3 players the Blue Jays should remain patient with, 2 they shouldn’t 

For the Toronto Blue Jays, the 2024 campaign generally hasn’t been kind to their players so far, as many of them have gotten off to rough starts to begin the year. As a result, not only has it had a sizeable effect on both their overall offense and bullpen pitching, but it has also led to their current 16-19 disappointing record on the season. This run of bad luck can’t possibly continue for the rest of the season, although if it improbably did, the Blue Jays might as well wave the white flag.

As a result, which players will be able to turn things around soon enough, whereas which ones will likely to continue with their struggles? Here, we will take a look at 3 players that the Jays should remain patient with, and 2 players who don't deserve quite as long of a leash.

3 players the Blue Jays should be patient with

Bo Bichette

Many likely have found it surprising to see one of the most prolific hitters in the game struggling immensely at the plate. But here we are after more than a month into the season, shortstop Bo Bichette finds himself scuffling unlike years before. Never has Bichette ever had a season where his batting average wasn’t near .300, or where his OPS wasn’t above .800, not to mention an OPS+ above 120. However, he is currently sporting an abysmal .195 batting average, .530 OPS and an OPS+ below 60, which were all miles below his typical dominant numbers.

If that wasn’t clear enough, to put things into perspective, Bichette is on pace for only 51 runs scored, 5 home runs and 56 RBI for the season. How is that possible for someone who was a two-time All-Star, along with leading the American League in total hits in a season on two separate occasions? 

If the Jays and the fanbase want to look for some inspiration, just think of Trea Turner of the Phillies from last year and Francisco Lindor of the Mets back in 2021. Both star shortstops had horrendous starts to their seasons back then but bounced back big time to provide significant contributions to their respective clubs as the year progressed. It is highly likely that Bichette is just enduring in a similar dry spell as his predecessors, since he is just too good of a hitter to let this slide any longer. So look for him to explode any time soon in the coming weeks and we would all forget his slump actually even happened.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

For the former three-time All-Star, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has had a rough go thus far in his 2024 MLB campaign. After having somewhat of a drop-off in production numbers for each of his past two seasons, Guerrero has struggled to a .239 average with a .711 OPS in 35 games to date. His 13 runs scored, 4 home runs and 15 RBI puts him on pace for just 60 runs scored, 19 home runs and 69 RBI over a 162-game schedule. Those numbers would be similar to his output back during his rookie season in 2019 when he was still in the process of adapting to major league pitching. In other words, not good for someone that’s one of the main offensive leaders of the team.

However, one has to remember that it was just three seasons ago when Guerrero finished second only to Shohei Ohtani for the AL MVP award, so it’s not like he has suddenly forgotten how to hit. What may be troubling Guerrero might only require some few minor adjustments to his game to get him back on track.

Perhaps the Jays can try to alter the batting order a bit to give Guerrero a different look at the plate, or maybe give him the odd rest day to let him have the opportunity to regroup his focus and reset his game. Nevertheless, he has currently registered a hit in each of his past eight games, including his breakout game on Sunday against the Washington Nationals where he mustered two hits including a grand slam in four at-bats. Hopefully, that is a positive sign showing that things are starting to turn around for one of the faces of the franchise, as any success the Blue Jays are to have will in large part rest on his shoulders.

Erik Swanson

It has been quite the unfortunate chain of events that have taken place for Erik Swanson so far this year. After having to deal with the traumatic incident that took place for his family early in spring training, Swanson subsequently landed on the IL with right forearm tightness after appearing in just two games during the preseason.

When he was finally healthy enough to rejoin the big league club in mid-April, it has been nothing but disaster thus far for the 30-year-old reliever. In eight appearances to date, Swanson had yielded runs in six of them, leading to a bloated 16.50 ERA and 2.50 WHIP with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts in just 6 innings of work. For someone that has constantly produced an ERA below 3.40 and a WHIP below 1.10 in each of his past three seasons to make him one of the top relievers in the game, it is obvious that something is not right with him this year.

Whether his family situation is still actively in the mind of Swanson, or whether he may not be fully recovered from his right forearm injury, both the Jays and their fans should be patient with him as he slowly works things out. After all, given his proven track record in recent years, he is a lot better than this. What the Jays should consider now though is perhaps give him a much-needed conditioning stint to allow him to reset and regain his confidence and ability of his pitches before pitching again at the big league level. That way, hopefully he can rediscover his prior dominant form and be the difference-maker out of the bullpen like he was for the vast majority of last season. If there any lesson to be learned, just look at how former Jays reliever Adam Cimber is flourishing with the Los Angeles Angels this year. Had the Jays been more patient with him after his early struggles in 2023, he would have remained with the team and provided a big boost to the current bullpen.

Génesis Cabrera

After coming over to the Jays at the 2023 trade deadline from the St. Louis Cardinals, Génesis Cabrera became a key cog in their bullpen down the stretch in their pursuit of the playoffs. Not only did he perform beyond expectations, he also gave the Jays another lefty they could deploy out of the pen other than Tim Mayza to fully take advantage of key matchups against the opposition. In 29 appearances, Cabrera posted a stellar 2.66 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, giving up just 7 earned runs with 6 walks and 20 strikeouts in 23.2 innings pitched.

He was looking to carry some of that success into the new season this year. However, it has been nothing but a constant struggle with his control and command so far in his 14 outings to date. Over 13 innings of work, Cabrera has given up 9 earned runs including 3 home runs, 8 walks and 8 strikeouts for a gaudy 6.23 ERA and 1.92 WHIP. He has allowed runners to reach base in every game this season except on two occasions and has seen his strikeout rate drop while his walk rate increase considerably as a result.

The more we observe Cabrera pitch this season, the more he resembles the pitcher he was back in his previous couple of years with the Cardinals in which he struggled than the consistent and reliable one we witnessed last year in a Jays’ uniform. From the way it looks now, his brief two-month stint with the Jays is starting to appear more and more like an outlier performance than a breakout one. As a result, this could be the new realistic norm for him and if that is indeed the case, the Jays may be forced to look for additional bullpen help going forward, whether internally or externally, before it’s too late.