Blue Jays Week in Review: The good, the bad and the noteworthy for April 21

The Toronto Blue Jays went 3-3 against the Atlanta Braves and the Seattle Mariners in six games at home last week in what was still a bit of a disappointing week.

The Blue Jays were outscored 21-11 in their three losses, but still did enough to once again play .500 on the week. They'll enter this week at 12-10 on the season and in second-place in the American League East.

While the Blue Jays should still be pleased to be above .500 on the season, they’ve left some wins on the table this week could back to bite them at the end of the season.

The good, the bad and the noteworthy for April 21

The Good: Vladdy is feeling it

In his first homestand since signing his $500 million contract, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. showed off his elite skill set both at the plate and at first base. He slashed .316/.583/.813 with an OPS of 1.396 last week and walked eight times (he had three games where he had multiple walks) and struck out just three times over the six games.

He also hit his first home run of the season in the form of a monster shot to left field.

But even when Guerrero isn’t blasting the ball over the wall, he proved he can be just as lethal with his plate discipline.

And when he got his pitch, he hit it with authority, as ten of the 14 balls he put in play this week had an exit velocity over 100 mph. Guerrero is in the zone and barreling the ball all over the diamond.

He made several acrobatic plays at first base as well, which shows just how versatile he is as a plater.

The Bad: a minus-9 differential in home runs

One of the biggest storylines for the Blue Jays this season has been their power outage, and now they're giving up more than they should be comfortable with.

They’ve allowed 31 home runs on the year (second most in MLB) and gave up 13 longballs over this past week. Meanwhile, they’ve hit 12 as a team, four of which have come in the last six games.

While they’ve found other ways to spark their offense and create chances, it’s going to be awfully hard to keep up a .545-win percentage pace if they can’t out-slug their opponents once or twice a week.

That difference will be especially evident in their division, as the American League East features the Yankees (38 home runs, first overall), Orioles (31 home runs, sixth overall), Red Sox (23 home runs, 13th overall) and Rays, (21 home runs, 18th overall). They trail their division rivals by a wide margin, and that's something they'll need to change sooner rather than later.

The Noteworthy: Schultz's sparkling debut

Paxton Schultz was originally drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 14th round of the 2019 MLB Draft, and he was traded to the Blue Jays in 2021. He's spent the past four seasons slowly working his way through the ranks of Toronto’s system before earning his first call up to the show on Sunday.

The 27-year-old right-hander made the most of his MLB debut in Toronto’s loss to Seattle on Sunday by tying a major league and franchise record for a pitcher in their debut game.

Schultz threw 4 1/3 innings of two-hit ball while recording eight strikeouts, which ties the MLB record for strikeouts by a reliever in their big league debut.

It also ties the Blue Jays record for strikeouts in a debut outing, regardless of role It was a much needed effort from Schultz as he saved the Blue Jays from having to completly tax the bullpen in a game that looked like it was out of reach less than two innings in.

On Deck:

A big road trip beings on Monday for the Blue Jays as they head to the Lone Star state to take on the Houston Astros in a three-game set. The Astros (10-10) are 6-4 in their last ten games and will send Hunter Brown (2-1 1.50 ERA 22 K) to the mound against Kevin Gausman (2-1 2.49 ERA, 20 K) in the series opener. Once that series wraps, the Blue Jays are off to New York for their first battle against the Yankees in 2025, with a three-game series.