Blue Jays Performance Review: Zoning in on the Opening Weekend Offense

If you were in downtown Toronto this weekend, the Blue Jays logo was flashing all around your vision.  Opening weekend in Toronto against the Texas Rangers was a refreshing and breath-taking time; not only because Blue Jays baseball is back, but because the Blue Jays offense is deadly.

The blue-birds faced off against a fresh Rangers squad who also have a potential-filled lineup in the shadows of the American League. The Blue Jays won two of three, taking the series.

What was quite evident about the team so far? Early strikes in offense, early execution with runners on, and a very good display of the raw power that compiles this lineup. Toronto scored a total of 20 runs in 3 games.  The home opener was a preview of what this team could accomplish when the scoreboard counts you out. After a four-run breakout for Texas in the first inning, and being down seven in the 4th, the Blue Jays struck back, evening it up in the 5th at seven runs apiece, and tacked on three more to secure the victory. This comeback set the tone for the lineup. Game 2 stayed close, as Toronto played 3-innings from behind to push across the go-ahead run and secure the victory and series win. Game three was the Texas offense show, and somewhat of a bullpen day in the later innings.

Blue Jays’ key takes of the opening weekend series

The team wraps up the series with a total of .283 average, 20 runs scored, and 7 home runs.

Let’s start with the top-dollar man, George Springer, who saw 13-at-bats, with 4 hits, 1 RBI, 1 home run, and coming around to score 4 times. Springer looks comfortable at the dish, he’s locked in on what he’s looking for; most importantly, he’s doing his job in his lineup slot, and getting on base.  These numbers and notes are mirrored for Bo Bichette.

Santiago Espinal also looks comfortable at the plate, showing patience and selectiveness. His raw-line drive power has shown well in two hits in the gap that resulted in two much-needed RBI. Teoscar Hernandez looked locked in, starting his season off with a go-ahead dinger to give the Blue Jays a dub. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. doing his part as well, along with a pair of catchers, Danny Jansen and Alejandro Kirk. Jansen is responsible for two of the seven home runs in the series so far; Kirk has put the ball in play, enough to create the base-pad movement.

Last but not least, the face of the franchise, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., drove in four runs on five hits, scoring three times, and belted one into the 200-level West Jet Flight Deck. This dinger was a career-long 467ft, on a frozen rope. If you blinked, you missed this leave the park; the view I had of this was phenomenal.

Despite the numbers shown on this piece, the Blue Jays’ offense is all around gap-to-gap ability, moving runners across, executing well to drive guys in, and finding spots in the field; complimented by the raw power and ability to hit home runs. This was only a preview of what’s to come!