Blue Jays Player of the Week: Drew Hutchison

I was away the previous two Mondays when your Blue Jays PoW would normally appear. Of course the time of year when the Jays decide to pick up David Price, go on an 11 game win streak and challenge the Yankees for the AL East lead, I was unable to watch. I did keep an eye on things while I honeymooned—as much as I dared. I’m sure you’ve all been in suspense waiting to hear who the players of the week were for those two weeks. Right? Maybe? Anyways, this week you get 3 PoWs in 1!

Player of the Week (Jul. 27 to Aug. 2): Josh Donaldson

The MVP candidate slashed .333/.448/.708 with 2 home runs, 3 doubles, 3 singles and 4 walks. The Blue Jays went 4-2.

Player of the Week (Aug. 3 to Aug. 9): Josh Donaldson

Back to back weeks for JD. He turned in his best week of his already fantastic year. Slash line: .385/.484/1.038. 5, yes, 5 home runs, 2 doubles, 3 singles, 8 RBI and 5 walks. The Jays were undefeated that week going 7 for 7.

Player of the Week (Aug. 10 to Aug. 16)

Could Josh Donaldson three-peat? Well, no. He fell back to earth this past week with only 4 hits—none of the extra base variety. His offence struggled along with the rest of the club. Apart from the 10-3 win against Oakland, the Jays scored 4 or less runs in the other 5 games. Overall the Blue Jays posted a 4-2 record. Fine pitching was the key this week. The most the staff allowed in a game was 4 runs and they averaged 2.5 per game.

Edwin Encarnacion missed a few games with a finger injury but contributed in the 3 games he did play. He extended his streak to 14 games. Chris Colabello had 6 hits in 15 ABs with two being doubles and one a home run. Jose Bautista had 6 hits in 22 ABs with two doubles and two home runs. Apart from those three, the next best hitter had a .632 OPS. The bats weren’t helping much.

The bullpen didn’t have to work much as the starters went 6 innings or more in each of their starts. Roberto Osuna was brilliant as usual with 3 of those save things, no runs allowed, 3 Ks and 3 hits/walks in 3 innings of work.

As mentioned, all 5 starters gave the team a chance to win the games they began. Drew Hutchison was the pick of the litter in his two starts. Of course this was “home” Hutch and not “away” Hutch. Drew threw 13.2 IP allowing 3 earned with 11 Ks, 3 BBs and 7 hits—which works out to an ERA of 1.98 and a 0.73 WHIP.

It’s pretty crazy that the PoW is going to be handed to a pitcher who might get skipped for his next outing but such has been the season of Drew Hutchison. The bats were absent for much of the week. It had to go to a pitcher and the best of the bunch this week was Hutch.

Razzie goes to Russell Martin (In his defense, he’s dealing with a thumb injury) for his 1 hit and walk in 15 ABs—which were good for a .192 OPS.

Next: MiLB Recap: Herd Rides Pitching

Blue Jays Player of the Week: Drew Hutchison

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