5 bold internal moves the Blue Jays could make to jumpstart the offense

If the lineup ain’t working, mix it up

More often than not, people expect some changes in personnel, whether it be at the players or management level, to kickstart a team. But sometimes, just some as simple as just tinkering with the lineup is sufficient enough to get things going again. Just like in hockey where the coach would juggle the lines to find the ideal line combinations, in the case of the Jays, the area they can seriously consider tinkering in hopes for success is with their batting order.

To start things off, Guerrero is by far the hottest hitter on the team at this moment, with hits in 9 of his past 11 games, and 17 of his past 20 overall. Therefore, the Jays should maximize the most of his offensive potential by putting him in the best possible spot in the batting order, which is the cleanup spot. That way, it gives him ample opportunities to drive in runs and do the most damage on the scorebaord. Similarly, with Danny Jansen being almost as hot as Guerrero, he should hit higher in the lineup than his usual spot in the bottom half of the order. As seen on Monday, moving him to the second spot resulted in a big 3-hit, 5-RBI day for Jansen, as the Jays would welcome more of that any day. The club tried this out for a second time in Tuesday evening's matchup as well.

As for some of the struggling hitters currently in the lineup, Bo Bichette could be tried in the leadoff spot. That way, he can get back to his aggressive, free-swinging approach that has made him the effective hitter he is today. In doing so, he can keep things simple by just focusing on getting on base, rather than thinking too much in more run-producing situations. As for Justin Turner, who has cooled off considerably since his hot start to the season, the Jays should move him to his most productive spot, which is in the three-hole. With a career .293 average and .857 OPS with 107 home runs and 371 RBI in 647 games in that slot, along with putting Guerrero behind him for protection, Turner should flourish under such circumstances.

For George Springer and Daulton Varsho, keeping them in the lower parts of the batting order can keep them out of the spotlight and enable them to focus on getting their game back on track without too much fanfare. Finally, the remaining spots in the lineup can then be filled out based on matchups. All in all, when the right combination is deployed, we should get to see more of what we witnessed this past Monday going forward.