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

Over the past two weeks, the Blue Jays are 7-6.

The batters had a .239/.294/.412 batting line, averaging 3.9 runs per game, well under their season average.

Hot

Teoscar Hernandez: Started all 13 games. He hit .306/.327/.612 with 4 home runs, 1 walk, and 11 strikeouts.

Yeah, he has been great. He continues to be great. And his defense seems so much better than in the past. One thing he used to do that bothered me was letting balls roll to the wall instead of trying to cut it off and maybe save a base or two. Now he cuts everything off that he can get to. And he’s been making good catches.

Lourdes Gurriel: Started 10 games. He hit .314/.333/.571 with 2 home runs, 1 walk, and 10 strikeouts.

In the annuals of fluke injuries, having your hand stepped on while ducking out of the way of a throw is one of the flukier ones. Starting slow seems to be his thing. The unfortunate part is that it takes forever for people to notice when you are non longer cold. Lourdes got his bat going, but he still was sitting out more games than those who started the season on a hot streak but stopped hitting weeks ago. I hope that, in the future, the team will stick with him, but then we always overvalue hot and cold streaks. You get told it is a moral failing of some sort.

Corey Dickerson: Played in 9 games, staring 7. He hit .381/.480/.429 with 4 walks, 5 strikeouts, and 1 steal.

He’s having a good stretch, and his defense has been, generally, good. That play at the wall, the other day, didn’t look good, but I guess we all have bad moments. Getting on base almost 50% of the time, over a two-week period, is pretty decent.

Breyvic Valera: Played in 8 games, starting 6. He hit .300/.417/.350 with 4 walks, 4 strikeouts, and 1 steal.

He missed a bit of time on the Covid list because of contact with someone that had Covid. But, he’s been far better than I thought he could be.

Cold

George Springer: Played in all 13 games. Batters hit .154/.254/.308 with 2 home runs, 7 walks, and 13 strikeouts.

It does seem that his ‘cold’ streak is over, or I’m hoping it is. If he gets hot, it would be convenient in the series against the Yankees. Played 2 games in center, the rest as DH. People always think that guys should be moved around the batting order because of hot and cold streaks, but I prefer teams to decide on a player and trust they are right. Both hot and cold streaks end.

Alejandro Kirk: Played in 10 games, starting 6. He hit .083/.154/.093 with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts.

Another going through a bad stretch. He doesn’t strike out much. I’m not a big fan of the hit and run, but if I were going to pick a guy for the ‘hit’ part, Kirk would be high on the list.

Randal Grichuk: Played in 8 games, starting 7. He hit .200/.200/.280 with 0 walks and 5 strikeouts.

Ummm yeah. He’ll have a good game, and people get upset that Corey Dickerson is playing CF. And then he goes back to being Randal. He did a good 6 games a couple of weeks back.

Danny Jansen: Played in 9 games, starting 4. Hit .200/.238/.350 with 1 home run, 1 walk, and 1 strikeout.

He had 4 hits in 21 PA, but those 4 hits came in the last week, last 13 PA. He’s been coming into games as a defensive replacement/pinch-runner when not starting games.

Reese McGuire: Started 4 games. He hit .125/.222/.125, with 1 walk and 3 strikeouts.

Really could be listed under also played. Reese hasn’t had much playing time.

Bo Bichette: Started all 13 games. He hit .260/.264/.460 with 3 home runs, 1 walk, 13 strikeouts, and 1 steal.

Not cold cold. When you OPS .724, that really isn’t all that cold. Bo seems to have forgotten how to take a walk. And pitchers seem to have figured that out. If Buck tells us one more time how great he is with 2 strikes......well, I’ll hit the mute button because that’s about all I can do. But can’t someone tell him ‘LOOK AT THE STATS.’ After 2 strikes, Bo hits .194/.223/.258. He doesn’t get better after 2 strikes. He may foul off many pitches, but they are often well out of the strike zone. Why is this a good thing?

Inbetween

Vladimir Guerrero: Started all 13 games. He hit .271/.364/.500 with 2 home runs, 7 walks, and 7 strikeouts.

All 13 games were at first base. Cold for him, but I have a hard time putting someone under the cold grouping with a .500 slugging average. We certainly could use him flicking the switch to hot for the series with the Yankees.

Marcus Semien: Started all 13 games. He hit .231/.298/.500 with 4 home runs, 5 walks, and 10 strikeouts.

“Cold” isn’t fair when the guy is slugging .500, but then he’s getting on base less than 30% of the time. All games were started at 2B. We keep being told he doesn’t want to sit ever, but I don’t know that we should be letting the players decide these things. Sometimes a mental health day is a good thing, whether we think we need one or not. People point at Cal Ripken, but Cal generally finished seasons in a slump. But then, it is too late now. He’s going to play the last 6 games.

Also Played

Santiago Espinal: Started 3 games. In 11 PA, he hit .300/.364/.400 with 1 walk and 0 strikeouts.

It is good to have him back.

Jarrod Dyson: Played in 8 games, starting 1. He hit .000/.167/.000 with 1 walk.

He’s been a defensive replacement almost exclusively.

Jake Lamb: Started 4 games. He hit .077/.077/.154 with 0 walks and 5 strikeouts.

He’s been DFAed.

Kevin Smith: Was a defensive replacement in 1 game.

On the IL

Cavan Biggio. He could be back soon if the team decides they want him back this year.