Blue Jays: Randal Grichuk has a real chance to redeem himself

Randal Grichuk hit a home run with the Buffalo Bisons on Wednesday and shouldn’t be far from a return to the Blue Jays. His timing couldn’t be better as far as a chance at redemption goes.

You can’t help but look for something to change when a team is struggling as bad as the Blue Jays are right now, and fortunately there are a few tweaks coming soon. Several players are rehabbing at the moment, and one of them is getting close to returning to the big league club in Randal Grichuk.

The 26 year old outfielder hit a home run in his first game with the Buffalo Bisons on Wednesday, and is looking like he’s almost ready to resume his position on the major league roster. He’ll likely play a few more rehab games with the Bisons before being recalled, but because he’s out of options he’ll have to be added to the 25 man roster sooner than later.

Normally getting someone back with Grichuk’s background would be very exciting, but his play early in the 2018 season has left many fans bewildered and unsure of what to expect of the former St. Louis Cardinal. He struggled mightily before getting injured, hitting just .106/.208/.227 with two home runs and seven RBI in 66 at bats. His slash line was ugly, but the 24 strikeouts were probably a greater concern before he was added to the disabled list.

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Around that same time the Blue Jays were enjoying rock solid play from Curtis Granderson and Kevin Pillar, and added an emerging Teoscar Hernandez to the lineup as well. Grichuk hasn’t played since April 29th and a fair amount has changed since then. All three of the other outfielders have cooled off considerably in recent weeks, as has the majority of the team’s offence in general.

After being swept at the hands of the Boston Red Sox and finishing the month of May at just 9-19, the Blue Jays could really use a shakeup of some sort. As I said in my article yesterday, there have been calls from changes on the coaching staff (I suggested that maybe a new hitting coach might be something to look at), as well as routine pleas to see Vladimir Guerrero Jr. promoted to the highest level. I don’t think either is going to happen right now, and with the draft coming up next week I don’t think the Blue Jays will be engaging in any trade talks in the immediate future either.

They do have the good fortune of getting some players back from the disabled list soon though, including Grichuk. The power hitter was expected to solidify the right field position for the Blue Jays this year and finally get a chance to show what he could do with a true full-time job, but so far that hasn’t worked out for either party very well. At a time when the Blue Jays could badly use a spark from almost anywhere, having Grichuk coming back right now is a great opportunity for the former 2009 first round pick.

The expectations on him from the coaching staff and the fans should be lower than they were in April, and hopefully will make for a low pressure environment to thrive in. Again, the Blue Jays’ lineup has been absolutely dreadful lately as well, so he’s not exactly being re-inserted at a time when it’ll be tough to keep up. If he can use this injury as a true re-set on his Blue Jays tenure, it could be a blessing in disguise after a dreadful start.

Considering the Texas native is capable of playing all three outfield positions, the Blue Jays should be able to find a way to get him into the lineup once he’s recalled, and hopefully he’ll be the type of in-house spark they’ve been desperately searching for. For Grichuk, it’s the chance to make things right and get his career back on track, and hopefully he can take full advantage of it.

Next: Takeaways from Russell Martin in LF