Blue Jays: What to do with Luke Maile

Luke Maile is the backup catcher for the Toronto Blue Jays and so far this season he appears to be really good at coming up clutch for the team.

Luke Maile‘s first four seasons in the MLB were really anything but flashy. His first two seasons were with the Tampa Bay Rays as a backup and now he’s entering his second season behind Russel Martin. When Martin is on your team there usually isn’t much debate about who would be the starting catcher. After a month and a half into the season, Maile has started to really bring that conversation to life.

There was never a question who would start but Maile is doing a best to make a name for himself, and here is how he is doing it:

Hitting With Runners On

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This is very surprising but he is potentially the most clutch Blue Jay on the team right now. Whenever there are runners on base he always seems to be coming up with base hits. I’m not just talking about the game against Boston where he had two home runs, one of them being a walk-off, but it has been all year!

With runners just on-base, Maile is hitting an astonishing .458/.552/.708. That’s insane! And when he has runners in scoring position it’s not much worse with a slash line of .450/.542/.550. He might be the least flashy, and best run producer on the team.

Given his limited opportunities he has 14 RBI’s, 2 home runs, 1 triple, and 4 doubles. He’s the sixth best run producer and has played half the games of a lot of the team. Not too shabby for a backup.

He’s played in 20 games this season and is still producing more than some starters are.

During Maile’s games, he has produced and earned a line of .313/.389/.500.

What to do?

Don’t bench Martin first and foremost. I think Russel Martin contributes to the team in many ways. One of which being that he is fantastic defensively, and as a leader and pitch framer he is still one of the best in the game.

I’m just suggesting Maile should get more playing time. In Tampa Bay, Maile has had experience as a designated hitter so maybe you could throw him there. Or when Donaldson needs a break (I still don’t think his arm is at it’s best) have Martin play third seeing as he is pretty darn good at it. Then, in turn, you could put Maile behind the plate for some games.

Next: Blue Jays Draft 2018: Part I – Strategy

I just think Luke Maile deserves and has earned more playing time for the team. So please, Blue Jays, make it happen!