games in a rehab stint with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons this month.
For now, the focus for the Blue Jays is correcting course and getting back in the win column as their series against the Red Sox continues on Wednesday.
“You’ve got another tough pitcher tomorrow in [Red Sox starter Garrett] Crochet,” Schneider said after Tuesday’s loss. “Every game is going to be important, right? It’s nice to be into the postseason, but every game is going to be important.”
