Blue Jays employing same tiresome approach at the plate

The Toronto Blue Jays would have a hard time hitting water if they fell out of a boat and much of that can be attributed to the same tiresome approach at the plate as in previous seasons.

The Blue Jays offence has sputtered miserably out of the gate with the exception of shortstop Freddy Galvis who is hitting .333 with three homers on the young season. The offensive contingent appears lost at the plate on most nights specializing in making average pitchers appear much better than they actually are.

The Blue Jays have struck out 95 times by my count including 14 times yesterday which included six punchouts looking. The Blue Jays have displayed an extreme inability to hit breaking balls and opposing pitchers have exploited their weakness.

They are not moving runners as was on display two nights ago when Luke Maile failed to get Richard Urena to third base after a leadoff double in a tie game. As a team, they do not seem to have a two-strike approach and refuse to shorten their swing or heaven forbid stop swinging for the fences.

As a team, they are hitting below the Mendoza Line with the likes of Randal Grichuk, Brandon Drury, Danny Jansen, Billy McKinney, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. all hitting below the .200 mark. Drury has already whiffed 16 times with Grichuk not far off with 12 of his own. Newly appointed hitting coach Guillermo Martinez may have his work cut out for him this season.’

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Gurriel Jr. may be the most surprising of them all after being an offensive stud last season in his rookie campaign. The infielder is hitting just .077 with only two hits in 26 at-bats and one of those was a well-placed infield single that rolled ten feet from the dish.

The Jays will bust out of the offensive funk but in the meantime, the kids need to start studying tape and working on a better approach because many of them have looked overmatched in multiple at-bats thus far.

Hopefully, a power-hitting rookie being promoted in a few weeks will help thaw the spring bats and rejuvenate the putrid offence.