Toronto Blue Jays’ Road Trip: Who was Hitting and Pitching?

The Blue Jays finished off a West Coast road trip with stops in Los Angeles (Dodgers) and Seattle (Mariners) where they were 1-5.  The week showed that the pitching needs a lot of work and the line-up seems a lot smaller when Lourdes Gurriel Jr is out.  In the six games, Charlie Montoyo elected to go with an opener three times (Wilmer Font twice and Buddy Boshers once).

When it came to hitting, the Blue Jays hit just .210 on the trip with just three players batting over .214. The catchers who tore up the last home stand to a .394 average, batted just 1 for 19 (.053) on this trip.

Here is a look at who was hitting and who was not on the road trip:

TOP HITTERS: 

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Bo Bichette was hammering the ball as he had 11 hits in 27 at bats (.407) with three home runs and two doubles.  He led the team in hits, home runs, RBI and runs scored.  Bichette is showing he can hit on the road as he is batting .408 in 16 road games and .256 in 10 home games

Vladimir Guerrero Jr is batting .345 over his last 30 games and the six game road trip showed no difference.  Guerrero was 7 for 20 (.350) with a double and home run, and took three walks to lead the team with a .435 on base percentage.

Billy McKinney is winning the battle for fourth outfield spot against Derek Fisher.  McKinney was 4 for 11 (.364) with two doubles.  He looks a lot more comfortable than Fisher and seems to be a better defender.

NOT HITTING:
Brandon Drury really struggled on the trip and seems lost at the plate a few times.  Drury went just 1 for 17 (.059) and only drew one walk.  Drury has struggled over the last two weeks as his average has dropped 11 points.

The Blue Jays pitching on the road trip was collectively bad.  The team posted a 6.04 ERA and 1.66 WHIP as they walked 34 batter over those six games.  Here is a look at who was dealing on the mound:

DEALING:
Jacob Waguespack pitched a gem on Thursday night that ended in a no decision.  Waguespack pitched seven shutout innings with just one hit, which came from the Dodgers pitcher on a hanging curveball.  Waguespack added five strikeouts and is looking more and more like someone who will be part of the Jays 2020 season.  If you are interested, have a look at my article last week on Waguespack here.

Buddy Boshers had four appearances in six games on the road trip, which included one being as an opener.  Montoya seems to really like him, and why wouldn’t he when the lefty pitched like he did on the road trip, going 3 1/3 IP, 1H, 0R, 2BB and 4K.

NOT DEALING:
Sean Reid-Foley was sent down after his appearance that last just 1 2/3 IP where he allowed five hits, five earned runs and two walks.  I sure he’ll be back up, but he is looking more like a relief pitcher in the future.

Richard Urena should not be pitching, he didn’t even look like a position pitcher that knows how to pitch.  Urena looked like a lob ball pitcher out there, please don’t do that to him again.  Urena had one IP and got hit hard for four hits and four runs.

After a Monday off-day, the Blue Jays will begin a home stand with a two game series with the Atlanta Braves before finishing out the month with three games against the Houston Astros. The competition won’t be easy, so we’ll see how much the hot/cold list as changed in a week from now, if at all.