Toronto Blue Jays: Saturday brings a pair of ‘100’ milestones

The Blue Jays picked up another huge win against the Oakland A’s on Saturday, and in the process two players hit personal milestones.

For a while this lineup was really struggling to score runs, but that hasn’t been a problem so far in this series with the A’s as they’ve seen 21 runners cross the plate over the first two games. And speaking of crossing the plate, when Bo Bichette did so in the 7th inning it marked the 100th run he’s scored this season.

Having played just 46 games in 2019 and only 29 in 2020, this is obviously the first time that the 23 year old has reached that mark as a big leaguer. He’s spent the season hitting in a variety of different spots in the order, but he was in the second spot for the bulk of the year. With sluggers like Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Teoscar Hernandez, and others hitting behind him, Bichette has scored quite a few runs.

It’s interesting to note that Bichette is just the 2nd player in the American League to score 100 runs so far in 2021, and the other is Vladimir Guerrero Jr. That just goes to show how potent the Blue Jays offence has been at times throughout the season. It might be the first time that Bichette has crossed that threshold, but don’t be surprised if it becomes a regular occurrence as he goes forward with his MLB career.

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The second milestone that was reached on Saturday was by Teoscar Hernandez, and it actually happened on the same play that Bichette scored his 100th run. Hernandez hit a three-run shot in the bottom of the 7th that scored both Bichette and Vlad Jr., and it marked the 100th home run of his big league career.

The blast was Hernandez’s 24th of the season, and it runs his RBI total up to 92. That’s all the more impressive when you remember that he’s only played in 115 games, as the 28 year old missed some time earlier in the year after a positive Covid-19 diagnosis. Fortunately it didn’t slow him down much at all, and he’s been an elite contributor to the lineup even if he’s been overshadowed by his teammates at times.

Hernandez has slowly but surely turned into a premium slugger, but this season will represent many of the best personal marks of his career. He won a Silver Slugger award in 2020, but with a shortened schedule he wasn’t able to put up huge counting stats. He’s already set a personal best for RBI, and with just three more home runs he’ll set a new single-season best there as well.

As the Blue Jays continue to try and chase down a Wild Card spot in this year’s postseason, it looks like some of their top hitters are getting hot at the right time, and hitting milestones in the process.