Blue Jays Player of the Week – Another First-Timer

Once again this week’s player of the week is a new one. Last week Kevin Pillar took the honours, managing to combine his stellar defence with stellar offence for a seven day period. From May 4-10th, he scuffled quite badly at the plate only getting 3 hits in 22 ABs.

Newcomer Chris Colabello burst onto the scene after lingering injuries to Michael Saunders and Jose Bautista necessitated his call up. He mashed to the tune of 10 hits in 18 ABs with 2 doubles, a home run and a walk. Avid baseball fans will recall how he had a similar offensive burst early last season with the Twins before his numbers took a nosedive. His renaissance with the Blue Jays this season has been impressive but his history merits caution and skepticism. His poor fielding detracts from overall value. 

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Edwin Encarnacion has begun to heat up as he did in May of last year. He slashed a .350/.480/.600 with 2 doubles, 5 walks, stolen base and a HR.

Josh Donaldson continued his torrid love affair with his new home park. He slashed  .360/.360/.560 with a HR and 2 doubles. There was major production from the whole lineup with almost everyone contributing.

The bullpen was brilliant. Only Chad Jenkins let up a single run. Yup, the beleaguered bullpen, buoyed by better starts, only surrendered a single run in the past 6 games—that was 18.1 IP. That’s a 0.49 ERA and a 0.6 WHIP. It’s hard to choose the best reliever of the week with so much dominance from all seven. We’ll give it to Roberto Osuna as he pitched in more critical situations and didn’t let up a run and allowed just a walk and a hit in 3.1 IP.

The starters were steadier and that contributed the bullpen’s effectiveness but the rotation still has plenty of room to improve. R.A Dickey had a great start but then faltered in his next. Aaron Sanchez was the highlight of the staff with his 7.0, 0 ER, 3K, 2 H, 5 BB outing.

Russell Martin gets top honours this week as the Jays PoW. He was their most potent offensive threat, continued to display his defensive prowess and all the hurlers under his charge improved this past week. Martin slashed .588/.556/1.118 with 2 HRs, 4 RBIs, 1 SB, and 3 doubles. Interestingly, the typically extremely patient Martin had no walks. Perhaps the key for him this week was being a bit more aggressive.

There were no standout poor performances this week. Marco Estrada’s start was the worst of a very solid team effort overall. Estrada gave up 4 earned in 4.2 IP, giving up 8 hits and, his nemesis, a home run.

Next: Red Sox Avoid Sweep