How would you set the Blue Jays batting lineup?

It seems a strange time to questions lineup construction, a day after we score 17 runs, but I’m thinking it’s time to flip Kevin Pillar and Devon Travis in the lineup.

At the start of the season, Travis wasn’t hitting (understatement). At the end of April, his OBP was below .200, so it was a smart move to put Pillar in the leadoff spot. Pillar seemed to take well to the spot. He brought his OBP to a high of .369 on May 14th. Since then he’s hitting .180/.212/.340, with 2 doubles, 2 homers and 1 walk in 11 games.

Slumps and hot streaks happen.

If you believe that the numbers Pillar put up, early in the season, were the result of a change in philosophy at the plate then maybe he should stay in the leadoff. If you think it was due to a hot streak (helped along by having a healthy hand, after last year’s troubles), but that he’s basically the same hitter we’ve come to know, then likely he shouldn’t leadoff. He’s always been a streak hitter.

I like the idea of Travis in the leadoff spot. I’d like him to get more at bats. I would rather someone that walks more in the spot (maybe Martin?), but I like the idea of giving Travis the most at bats. And I like the idea of riding the hot bat. If you think your leadoff hitter should steal bases, Travis isn’t really the one, but, with all the doubles, he’s getting himself into scoring position a fair bit.

You could pick Bautista, but he and Donaldson seem comfortable in their respective spots in the order.

The other question, to me, is Ezequiel Carrera or Chris Coghlan in left field. It looked, to me, that Carrera was in the doghouse with Gibby. A result of throwing to the wrong base too many times and taking strange routes to fly balls, not to mention a .088/.262/.088 batting line over his last 10 starts before yesterday’s game. I’d imagine yesterday’s 4 for 5 will go a long way towards getting him out of that doghouse.

Coghlan’s back spasms complicates things a bit. With very short bench, the team really can’t afford to carry a guy who can’t play. Then, back spasms might not last long and, with Alford, Ceciliani and Pompey on the DL, the potential replacement list would be down to one name: Dwight Smith (who is 13 for his last 30 at bats for the Bisons). Personally, I’d love to try Smith in left for a month or so, and see how that goes.

I’d guess, back spasms or not, Ezequiel has bought himself a few starts (at least until one of his throws costs us a run).

Beyond switching Travis and Pillar, I’m pretty much ok with the order we used yesterday. I’d go:

Travis, Donaldson, Bautista, Morales, Smoak, Martin, Tulowitzki, Pillar and Carrera/Coghlan. If you wanted to switch Tulo and Martin, I’m ok with that, but either way is find by me.

Use the comment thread to tell us how you would set the lineup.