Is Andrés Giménez the Blue Jays new permanent cleanup hitter?

Coming into this year, Andrés Giménez had only hit cleanup four times in his career. It took him less than week as a Blue Jays to double that total.

Giménez is once again in the cleanup spot for the Blue Jays for Monday's series opener against the Nationals, which marks the fifth time he's hit in the spot this year. While he entered the year as an outside option to hit leadoff, he's taken advantage of hitting in that spot, as he's slugged two home runs and a double so far this season.

First pitch of Monday's game is set for 7:07 p.m. at Rogers Centre. The game will be available to stream on Sportsnet.

Probable starting pitchers

Bowden Francis vs. Michael Soroka

Francis will close out what's been an eventful first turn through the rotation for the Blue Jays. José Berríos laid an egg on Opening Day, Chris Bassitt and Kevin Gausman were solid and Max Scherzer is headed to the injured list.

Francis will look to be a little more Bassitt than Berríos in his season debut after he finished last year on a tear. After struggling in his first MLB call-up last year, Francis had a 1.80 ERA across his final 10 starts of the season (65 innings) and struck out 24.7% of the batters he faced. He also carried two no-hit bids into the ninth inning.

While Francis didn't have a great spring (8.10 ERA in 13 1/3 innings), he earned the final spot in the rotation and now will be even more important after Scherzer's injury. He pitched three innings of scoreless relief against the Nationals in 2023.

Soroka will be making his Nationals debut and he signed a one-year, $9 million deal with the team in the offseason. While he went 0-10 with a 4.74 ERA with the White Sox last year, he had a 2.75 ERA with 60 strikeouts in 36 innings as a multi-inning relief arm, which piqued Washington's interest.

He's made four career appearances against the Blue Jays and has allowed nine earned runs in 18 innings.

Toronto Blue Jays starting lineup, March 31

• 1. SS Bo Bichette
• 2. 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
• 3. DH Anthony Santander
• 4. 2B Andrés Giménez
• 5. C Alejandro Kirk
• 6. RF George Springer
• 7. 3B Will Wagner
• 8. CF Nathan Lukes
• 9. LF Alan Roden

This is the same lineup the Blue Jays ran out on Saturday, and it'll once again feature three young stars at the bottom of the lineup in the form of Wagner, Lukes and Roden.

Wagner's gone 4-for-13 this season and has already made one highlight play at the hot corner, while Roden recorded his first career MLB hit in his first game and added a web gem for good measure.

Bichette, Guerrero and Santander will hit in front of Giménez, which means that Giménez should get plenty of opportunities to hit with men on base.