Blue Jays Player of the Week – Not named Devon Travis

(Due to time constraints on my part, I’m unable to consider Sunday, May 3’s game in choosing this week’s PoW. I’ll be considering games played from the 27th of April to May 2nd)

We have a new PoW for the Blue Jays this week. Devon Travis forfeits his two week crown. It’s not Josh Donaldson either, who’s been in the conversation every week so far. Unfortunately, it’s not a pitcher again this week as the starters continue to struggle mightily. It is however, a player who has significantly raised his profile all season. 

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You probably have a pretty good guess at this point, but before we get into that, let’s take a moment to acknowledge the undisputed player of the month for April: Devon Travis. He hit a .325/.393/.625 to go with steady defence. He hit 6 HRs which was the most on the team, as was his 19 RBIs. He provided clutch hitting and was often the catalyst of the Jays offence. He currently leads the team in WAR with a 1.4 mark. He’s displayed the demeanour, levelheadedness and maturity of a much older player. The Blue Jays struggles this season would be compounded further without the stability Travis has provided in the lineup and in the field.

That being said, Travis had something of an off week at the plate collecting 4 hits in 23 ABs. In his defence, he a bit beat up physically, he still had 5 walks and his play in the field was unaffected.

Jose Bautista has been starting to get hot at the plate. He had 7 hits in 22 ABs. 1 HR, 4 BB and 4 2Bs. That was good for a 1.044 OPS. Unfortunately, he’s been limited to DH work only due to his nagging shoulder injury. “I can’t physically throw a baseball”—eek… that does not sound good at all. Are we sure he should even be batting?

Marco Estrada provided some essential innings out of the ‘pen  to secure the win in Boston. It was a slugfest and he shut down the hungry Red Sox’ bats at a crucial juncture. He threw 4.1 innings of shut out relief this week with 3 Ks and WHIP of 0.92. He’s the pitcher of the week for the Blue Jays but unfortunately, that’s not saying much at all. Again this week, not a single starter deserves to be in the PoW conversation.

Russel Martin continued to decimate the running game of the opposition. He also slashed .318/.444/.591. He hit a HR, walked 5 times and had 3 doubles.

It was close between Russell Martin and Kevin Pillar but this week, we’re going with Pillar.

He’s continued to make absurd, jaw dropping catches. There have been three or four more this past week. The difference this week that makes him the PoW is that he’s also been huge at the plate. He’s slashed .393/.414/.642 with a triple, 5 doubles, a walk and two stolen bases. He’s been the defensive star all season for the Jays but this past week he was also the offensive star.

The razzie goes to the entire rotation who have continued to cost the team runs and games. Only 25.1 IP this week and 29 ERs…

Next: Minor League Recap