Nathan Lukes has a 224 wRC+ since returning from the DL. Maybe he's had mild vertigo his entire career until now and he's really Tony Gwynn.

Looking at leaderboards it is pretty sad for the 2026 Jays vs past Jay teams. For 'top 20' you get...

• BB% lowest: Clement #4 (Damaso Garcia has slots 1-3), Andrés Giménez #11
• K% worst: Okamoto 32.3% (Teoscar Hernandez has #2-4, only one to crack 30% outside of Okamoto).
• K% Best: Clement #17 8.4%, Bob Bailor has #1/2 in 77/78 both sub 4%, the only times a Jay has been sub 6%.
• BB/K Worst: Giménez #2 0.21, behind only Pillar '18 (0.18)
• BB/K Best: Vlad #8 1.24, Bailor '78 is #1 at 1.81
• Avg worst: Giménez #4 211, Okamoto #11 225, worst ever was Bautista '17 203
• OBP worst: Giménez #2 257 worst is Griffin '81 243
• Slg worst: Giménez #7 347 worst is Griffin '81 289
• OPS worst: Giménez #3 604 worst is Griffin '81 531, 2nd is Griffin '82 583
• ISO worst: Vlad #13 091 (!!!), worst is Otis Nixon '96 040
• Speed Score worst: Okomoto #5 1.2, Frank Thomas '07 worst at 0.7
• BABIP worst: Giménez #3 231, worst is Aaron Hill '10 .196 with, you guessed it, Alfredo Griffin '81 between them at .230
• wRC Worst: Giménez #1 17, '81 Griffin was 22.
• wOBA Worst: Giménez #3 268, Giffin '81 and '82 are 'top' 2 .243 the worst.
• wRC+ Worst: Giménez #6 67, Griffin 1/2 in '81/'82 with a 44/54 respectively.

Basically Giménez can thank Alfredo Griffin from him being the worst everyday hitter in Jays history. Never did understand what Cox saw in Griffin beyond 'gamer' and being a 100% effort guy at all times.

In case you have blocked it out of your memory the Jays lost that series 2-1

They split

They Jays were doing very well until the 9th inning of the 3rd game.

Technically, they lost that series 2-2.

Wouldn't Miles be the bulk pitcher Saturday?
SWR has been OK as a reliever--only 2 games and the first time through a lineup.

In case you have blocked it out of your memory the Jays lost that series 2-1

Clearly I blocked it out of my memory.

For Saturday maybe SWR starts, up to 3 innings max (once through the order), then Miles with a goal of 3-5 innings. I suspect that is optimistic, but hey, why not?

My goodness, the radio team is bringing 'productive out' back into the vernacular.

TV broadcast bringing back "unloads."

"Yesavage just unloads"

"Rutschman just unloads it"

Where is this team if they had Berrios and Bo like last year?

Well, the first half of the game was ok.

Hope Varsho is ok, things sure went down hill once he left the game.

Thomas Hatch has signed with a Korean team.
Hatch was a lot like Miles but has never been able to recapture the success of 2020.

Need guys back so badly but keep losing more guys instead. This is rough. Desperately need to squeeze out a handful of wins this week before the reinforcements hopefully arrive.


To distract myself from the poor play.....


Plausible Best Lineups using....


This Year's Stats Only:

1. 2B Clement 253pa, .324obp, 113wrc+, 2.8war650
2. RF Lukes 99pa, .367obp, 123wrc+, 3.9war650
3. 1B Guerrero 262pa, .385obp, 118wrc+, 2.7war650
4. C Valenzuela 127pa, .325obp, 112wrc+, 6.1war650
5. LF Pinango 104pa, .327obp, 111wrc+, 1.9war650
6. 3B Okamoto 255pa, .314obp, 110wrc+, 3.1war650
7. DH Sanchez 191pa, .314obp, 108wrc+, 0.7war650
8. CF Varsho 236pa, .331obp, 106wrc+, 2.8war650
9. SS Gimenez 218pa, .258obp, 68wrc+, 2.1war650

B. UT Springer 189pa, .290obp, 85wrc+, -0.7war650
B. OF Straw 106pa, .314obp, 87wrc+, 0.6war650
B. IF Schneider 89pa, .295obp, 58wrc+, -2.9war650
B. C Alejandro 22pa, .227obp, 60wrc+, 3.0war650

X. UT Jimenez 35pa, .343obp, 83wrc+, -1.9war650
X. OF Barger 28pa, .214obp, 2wrc+, 0.0war650
X. IF McAdoo 11pa, .273obp, 124wrc+, 5.9war650
X. C Heineman 85pa, .210obp, 19wrc+, 0.8war650

X. UT Sosa 117pa, .207obp, 31wrc+, -4.4war650



Past 1 Calendar Year Stats:

1. DH Springer 555pa, .374obp, 152wrc+, 4.7war650
2. 1B Guerrero 673pa, .380obp, 132wrc+, 3.6war650
3. CF Varsho 407pa, .322obp, 118wrc+, 4.2war650
4. C Alejandro 337pa, .341obp, 118wrc+, 6.4war650
5. 3B Okamoto 255pa, .314obp, 110wrc+, 3.1war650
6. 2B Schneider 288pa, .338obp, 106wrc+, 1.8war650
7. LF Lukes 408pa, .322obp, 103wrc+, 2.5war650
8. SS Clement 647pa, .316obp, 104wrc+, 3.2war650
9. RF Barger 390pa, .285obp, 93wrc+, 2.0war650

B. UT Sanchez 519pa, .289obp, 92wrc+, 0.5war650
B. OF Straw 295pa, .314obp, 91wrc+, 2.9war650
B. IF Gimenez 437pa, .274obp, 70wrc+, 1.9war650
B. C Valenzuela 127pa, .325obp, 112wrc+, 6.1war650

X. UT Sosa 454pa, .272obp, 88wrc+, 0.6war650
X. OF Pinango 104pa, .327obp, 111wrc+, 0.9war650
X. IF McAdoo 11pa, .273obp, 124wrc+, 5.9war650
X. C Heineman 208pa, .286obp, 67wrc+, 3.8war650

X. UT Jimenez 35pa, .343obp, 83wrc+, -1.9war650
X. OF Clase 59pa, .254obp, 54wrc+, -3.3war650
X. OF Santander 12pa, .250obp, 17wrc+, -5.4war650



Fangraphs Combined Depth Chart Projections:

1. DH Springer 377pa, .332obp, 113wrc+, 1.9war650
2. RF Lukes 199pa, .340obp, 109wrc+, 2.9war650
3. 1B Guerrero 411pa, .383obp, 142wrc+, 4.3war650
4. C Alejandro 237pa, .348obp, 116wrc+, 6.3war650
5. LF Sanchez 254pa, .315obp, 106wrc+, 2.0war650
6. 3B Okamoto 360pa, .323obp, 113wrc+, 3.3war650
7. CF Varsho 356pa, .301obp, 102wrc+, 2.9war650
8. 2B Clement 368pa, .312obp, 100wrc+, 2.8war650
9. SS Gimenez 368pa, .304obp, 90wrc+, 2.8war650

B. UT Barger 186pa, .313obp, 105wrc+, 2.1war650
B. OF Straw 93pa, .299obp, 75wrc+, 0.7war650
B. IF Schneider 89pa, .330obp, 103wrc+, 2.2war650
B. C Valenzuela 81pa, .285obp, 79wrc+, 2.4war650

X. UT McAdoo 97pa, .292obp, 87wrc+, 1.3war650
X. OF Pinango 80pa, .299obp, 87wrc+, 0.0war650
X. IF Sosa 97pa, .276obp, 84wrc+, 0.7war650
X. C Heineman 77pa, .290obp, 70wrc+, 2.5war650

X. UT Santander 13pa, .308obp, 103wrc+, 0.0war650
X. OF Schreck 4pa, .319obp, 92wrc+, 0.0war650
X. IF Kasevich 13pa, .299obp, 74wrc+, 0.0war650
X. C MacIver 4pa, .287obp, 77wrc+, 0.0war650

X. OF Clase 8pa, .287obp, 76wrc+, 0.0war650

potential rotation if guys are coming back...

Jun06 Fisher/Miles/SWR
Jun07 Gausman
Jun08 Corbin
Jun09 Cease
Jun10 Yesavage
Jun11 Off
Jun12 Gausman
Jun13 Corbin
Jun14 Cease
Jun15 Off
Jun16 Yesavage
Jun17 Gausman
Jun18 Corbin
Jun19 Cease
Jun20 Bieber?
Jun21 Yesavage
Jun22 Gausman
Jun23 Corbin
Jun24 Cease
Jun25 Bieber?
Jun26 Yesavage
Jun27 Gausman
Jun28 Corbin
Jun29 Cease
Jun30 Bieber?

Well, you can't have guys as they were, only as they are. Lets do a quick check of top free agents some here (or most) wanted the Jays to sign but they didn't...

Bo 2026: 230/284/325 73 OPS+ -0.6 bWAR
Kyle Tucker: 240/335/391 104 OPS+ 1.1 bWAR
Munetaka Murakami: 240/378/560 160 OPS+ 1.9 bWAR (1B)
Alex Bregman: 251/333/353 100 OPS+ 1.2 bWAR
Framber Valdez: 100 ERA+ 13 starts 72 2/3 IP
Tatsuya Imai: 77 ERA+ 7 starts 29 1/3 IP (would've fit in with the injured crowd here)
Cody Bellinger: 269/371/462 133 OPS+ 3.5 bWAR - dang it.
Kyle Schwarber: 246/361/596 158 OPS+ 1.9 bWAR DH
Ranger Suarez: 119 ERA+ 11 starts 58 2/3 IP
Pete Alonso: 246/326/443 117 OPS+ 1.2 bWAR
Edwin Diaz: 7 games then out until after the all-star break

A few 'dang it' guys there, Bellinger in particular. Tucker would've been nice, but Lukes has a 116 OPS+ in less playing time (injuries). Bo has been a disaster for the Mets, Schwarber and Alonso are like Murakami - DH/1B thus only good here if Vlad had left. Diaz we all would've loved, but we'd have been in exactly the same situation as now with the hope he would be OK come mid-season (not a guarantee).

In truth there was no magic bullet the Jays could've signed last winter. Valdez would've been nice in the rotation (healthy, eating innings), Imai would've been an 'oh crap'. Suarez also would've been nice, but he is a 4-5 inning starter so the pen would hate him.

I think the fault lies squarely with management for not having a plan in place for losing 1/3 of the roster for 1/3 of the season. Sheesh. I mean, what happens next year when they lose 1/2 the roster for 1/2 the season?

and fisher wriggles off the hook.

Miles retires 8 in a row after the Cowser HR.

Valenzuela rewarding his skip for moving him up the order.

i still refuse to believe in valenzuela, even though he's easily passing both the eye test and the stats test.

but i'm hopeful.

Looking good right now... 5-1 is a nice score mid-way through the game. Looking at last year vs this year

• C: Kirk 116 wRC+, Valenzuela 120 as I type
• 1B: Vlad 137 down to 117. Sigh.
• 2B: Clement 98 up to 117 now
• SS: Bo 134 vs Gimenez (70 last, 69 this)
• 3B: Barger 107/Clement 98/Wagner 86 vs Okamoto 113
• LF/RF: Lukes 103-122, Schneider 127-58, Piñango 111, Sanchez 112, Straw 91-83, also in '25 Loperfido 148, Clase 69, Roden 67, Santander 61, Barger 107
• CF: Varsho 123-106
• DH: Springer 166 vs 87 (ouch)

You can see that C isn't hurt too much by Kirk being down, 1B is down a lot with Vlad being meh this year, Clement has upgraded, Gimenez is himself, Okamoto is an upgrade at 3B but not up to Bo's level of '25, LF/RF saw Schneider drop drastically but the rest is 'meh', Varsho dropped, Springer dropped drastically.

they're all just swinging hard at hoffman, either whiffing or or hitting it hard.

Mitch Bannon
@MitchBannon
·
1m
Shane Bieber's first AAA rehab start is over:
2.2IP 6H 3ER 3K 0BB (59 pitches)

4-seam sat 92.0, peaked 92.8

Still probably needs a couple more before rejoining the #BlueJays

It's uncommon to see a pitcher return from Tommy John and go backwards with velocity. Usually means they aren't 100% healthy. I remember seeing some 94-95 last year against the Marlins. Not sure if 92/93 MPH will help him.

Bieber average fastball last 5yrs

92.7
91.3
91.3
92.0
92.6

if he's sitting 92+ in his first couple rehab starts he's probably well on his way back to his usual velo.

They'd better not send Valuenzuela down to keep Heinemen around but they just might.

Feels like Schneider is trying too hard.

Hmmm, I wonder if they're combining two pitches to average out a fastball. Could they be mixing his cutter and fastball? I've definitely seen this guy piping 94/95MPH on the telly which looked like a 97MPH pitch the way the hitters were reacting.

If he is still leading the league in hits and doubles and Gibbons is helping to pick the rosters, we should start to prepare purselves for All Star Ernie Clement :)

Good win today. Miles was excellent again.

One of the many ironies of the 2026 season is that other than replacing the Heineman AB’s, there’s a non zero chance the offense is neutral to worse when Kirk and Barger come back. They will be replacing some combination of Valenzuela, Luke’s and Sanchez ABs.

And Pinango.

Welcome back Nigel!

Keegan described Bieber's velo (presumably based on talking to someone in the org) as "right where he needed to be"

Bloss pitched 4 good innings in Dunedin on Friday. Lots to look forward to.

Can Hoffman be made the mop-up guy already? The experiment needs to end - it failed. He's worse than the Ponce signing at this point - he's making it harder to win almost every game he's in. Ponce isn't in any games, so he's not making it harder to win, at least.

Re: free agents we missed out on. I felt strongly we should have signed a 1B/DH type to work in during Springer's last year. He had a great bounce-back year in 2025, but this year was anything but guaranteed. A hitter like Murakami at DH would have helped this team tremendously - he and Vlad could alternate 1B/DH. Springer is getting a little better, but still hurting the team overall, it feels like. And he's gone after this year, so it would have been nice to have a replacement. Of course, maybe the thinking is that next year is lost, and no sense signing someone too early, or hoping that Santander could come back and mix/match with George this year, and then take over next?

Miles looks like a keeper, and Varland is so good. I hope we don't overuse them.

If the team can't catch fire soon, we may be looking at trading a lot of players at the deadline: Gausman, Bieber, Scherzer, Garcia, Springer are all on expiring contracts, AFAIK, and could all be on the move. Cots lists Varsho as A4 (arb 4?), but Bref lists him as FA next year, which I thought was he case, so Varsho too? Oh, how I wish Hoffman an FA next year, not the year after..

I wonder if Bloss has much left to do in Dunedin. With Cease and maybe Scherzer moving on from AAA maybe Bloss will be in Buffalo soon.

(anyone know if minor leaguers are on the same 30 day rehab calendar that recovering major leaguers are on?)

Any thoughts on the phenomenon spreading around baseball where we see entire sections of male spectators taking their shirts off?  The fans in St. Louis started the trend.

I would have thoughts if it were entire sections of female spectators.

That's not why I came here though. The knock on Brandon Valenzuela, and probably why he was never taken in the Rule 5 despite his better than average defence, was his slow/fringy bat speed. I remember reading the Jays did something with Barger to increase his bat speed and I'm guessing they did something similar with Valenzuela.

League average bat speed is 72 mph. Valenzuela is 72.5, which is right around 60th percentile, Watching his at bats recently, I can't help but to be a believer. He's not going to finish the year as the best position player on the team, but he ain't going back to Buffalo either.

Just half a game out of a wild card spot.

At some point there will be too many starters.

Hoffman is terrible but he's also elite. Right now he's 99th percentile in strikeouts, Chase, whiff etc. he likely needs to make some type of change to bring down his walks.

Greenfrog suggested using him as an opener which is what I would be doing at least once to see.

Roster predictions:

Cease will return, Rodriguez DFA
Scherzer will return, Seabold DFA, Miles to bullpen
Kirk will return, Heineman DFA/rejects minors
Nance will return, Macko to Minors
Bieber will return, SWR to minors
Barger returns, Pinango down
Bloss promoted, Corbin DFA eventually

Rodriguez ends up back in Buffalo because of his contract.
SWR is out of options. 
Heineman doesn't clear waivers.
Macko has been excellent.

Forgot about Garcia.

I am not sure if Scherzer displaces Corbin.It sure would be nice to have Mad Max at least pitch as a 5th starter, but I'm still waiting for that to happen. It's nice to have a lefty starter. 

If Springer doesn't start to hit soon, he should have some rest days.

If they keep Valenzuela, the bar for Kirk to do better than Heineman is not very high.
If they keep Heineman, it's a totally different story.

I bet you SWR stays with the team actually. Pete Walker can likely improve his approach and pitching out of the pen should improve his velocity.

Lots of variables - not the least of which is more injuries (either guys already hurt getting re-hurt, or new injuries). I like to check how they are used leverage is critical. If they aren't trusted in high then odds are they won't be kept around.

• Seabold: 2 PA in high leverage so far - 1 walk, 1 hit, both scored.
• Rodriguez: 5 PA in high - 500/600/1.250 2 of 5 scored.
• Macko: 3 PA - 0 for 3, expect more chances.
• Miles: 32 PA - 148/258/148 - sweet!
• Nance: 12 PA - 250/455/250 - meh.

Note: Dallas had 3 PA 0-3; Mantiply 6 PA 1-4 with a walk and a sac bunt; Fluharty 261/250/261 in 25 PA; Corbin 42 PA 324/381/588

Looking at Corbin - I think the Jays are playing with 'dealer money' with him right now. 54 IP 112 ERA+ is far beyond anything anyone expected, but I keep expecting it to collapse at any moment. Nothing in the stats that screams it, but those high leverage stats makes me very worried, plus the last year he was sub 100 ERA+ was 2019, 2020 was his last 90+ ERA+. Yikes. Odds are this is a good luck illusion, but we might as well enjoy as long as it lasts. Might work well as Scherzer and Bieber and Cease return, once all 3 are back then Corbin will need to have a decision made. He ain't going to the pen.

Btw, big 3 for PA in high leverage - 50+ PA each, Rogers 261/320/283; Hoffman 340/439/532; Varland 222/271/241.

great aggressive baserunning by gimenez for the lead after this great answer inning to come all the way back from down 4.

Valuenzuela is just... Really good? Maybe Kirk can DH a bunch when back. Depressing how little Springer and Vlad have to do with Jays success.

That was a sweet comeback.

coach has some decisions to make. Kirk obviously takes heineman's playing time but it's Springer's playing time that's gonna be an issue soon if he doesn't wake up.



​Plausible best lineup using This year's stats only:


1. RF Lukes 105pa, .365obp, 121wrc+, 3.7war650
2. C Valenzuela 135pa, .343obp, 130wrc+, 7.7war650
3. LF Pinango 108pa, .333obp, 121wrc+, 2.4war650
4. 2B Clement 261pa, .326obp, 118wrc+ 3.2war650
5. 1B Guerrero 270pa, .378obp, 113wrc+, 2.4war650
6. DH Sanchez 199pa, .322obp, 113wrc+, 1.0war650
7. 3B Okamoto 263pa, .316obp, 110wrc+, 3.2war650
8. CF Varsho 236pa, .331obp, 106wrc+, 2.8war650
9. SS Gimenez 226pa, .267obp, 73wrc+, 2.3war650

B. UT Springer 197pa, .289obp, 82wrc+, -1.0war650
B. OF Straw 112pa, .300obp, 78wrc+, 0.0war650
B. IF Schneider 89pa, .295obp, 58wrc+, -2.9war650
B. C Alejandro 22pa, .227obp, 60wrc+, 3.0war650

X. UT Jimenez 35pa, .343obp, 83wrc+, -1.9war650
X. OF Barger 28pa, .214obp, 2wrc+, 0.0war650
X. IF McAdoo 11pa, .273obp, 124wrc+, 5.9war650
X. C Heineman 85pa, .210obp, 19wrc+, 0.8war650

X. UT Sosa 117pa, .207obp, 31wrc+, -4.4war650

It's more an August thing than a June thing.

Had a long comment that the system erased calling it spam. That is a new one. Basically going through what happens as guys come back.

• #1 is Kirk - Heineman has to be released at that point.
• #2 is Pinango sharing DH with Kirk, who also shares C with Valenzuela. Pinango only starts vs LHP in that situation.
• #3 is Springer being released by mid-season if something doesn't change - his stats this year fit perfectly with aging and his 21-22-23-24 seasons. '25 is looking like a dead cat bounce, final great year for a near HOF'er. Maybe the Jays pay his contract and send him to Colorado or something.
• #4 is what the heck do you do with the OF? Lukes-Varsho-Sanchez all deserve everyday status, Straw a great backup (super defense/good speed/endurable bat). Barger will have trouble getting playing time even if they dump Springer so Pinango can DH.
• #5 is rotation - Gausman-Cease-Yesavage-Bieber-Scherzer if all healthy, Corbin the 6th guy but as I said earlier I expect the roof to cave in at any time with him. Miles has earned the backup role/kept on roster
• #6 is pen: so many choices - Varland-Rogers-Fisher-Hoffman-Fluharty-Miles locks, leaving 2 slots for everyone else. But the only guy with options left is Macko who has earned a slot. Yariel-Seabold-SWR are easy cuts imo. Nance is a tough one, Mantiply has an option, Garcia I don't expect back anymore than I expect to see Santander in '26.

Should be interesting to see how the Jays handle it, of course, odds are low that everyone returns healthy and that the Jays don't see more injuries. Sadly.

There is a better chance of Schneider quitting than there is of him benching Springer.

Don't have to bench Springer yet.

DH him vs lefties. 250/.340/.432, 118 wRC+. Only Vlad, Kazu and Brandon have been better. DH Pinango or Sanchez vs righties with Springer available to PH.

He already 'benched' springer twice this past week, and that's while we're still shorthanded.

if springer continues to struggle so badly vRHP i'm sure schneider will start letting some of the lefties start taking some of those DH ab.

Great comeback! Bottom of the order again. Maybe bat Vlad 8th, Springer 9th? That's where they are "hitting" in terms of results, these days. 

If Valenzuela keeps hitting like this, it will be hard to find enough PA for him and Kirk (assuming Kirk hits like he usually does). If he continues like this, long term do you gamble on Kirk or Valenzuela? Kirk has the better track record, but the riskier body type, IMHO.

Crazy trade question part 2: keeping existing contracts, would you trade Vlad for Bo straight up at this point?

Good point hypobole - I hadn't checked splits, given that I could see a couple of semi-platoons happening with Pinango and Sanchez vs RHP while Springer & Kirk find ways to play vs LHP and Valenzuela keeps in the lineup somehow. Of course, in 8 minor league seasons he has 1 with an OPS over 711, an 821 in 2021 A/A+ at age 20. No one had him rated top 20 in the Jays system - heck, of 10 sites I checked for top prospects, only 4 had him listed at all. Reminds me that I should post the top prospects list soon for last winters summary. Just slipped my mind with everything else in my life. Guess I'll take a pay cut for that. What is 50% of $0?

The comeback was a lot of fun to watch, I was busy doing misc stuff around the house and left it going even though they were down 4-0 which sometimes feels like 'oh crap' but the comeback was fun. Valenzuela has only played C and 1B as a pro sadly. I wonder if he could handle LF? Can't be worse than Pinango out there I'd think - thus opening up a mix/match possibility. After decades of trouble producing catchers it is weird how we've had 3 great ones it looks like in a short period - Kirk-Moreno-Valenzuela. Yeah, we traded for Valenzuela but he reached as a Jay. JP Arencibia, Pat Borders, Greg Myers, and Travis d'Arnaud (traded Halladay to get, then traded to get Dickey and is still playing this year) were about as good as we've seen come though the system before these 3 unless I'm forgetting someone (possible). Oh yeah, Yan Gomes - probably the best produced here with 18.3 bWAR but was traded for Esmil Rogers in 2012.

A lot more fun when a guy expected to be a 3rd string catcher shows himself to be a solid everyday one. Who knew? Not the Padres (traded him for Will Wagner) that is for sure.

FYI: when digging into some Jay prospects stuff I noticed Angel Bastardo's name and wondered how he is doing for Boston - was it a mistake to let him go? 12 games in relief, 19 IP 17 H 12 R/ER 16 BB 26 K resulting in a 5.68 ERA in AAA. Yikes. No question the Jays picked the right rule 5 guy to keep in Miles.

Who knew? Not the Padres (traded him for Will Wagner) that is for sure.

I'm sure some in the Jays org knew, or at least knew there was a real possibility. Longenhagen has mentioned a few times the Jays are as good as any org in adding power. Trade for a kid with a number of positive traits but a slow bat. Work with the kid to add bat speed to the point it's better than the average player.

I'm on the "Springer shouldn't be leading off" bus (mainly because there are a couple of quality options to hit 1/2) however he's hitting .250/.329/.456/.785 (coming into today) in his last 17 games which I expect is enough to convince John to give him some more rope.

The Phillies will start 2 lefties in the next series.

Checked Jays RBI's for the 1st time today. Okamoto's 37 the best on the Jays makes sense. But I would not have guessed Gimenez being 2nd on the team. Drove in his 30th today.

Hitting.280 with RISP.
Maybe they attack him high fastballs with bases empty but try to make him hit a ground ball otherwise.

hypobole - as always all raw stats, especially RBI's need context. All stats before today's game.

Most PA RISP: Okamoto 75, next highest is Vlad at 59. Gimenez is at 56, with Clement between him and Vlad at 58

wRC+ with RISP: Okamoto 56, Vlad 101, Clement 102, Gimenez 104. Makes one wonder how Gimenez is getting so many RBI's.

Best wRC+ with RISP: McAdoo 221 (6 PA), Pinango 143 (30 PA), Schneider 123 (18 PA), Sanchez 117 (46 PA), Valenzuela 116 (31 PA).

Worst wRC+ with RISP: Sosa -47 (23 wasted PA), Barger -19 (10 PA), Heineman 15 (21 PA), Kirk 30 (6 PA), then Okamoto's 56.

The RBI's hide how badly Okamoto has hit with RISP. Just 1 sac fly, 4 of his HR came with a runner on first only (thus 8 RBI there), 9 were solo shots, so we can account for 17 RBI's where he did not have a running in scoring position. 20 more in 75 PA with RISP. 15 PA with a runner on 3rd and less than 2 out - 8 RBI's on 5 hits - clearly he did well in that RISP situation. But no question, if he does better with RISP the team will benefit a LOT.

"Maybe bat Vlad 8th, Springer 9th? That's where they are "hitting" in terms of results, these days."

It is hard to imagine that Vlad is T2nd in terms of number of GP but 9th in terms of HR on the Blue Jays. That said, I think people are misjudging the quality of Vlad due to the missing power. He's got the top OBP on the team (in fact his OBP > his SLG - which is hard to do). So really if we are moving people around I think Vlad this year has the profile of the leadoff hitter, with his 378 OBP. Sure put Springer 9th (or really on the bench).

If we go just on this season (but only those with 30+ games so no McAdoo, Kirk, Barger, Jimenez, Sosa), a lineup might be:

1. Vlad 1B R 287/378/374 OPS 752
2. Lukes LF L 316/365/411 OPS 776
3. Valenzuela C S 256/343/479 OPS 822
4. Pinango DH L 301/333/456 OPS 789
5. Clement 2B R 306/326/460 OPS 786
6. Sanchez RF L 288/322/451 OPS 773
7. Okamoto 3B R 235/316/432 OPS 748
8. Varsho CF L 256/331/408 OPS 739
9. Gimenez SS L 224/267/357 OPS 624

Bench
Springer R 207/289/351 OPS 640
Straw R 232/300/323 OPS 623
Schneider R 127/295/211 OPS 506
Heineman S 158/210/211 OPS 421

As you can see it is the bench 4+Gimenez that have really been struggling, everyone else is decent to good. No amazing world beaters, although obviously Valenzuela is well above expectations (and Pinango too). But again if you see him for what he does well, Vlad is offensively contributing, it just isn't with power.

The lineup I'm suggesting also has the alternating L and R except 8/9 and if there is a high stakes place where a lefty is coming in to take advantage of 8/9 you can always use the R on the bench to sub in. Or if there is a LHP starting that you want to sit some of the LH batters for the bench you can platoon as well.

Kirk obviously replaces Heineman, but not clear who Barger replaces especially since Schneider is already at AAA (putting up a 500+ OBP on basis of walking a ton with an OBP more than 2.5 the SLG !!! in the first 12 AAA games; 23 BB in 12 games for a 167/554/200 line). Also not clear if there's anyone that can really hit and play middle infield to sub Gimenez/Clement as if there were they might be able to sit Gimenez and play Clement at SS and the mystery person at 2B but that's a avenue for Schneider - but not if he can't outhit Gimenez.

Obviously this seasons numbers aren't everything, and a wider expectation should be considered, but moving towards this sort of lineup construction should at least be considered more.

I agree with both assessments and will add that Vlady is swinging at far more balls outside the zone this year (31% of the time vs. 21% last season) AND is making contact more often with those pitches (75% of the time vs. 64%) and is now seeing more of these pitches than ever (55% vs. ~50%). Pitchers have adjusted to him, and he needs to adjust his approach accordingly and be far more selective earlier in the count. He looked lost at the plate yesterday...

Springer is playing hurt and frequently loses his balance when he swings and misses; he hasn't played the field yet this season (after doing so 51 times last year), though they haven't really needed him to. I don't know how it gets to the point that they agree on an IL placement, but with Kirk coming back, there's going to be increased competition for DH starts, and we could probably run with 3 catchers for a while if one of them is going to regularly DH.

Geminez is hitting .179 with bases empty and .269 with Men on.
wRC+ isn't ideal because getting a walk counts for .70 this year and hitting a single .89 but the value of the walk is more in creating an opportunity for the next guy than producing RBIs. 

quick look at L/R splits just this year

vRHP

1. LF Pinango 90pa, .378obp, 152wrc+
2. C Valenzuela 97pa, .344obp, 133wrc+
3. DH Sanchez 175pa, .337obp, 125wrc+
4. 2B Clement 191pa, .335obp, 123wrc+
5. RF Lukes 96pa, .358obp, 121wrc+
6. CF Varsho 175pa, .331obp, 105wrc+
7. 3B Okamoto 203pa, .305obp, 103wrc+
8. 1B Guerrero 214pa, .355obp, 96wrc+
9. SS Gimenez 171pa, .275obp, 83wrc+

B. UT Springer 146pa, .271obp, 69wrc+
B. OF Straw 48pa, .340obp, 104wrc+
B. IF Schneider 39pa, .237obp, 50wrc+
B. C Alejandro 17pa, .294obp, 111wrc+

X. UT Jimenez 22pa, .409obp, 116wrc+
X. OF Barger 24pa, .208obp, 1wrc+
X. IF Sosa 72pa, .197obp, 18wrc+
X. C Heineman 58pa, .204obp, 18wrc+

X. IF McAdoo 4pa, .250obp, 38wrc+


vLHP

1. 1B Guerrero 56pa, .464obp, 177wrc+
2. 3B Okamoto 60pa, .350obp, 134wrc+
3. C Valenzuela 38pa, .342obp, 122wrc+
4. DH Springer 51pa, .340obp, 118wrc+
5. RF Lukes 9pa, .444obp, 117wrc+
6. CF Varsho 61pa, .328obp, 110wrc+
7. SS Clement 70pa, .300obp, 107wrc+
8. 2B Schneider 50pa, .340obp, 63wrc+
9. LF Straw 64pa, .270obp, 58wrc+

B. UT Sanchez 24pa, .208obp, 18wrc+
B. OF Pinango 18pa, .111obp, -33wrc+
B. IF Gimenez 55pa, .241obp, 40wrc+
B. C Alejandro 5pa, .000obp, -100wrc+

X. UT Jimenez 13pa, .231obp, 26wrc+
X. OF Barger 4pa, .250obp, 5wrc+
X. IF Sosa 45pa, .222obp, 52wrc+
X. C Heineman 27pa, .222obp, 21wrc+

X. IF McAdoo 7pa, .286obp, 173wrc+

Just to further clarify: Vlad looked really lost the last few games, and killed more than one rally. I did skip through the games (jump 10 seconds between pitches, skip by 30 seconds when Jays were fielding, watch / re-watch when something interesting happens. Gets me through a game in maybe 30-40 minutes, but I catch most of the action). I didn't count it, but it seemed like at least 5 times Vlad weakly grounded / popped / struck out with runners on, killing a potential rally. 

Add in his lacksadaisical effort (from the outside - he's probably trying like hell on the inside), like not running out ground balls, asking for an ABS challenge when the ball was 6 inches in the zone, etc, etc.. The RESULTS aren't there, so put in in a place where he does less damage until the results come. Leadoff maybe..

There are quite a few issues with the Jays' offence in 2026 but the major one is this: in 2025 the Jays were #1 in OBP and in 2026 the Jays are #24 in OBP. Subjectively, the lineup has lost the grinding ABs and "passing of the baton" that was the hallmark of this offence last year.

Vladdy is about the same as last year in OBP.
Lukes is up by 42 points despite a horrible start.
Valenzuela is at .343 which is excellent.
Pinango is at .333 which is pretty good.
Varsho is up by 47 points.
Clement is up by 13 points.
Sanchez is at .322 which is just a hair short of the .327 he had in his best year (2023).
Okamoto is at .316.
Straw is down 13 points compared to last year.

The drops are from:
Springer (110)
Heineman (141)
Schneider (66)
and Sosa was at .205 .

good call nigel.


From the starters, Springer has seen a massive drop in OBP this year, vladdy the same, Okamoto has been a healthy drop from Bo, Alejandro and Barger have been injured, Gimenez has dropped, while Lukes and Varsho have seen big jumps, tho Lukes has been injured.

on the bench, straw is about the same as last year, valenzuela is giving us about what heineman did last year, Schneider had a big drop but Sanchez is a big jump over Santander.

in the deep depth, Pinango has given us about the same obp as Wagner did, but Sosa/Heineman/McAdoo are big drops from the likes of Roden/Clase/Loperfido.

Bichette has a .285 OBP in NY.

The MLB average OBP is .318, up from .315 last year. (Bouncing between .312 and .322 this decade.
It was around .335 after the millennium and .345 before.)

Francys Romero@francysromeroFR

Source: The Toronto Blue Jays have DFA'd right-hander pitcher Yariel Rodríguez.

Gonna be Yariel DFA (goes to minors) and Nance up.

Today will likely be Corbin and SWR

Tuesday Cease pitches (Seabold or SWR designated?)

Wednesday Scherzer pitches

Thursday probably Bieber if Monday and Wednesdays are not disastrous.

Friday Kirk?

unless something has changed, the conventional wisdom is that Bieber needs probably 2 more rehab games

The Yariel thing is kind of funny because his contract is too large for any team to claim so Jays can keep bringing him up and sending him down whenever they feel like it. Almost like an extra 40-man spot. Cease will start tomorrow and Scherzer Friday. Kirk probably end of week? Seabold I expect to be cut and maybe Macko sent down because he has options and I doubt jays cut bait on SWR already. I think Jays really wanted to keep Heinemen but don't think it's possible to do anymore. Since May 1st, Valuenzuela is leading all catchers in FWAR and is 7th among all hitters. You can't send him down.

TamRa, I don't think there's any conventional guide right now. Jays are literally burning through all options just to make starts. It's Sanchez, Wheeler and Lazardo against TBD, TBD, TBD.

They may get blown out today and go through their entire bullpen in the next 48 hours. Wouldn't you rather have Bieber start and give you 4-5 innings against the Yankees instead of finding another Voth, Fleming, etc to start and give you 2-3 innings while further depleting your bullpen?

I think a lot will depend on how the next 48 hours go because Max isn't a sure thing either. If they have enough rested guys in the bullpen then probably yes, they follow the conventional plan of letting a guy like Bieber get stretched out to 6IP.

The last line of the Nance return at MLBTR made me chuckle but not in a good way "His return means the Blue Jays now only have nine pitchers on their big league IL."

Corbin has been announced for today.
They can't announce Cease because he's still on the IL.
It's the same with Scherzer.

This leaves the Yankees series as Yesavage/Weathers, Gausman/Schlittler and Corbin/Warren.
Because they have an off day, they should have a rested pen for this series regardless of what happens against the Phillies.

Jimenez, Straw and Heineman in that order against Sanchez. Throw away game?

Gotta make sure Varland gets a day off.

Corbin looks determined to make sure of it (although everyone else is going to get some innings in, at this rate).

Looking like SWR time soon.

"I keep expecting it to collapse at any moment"
What a powerful Jinx !!

Sanchez went right after Springer.
2 fastballs down the middle to start the game and he swung through another fastball for the out.

If they still had Sosa rather than McAdoo, he's probably starting.

Been waiting for the Phillies thread for my Curtis Mead story, but the broadcast crew beat me to it.

Three completely uncompetitive at-bats right there from the “top” of the order.