Toronto Blue Jays Analysis

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

By Tom Dakers@bluebirdbanter Jun 3, 2016, 3:17pm EDT

Things have been going so much better over the last couple of weeks. Over the last 11 games the Jays are 8-3 (including the sweep of the Yankees, life is good).

And our batters have started to hit, with a .257/.324/.440, scoring 4.7 runs per game (not quite the 5.5 we averaged last year, but better that we were doing earlier in the season).

Bats
	Russell Martin	Martin played in all 11 games,starting 9. And he's been hitting better, .243/.282/.514 with 3 home runs, 6 RBI, 1 walk and 8 strikeouts. Yeah, I'd like his on base to be, you know, above .300, but he's doing so much better than earlier. He said that his neck problems made it impossible to turn his head enough to properly see the pitcher. Maybe going on the DL might not have been a bad idea.
	Edwin Encarnacion	Edwin started all 11 games, 10 at DH, 1 at first base. He hit .250/.340/.400 with 1 home run, 10 RBI, 4 walks and 8 strikeouts. Not the Edwin we'd like to see, but he is driving in some runs. The Jays beat writers voted Edwin the Jays Player of the Month for May. I don't really understand why.He hit just .232/.326/.491 in May. Kind of ok numbers, but, you'd think a little short of 'Player of the Month' numbers. Maybe this will be the month he goes on a tear.
	Devon Travis	He's started 7 games, since coming off the DL, hitting .259/.310/.296 with 1 double, 3 RBI, 2 walks and 6 strikeouts. Really not terrible numbers, considering, but he gets a down arrow anyway.
	Troy Tulowitzki	Started 4 games, of these 11, before hitting the DL. He hit .214/.313/.286 with 1 double, 1 steal, 1 walk and 5 strikeouts.
	Josh Donaldson	Josh played in all 11 games, all at third base. I wish they would let him DH, once in a while, to keep him fresh. He's finally hitting the way we expected he would. .282/.378/.538 with 1 double, 3 home runs, 7 RBI, 6 walks and 5 strikeouts. And, of course, he's been terrific with the glove too.
	Kevin Pillar	Kevin started all 11 of the games. He hit .233/.250/.326 with 4 doubles, 2 RBI, 2 steal, 1 walk and 8 strikeouts. At least he still catches everything hit anywhere near him. I kind of wonder where the line is....how bad he can hit and still be valuable because of his glove. I think he's still on the useful side. He's walking about half as much as last year, 2.3% of the time, compared to 4.5% last year. I expected him to learn to control the strike zone better as he got more experience in the majors.
	Justin Smoak	Justin played in all 11 games, starting 10. He's been in a bit of a slump, hitting .225/.262/.400 with 1 double, 2 home runs, 4 RBI, 2 walks and 14 strikeouts. He's still striking out way too often, 1/3 of his PA ended in strikeouts. He seems to be one that gets his share of hot and cold streaks.
	Jose Bautista	Jose started 10 of the 11 games, sitting one out for the crime of taking a punch. He hit .238/.304/.476 with 1 double and 3 home runs. 6 RBI, 4 walks and 5 strikeouts. Not great numbers, not awful either. I still like him in the lead off spot, even though he hasn't had that hot streak I keep waiting to see. In 12 games batting leadoff, he's hit .255/.321/.510.
	Michael Saunders	Michael played in 10 games, starting 9. His batting average has taken a bit of a hit, but he's getting on base and is hitting with power. .206/.341/.500 with 4 doubles, 2 home runs, 5 RBI, 5 walks and 11 strikeouts. His defense hasn't been exactly terrific, and his base running leaves a bit to be desired, but his bat has been terrific.
	Jimmy Paredes	So as quick as he came, he's gone. He hit .267/.353/.533 in 7 games with the Blue Jays, with 1 double, 1 home run, 2 RBI, 2 walks and 4 strikeouts. So it was a pretty good couple of weeks. He should get a down arrow since he went from the Jays to the Phillies, which is a step down in the world. But it was pretty ok in his time with us.
	Ezequiel Carrera	Ezequiel played in 5 games, starting 3. He had 6 hits in 10 at bats. His batting line .600/.636/.600. No extra base hits, but if you hit .600, who cares. He had 1 steal and 1 strikeout. I guess I was wrong when I didn't want him getting the 4th outfield job.
	Darwin Barney	Darwin played in 9 of the 11 games, 5 at short, 4 at second and he finished 1 game at third base. He's been hitting like he's Rod Carew (there is a reference for you, here are his career numbers), batting .379/.419/.417 with 2 doubles, 1 triple,2 RBI, 1 caught stealing, 2 walks and 2 strikeouts. I keep thinking he'll fall back to earth, but I'm in no hurry for it to happen. He's playing a pretty decent shortstop too.
	Josh Thole	Josh started 2 games,was 0 for 4 in 6 PA, with 1 walk, 2 strikeouts and 1 sac bunt.
	Ryan Goins	Ryan played in 5 games, starting just 2. And, of course, he started hitting. .333/.333/.889 in 10 PA. 3 hits, 2 doubles and a home run. 3 RBI (1/3 of his season total, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts and 1 sac bunt. Finally starts hitting, and he's riding the bench.