Blue Jays Player of the Week: No Surprise

Over the past week the Blue Jays went 5-1 while outscoring opponents 48 to 19. They’ve improved to 18 games over .500 and have retained their AL East lead. Somehow, the Yankees have managed to stay not far behind but at this point it is clear who the better team is. The teams the Jays have played lately have appeared shell-shocked by just how dominant Toronto is now. The .827 win percentage since the Troy Tulowitzki trade seems unlikely to continue but at the same time, it’s hard to imagine this team going any worse than .600 the rest of the way (.600 would result in 93 wins roughly). 

There weren’t really any weaknesses to the Jays over the past 7 days. The defence held opponents to 3.17 runs per game and the offence scored 8 runs per game. A run differential of nearly 5 per game will generally mean good things.

Eight (!) Jays had > .900 OPS and ten had > .740 OPS. There are really too many offensive performances to mention here. Russell Martin, after getting some rest and removing his batting gloves broke out of his slump with two HRs, 5 BB, a single and 4 RBI in 12 ABs. Justin Smoak had two doubles, a single, a home run and 3 BB in 12 AB. Jose Bautista had 2 HR, 9 BB, 3 singles and a SB in 19 AB. Ryan Goins had a double, 7 singles, 3 BB, 1 SB in 19 AB. Kevin Pillar hit 2 HR, 1 BB, 2 SB and 7 singles in 25 AB. The list could go on but we’ll skip to the top offensive performer of the week: Edwin Encarnacion. He’s in one of his Ruth-esque grooves. 6 HR, 2 doubles, 1 single, 2 walks and 17 RBI in 23 AB (not to mention that HBP that was basically an intentional walk).

The relievers were excellent aside from a poor Liam Hendriks outing and some inconsequential runs allowed by Mark Lowe. Roberto Osuna pitched two scoreless one inning saves racking up 5 K and allowing just one hit/walk. Bo Schultz and Aaron Sanchez both pitched scoreless innings of 4 IP and 2.1 IP respectively.

Every Jays starter had a WHIP at or less than 1.25. As a group, they had an ERA of 3.11. In Drew Hutchison’s first start back up from AAA he went 7 innings, allowed one run on six hits / no walks and struck out seven. David Price went 6 innings, allowed 2 ER on 6 walk/hits and struck out eight.

In any other week, Pillar, Bautista, Goins or Hutchison could have been player of the week. But alas for them, Encarnacion had perhaps the best week any Jay has had this year. 1.261 slugging, .462 OBP, 359 wRC+, .870 ISO and 0.9 WAR all with a BABIP of .200. Edwin Encarnacion is your PoW by a long shot. No surprises.

Over a week of exceptional performances team-wide, Hendriks gets the Razzie for his 3 earned in 2.1 innings.

Next: A President and a Rookie