Who’s Hot, Who’s Cold: Blue Jays Batters

Thankfully the team has gotten off to a good start this spring. Last April was miserable this April has been fun. The team is 9-4.

Our offense has been very good. We sit fourth in the AL in runs scored per game, at 5.14. The Angels lead the AL with 6.44 runs per game. And we are third in the AL in home runs, with 20 (but the Angels 26 and A’s 21 have a game and 2 game, respectively, in hand on us).

Hot

Justin Smoak: .288/.397/.500, 2 home runs, team leading 10 RBI.

Since we’ve all been wondering if we were going to get the 2017 Smoak or the Smoak from, well, any other time, it is good to see him off to a good start. 4 of the RBI came in one swing after the Yankees walked Josh Donaldson to load the bases.

Yangervis Solarte: .286/.423/.500, 2 home runs and leads the team with 10 walks.

I’m glad we picked him up. The dancing reminds me of Munenori Kawasaki, but he can hit too. It is nice to have some character on the team.

Curtis Granderson: .324/.405/.514 with 1 home run.

A free agent signing that we really can’t complain about. He’s doing a great job of getting on base and, bonus, when balls are hit to left field, I’m not filled with dread (even if he dropped a fly on opening day). He seems like a good guy, I’m not big on leadership but being a good guy can’t hurt.

Kevin Pillar: .308/.333/.462, with 1 home run.

He also has 2 doubles, 1 triple, 2 walks and 3 steals, all coming in one inning. This, to me, is the top end of what we could hope for from Kevin. He’s not going to walk, and I should give up the hope that he might take more free passes, but, if he continues to make solid contact, we’ll be happy.

Steve Pearce: .233/.303/.600 with 3 home runs.

Pearce hit his home runs in three straight games. He’s losing playing time to Hernandez now.

Luke Maile: .400/.471/.600 with 3 doubles.

It is just 17 at bats, but I’ll bet Maile didn’t have a stretch of 17 at bats that went this well last year. We were complaining when the Jays didn’t pick up a better backup catchers, but, so far, it looks like the right choice.

Cold

Randal Grichuk: .071/.149/.167, 1 home run.

16 strikeouts, striking out about 33% of the time. We keep hearing that his ‘exit velocity’ is very good, but he keeps finding gloves or striking out. What a terrible way to start out with a new team. At least with Travis we can remember past success, Grichuk doesn’t have that history with us. I do love his defense. How nice is it to have good defense in all three outfield spots?

Devon Travis: .079/.146/.105, with 1 extra base hit.

Devon started last year slow too, and then hit great in May. Of course, I’m worried that it isn’t just a slow start, that maybe his knee is bothering him and that’s causing the lack of offense. I guess time will tell.

Russell Martin: .152/.243/.333 with 2 home runs.

Russell has had his moments but he’s off to a slow start with the bat.

Gift Ngoepe: .077/.143/.077.

1 hit and 1 walk in 14 PA. I’d think at some point we are going to have to get someone better for his job.

Inbetween

Aledmys Diaz: .237/.256/.605 with 4 home runs.

I wasn’t sure where to put him. Leads the team with 4 home runs, that’s great. .256 OBP, that’s pretty crappy. He has 9 hits in all, the 4 homers and 2 double, so ²⁄₃ of his hits have been for extra bases. If you are only going to have a few hits, make them count. I’ve been happy with his defense, for the most part. He has helped turn a number of double plays.

On the DL

Kendrys Morales: .227/.280/.364, 1 home run.

He should be in the Cold listing, but out with the hamstring issue. He did seem to be making better contact in his last few at bats before the injury (3 of his 5 hits were in his last two games) and he had RBIs in his last 4 games. I’m curious to see what happens when he comes back. If Teoscar is hitting well, it would be tough to send him down. But it is pretty early in the season to release Kendrys.

Josh Donaldson: .239/.352/.457 with 3 home runs.

It would have been better to have Josh start the season on the DL, but that would have been tough to sell to Josh. I’m worried that this is going to drag out. The shoulder was effecting his swing early and also in his last couple of starts. It shows the life of a manager, Gibby gets roasted for not using Josh as a pinch-hitter, and Gibby wouldn’t say ‘hey, he’s hurt’ preferring to take the heat. Then, next day, they DL Josh. I’m sure none of the people who roasted Gibby on Twitter said ‘I’m sorry’.

Just up with the team:

Teoscar Hernandez: .400/.400/.600 in 1 game.