What options do Blue Jays have in their search for more offence?

TORONTO — For the first time in a little more than three weeks, the Blue Jays scored six runs Monday, and they needed every last one on the way to a tense 6-5 win over the Royals.

But even after a 12-hit showing that included three home runs, the season-long offensive numbers are worrisome. The Blue Jays rank 20th in baseball in homers, 16th in wRC+, and 24th in runs scored.

And yet alongside the offence that went 20 consecutive games without surpassing five runs, there’s a pitching staff featuring some legitimately elite arms. It’s been a weird combination. So, how could the Blue Jays build on the step they took Monday, score more sustainably and support their pitchers better?

Let’s take a closer look at some leading possibilities:

1. Internal improvement, at long last

Going into the season, the Blue Jays made a big bet that their existing core would improve offensively after down years in 2023. Specifically, George Springer, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Alejandro Kirk and Daulton Varsho were often mentioned by team decision makers as players capable of more.

A month into the season, Varsho is the only one of those four players to show meaningful improvement at the plate, while the other three have gone in the opposite direction, performing even worse than they did during underwhelming 2023 seasons.

MLB on Sportsnet

Watch the Toronto Blue Jays, Blue Jays Central pre-game, marquee MLB matchups, Jays in 30, original documentaries, the wild card, divisional series, championship series and entire World Series on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.

Broadcast schedule

Guerrero Jr. did hit two singles of at least 112 m.p.h. Monday, but Springer whiffed three times en route to a 1-for-5 night, while Kirk was off. The Blue Jays could mix things up atop the order — bumping Springer from the leadoff spot for someone like Justin Turner would be a viable choice, for instance — but wherever Springer is hitting, they need his bat. 

Making matters worse, Bo Bichette’s performance has also regressed, as the shortstop is hitting just .210 with a .568 OPS so far this year (even on a rest day Monday, Bichette worked out in the team’s batting cages alongside his father, former big-leaguer Dante Bichette).

The simplest path to an offensive turnaround is easy to see. This team will be a lot better if there’s more production from under-performing players like Kirk — and even more importantly, the top three hitters in the batting order: Springer, Guerrero Jr. and Bichette.

More challenging: actually executing the turnaround that so clearly must happen.

2. Someone emerges from the minors

If the Blue Jays’ top hitters aren’t going to produce at their established levels, they’ll need help from an unexpected place or two.

Prospect Addison Barger earned his first big-league hit Monday, but it’s been a quiet start at the plate. There’s also Orelvis Martinez, who’s hitting .300/.364/.622 with seven home runs through 23 games at triple-A, and Spencer Horwitz, who’s batting .342/.495/.476 with Buffalo. Clearly, these bats have a chance to reach the big-leagues this summer.

Who knows, Martinez may make a real difference and emerge as a pleasant surprise, just as Davis Schneider did a year ago. Within a year or two, it’s certainly reasonable to expect someone like Martinez to make a significant impact.

Month to month, though? It’d be reckless to assume these players will drive the offensive turnaround this team is hoping for. Martinez is 22. Barger is 24. They may need time.

And though there was a point in March where it seemed Joey Votto might be the one to provide this offence with an impact bat, the 40-year-old first baseman has missed more than a month recovering from an ankle injury sustained after his first and only Grapefruit League at-bat. It would be a great story, only the narrative isn’t close to playing out how the Blue Jays might have hoped.

3. Outside help makes the difference

All right, let’s consider some ways the Blue Jays could get outside help. Free agency? Former Blue Jay Brandon Belt is out there, but he’s a DH who doesn’t fit this roster at all right now. Otherwise there’s not much available. The draft? Not where you find short-term help.

Of course there are trades, too, but there’s a reason you rarely see substantive deals before July: with three-wild card berths available in each league, it takes a while before teams are ready to admit this isn’t their year. For instance, it’s not like the 9-19 Astros are about to start selling. 

Simply put, MLB’s current playoff structure is designed to create buyers, not sellers. That means it’s a sellers’ market every year as sellers wait, holding onto their power and seeking to maximize their returns. That means buyers must either wait or overpay (sometimes it ends up being both).

Eventually, a handful of teams will sell, of course. But some prospective sellers don’t have that much offence to move in the first place (the White Sox come to mind) and others are said to be hard to deal with (one executive believes the Rockies wouldn’t trade Ryan McMahon, even if they should). 

At the Letters

Ben Nicholson-Smith is Sportsnet’s baseball editor. Arden Zwelling is a senior writer. Together, they bring you the most in-depth Blue Jays podcast in the league, covering off all the latest news with opinion and analysis, as well as interviews with other insiders and team members.

Listen and Subscribe for free

Follow Ben on Twitter

Follow Arden on Twitter

Now, there are still options out there, likely including Lane Thomas of the Nationals or Brent Rooker of the A’s or Luis Arraez of the Marlins. Or maybe there’s an under-discussed player out there who can do real damage. But would those bats transform the Toronto offence?

Regardless of those constraints, it’s the job of GM Ross Atkins to get creative. Maybe there’s a need-for-need trade to be made, or a buy-low opportunity that becomes bigger than anticipated. But chances are, big deals will have to wait a while, which brings us full circle: in Toronto, the biggest improvements likely will have to come from within.  

Back in the off-season, when the Blue Jays first went down that path, viable alternatives were still out there. They could have pursued free agents or made all manner of trades. At this point in the season, however, those options are harder to come by. The Blue Jays have already made their bet. Now they see if it pays off.

More from Sportsnet

Milk’s gone bad: How nutrition changed the career of Blue Jays’ Justin Turner

Blue Jays score more than five runs for the first time in 21 games

Source link