Toronto Blue Jays Analysis

Who's up, Who's down: Blue Jays batters

By Tom Dakers@bluebirdbanter Jun 18, 2016, 12:55pm EDT

The Blue Jays are 9-4 over the past couple of weeks. The bats have led the way. The Jays have hit .249/.309/.457 over the past two weeks, averaging 4.7 runs per game. Definitely an improvement over April.

Bats
	Russell Martin	Martin played in all 11 games,starting 10. He's found his batting eye. He hit .313/.467/.563 with 2 doubles, 2 home runs, 11 RBI, 1 steal, 1 caught, 9 walks and 10 strikeouts. I guess we shouldn't worry that he's suddenly become old. He's only thrown out 16% of base stealers this season. Maybe part of that is his neck troubles. I'm hoping that is over with.
	Edwin Encarnacion	Edwin started all 12 of the games, getting a rare day off. He played 5 games at first base. His defense at first has looked pretty good to me. As you know, he's been amazing, hitting .318/.446/.864 with 3 doubles, 7 home runs, 17 RBI, 2 stolen bases, 10 walks and 8 strikeouts. When he's walking more than striking out, you know he's seeing the ball better.
	Devon Travis	Devon played in 11 of the 13 games, starting 9. He hit .220/.214/.366 with 3 doubles, 1 home run, no walks, 7 strikeouts. He has been better over the last 4 or 5 games. Hitting MLB pitching isn't all that easy.
	Troy Tulowitzki	On the DL. He played in Dunedin yesterday, going 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts. ~~I was hoping he'd be back for the games in Denver, since I'll be there and I think Rockies fans would like to see him.~~ Surprise, he's back.
	Josh Donaldson	Josh played in all 13 games. He DHed twice. I like the idea of him playing DH once a week. He's been great, hitting .400/.533/.889 with 4 doubles, 3 triples, 4 home runs, 16 RBI, 2 steals, 14 walks and 8 strikeouts. It makes it pretty tough on pitchers when both he and Edwin are hitting like this. Can't pitch to Josh and can't pitch around Josh, cause Edwin will make you pay.
	Kevin Pillar	Kevin started all 13 games. He's hit .340/.375/.679,with 1 double, 1 triple, 5 home runs, 9 RBI, 1 caught stealing, 2 walks (doubling up on his usual 1 every 2 weeks pace) and 10 strikeouts. I love it when he gets on one of these hot streaks. I just wish the cold stretches didn't last so long in between. I'm always surprised when he doesn't catch a ball in center field.
	Justin Smoak	Justin played in all 11 games, starting 8. He's going through a rough patch, hitting .167/.306/.433 with 2 doubles, 2 home runs, 4 RBI, 6 walks and 11 strikeouts. I like that, even when he's slumping, he gets on base.
	Jose Bautista	Jose started 9 of the 13 games, DHing in 2. He hit .235/.333/.412, with 3 doubles, 1 home run, 4 RBI, 5 walks and 10 strikeouts. And, now he has a toe strain. Jose, even when he's in a bit of a slump, isn't all that bad. I hope he's back quick.
	Michael Saunders	Michael played in 12 games, starting 11. Gibby has been careful with him, and I can't blame him. He hit .400/.457/.975 with 3 doubles, 1 triple, 6 home runs (3 last night), 13 RBI, 5 walks and 9 strikeouts. The best trade we never made? He seems like a great guy to have on the team.
	Ezequiel Carrera	Ezequiel played in 11 games, starting 8. He's been the perfect 4th outfielder. I can't imagine that he'll keep up this level of play all season. Over the past two weeks he's hit .235/.350/.353 with 1 double, 1 home run, 2 RBI, 1 caught stealing, 5 walks and 7 strikeouts. The batting average is down a bit, but he's still getting on base. He has 3 steals in 5 tries. I think his time as a base stealer is over, but he's doing everything else great (he's even looked ok on defense to me) and he's getting on base 40%of the time.
	Darwin Barney	Darwin played in 12 games, starting 11. He has been quite as good as earlier in the season, hitting .273/.319/.341, with 1 home run, 1 RBI, 3 walks and 2 strikeouts, but at that level, he's better than I would have expected. His defense at short has looked great.
	Ryan Goins	Ryan played in 8 games, starting 7. He's hit .214/.241/.429 with 2 doubles, 2 triples, 3 RBI, 1 walk and 5 strikeouts. It's a sad thing when a .241 OBP rates as an improvement. 4 extra base hits out of 6 hit is a pretty great ratio. I don't know, he seems to be trying to crush the ball every time up.
	Josh Thole	Josh played in 6 games, starting 3.In 12 PA, he had 1 walk and 2 strikeouts. That's a .000/.083/.000 line, if you were wondering.
	Andy Burns	The Around Arrow, in this case, means he keeps circling back to Buffallo. Played in 3 games, had 2 at bats. Made a great play on defense yesterday.