Toronto Blue Jays: The highs and lows of the last couple of weeks

The Blue Jays just finished two weeks of ups and downs.  They went on the road and got swept in a two game mini-series in Atlanta, followed by a four game sweep in Tampa.  Things weren’t looking good coming home to have a couple of three game sets against the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees but they were able to win both series.  Overall they finished the last two weeks 4-8 which isn’t bad considering they started 0-6.

The Highs

Lourdes Gurriel Jr finally got back into the line-up for the first time this past Saturday since going down to injury on August 8th.  Gurriel Jr. went 2-3 with a double in his return.  Just getting Gurriel Jr back in the line-up is a huge high.

Richard Urena, who I think should be the utility player in 2020, started getting more playing time and went 4 for 12 with two doubles, a walk and a sacrifice bunt.  He did air mail a throw from third base, but overall he is showing he can play each of the infield positions.

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Reese McGuire has not only taken over for Luke Maile, but he is starting to push Danny Jansen.  McGuire has looked stronger behind the plate and batted .348 over seven games with two doubles and a home run.

Cavan Biggio seems to go really hot or really cold.  Biggio went 1-14 on the road trip, but once the Blue Jays came home he tore it up going 8-18 with a double, triple, and home run. Biggio raised his average 14 points on the second half of the two weeks.

Randal Grichuk has gotten really hot this September.  When the month turned over he was sitting at 23 home runs and I wondered if he could take a run at reaching 30.  In the two weeks he hit five home runs and three doubles, all while batting .256.

Ken Giles has been lights out in the bullpen, he had four appearances, collecting two saves with no runs allowed.

Trent Thornton is finishing the season strong.  After having a 4.99 ERA in August, he was at the top of his game in his two games over the last two weeks.  Thornton combined to pitch 9 2/3 innings and struck out 11 while giving up just one earned run on four hits.

The Lows

The biggest low had to be watching Tim Mayza potentially end his career.  Mayza tore his UCL Friday night and is likely out upwards of 18 months and that is if he can come back at all.

Justin Smoak has seen his playing time get completely cut going down the stretch.  Smoak had just two hits in 23 at bats.

Derek Fisher continues to show that the his is a AAAA player.  Fisher went 2-15 and struck out in more than half of his at-bats while playing really weak defence.

Teoscar Hernandez struck out a whopping 19 times in two weeks and struggled heavily in centre field.  I think it is time to end the centre field experiment with him.

Jacob Waguespack started getting a lot of hype in August as a potential future back of the rotation starter for the Blue Jays, but September hasn’t been kind.  Waguespack went 0-3 over three starts and gave up 11 earned runs on nine walks and 15 hits over 12 innings pitched.

The Jays are off Baltimore for a three game series that starts on Tuesday, followed by a trip to the Bronx before finishing off the season with a six game homestand against Baltimore and Tampa Bay.