The Blue Jays' big three needs to be better

It's no secret the Blue Jays haven't had much power this year. While they currently have a lineup built around home runs hitters, they've only been able to muster 25 home runs on the season, which is the lowest total in MLB.

That lack of power is perhaps one of the biggest reasons why they entered play on Wednesday with a record of 16-19.

With that in mind, it shouldn't come as a surprise that ESPN's Bradford Doolittle highlighted that power outage as the thing that needs to change for the Blue Jays.

"After the formerly punchless Royals hammered seven homers in Baltimore on Sunday, the Blue Jays sank to last in the majors with 23 homers," Doolittle wrote earlier this week. "The power trio of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Anthony Santander, and Bo Bichette have hit nine of those dingers between them and that's just not enough."

"Guerrero will be fine. Bichette has recovered most of the batting average he lost during last year's .225 season, but he has homered only once. This is a player in his age-27 season who topped 20 homers in each season from 2021 to 2023. Finally, Santander has flailed during his first Toronto season, hitting four homers with a 67 OPS+. This can't continue if the Jays are to contend."

The Blue Jays' big three needs to be better

But that lack of power doesn't mean that there isn't some power upside in the lineup. There's perhaps no one that embodies that potential of power not lining up with on-field production more than Anthony Santander.

Santander belted 44 home runs last year with the Orioles, and he also has another 30+ homer season on his ledger (he mashed 33 in 2022). He has been disappointing this year, but this lineup could be dangerous if he turns things around at the plate. He hit a big late-game home run on Tuesday night, which could be a sign of things to come.

The season started on a high note for Guerrero after he signed a monster extension in April that will keep him as a Blue Jay for life. His power is legit (he hasn't hit 183 home runs on accident), but his power numbers are a bit lacking this year after a slow start to the year.

He's on an eight-game hitting streak and is slugging .488 over his last 11 games, so it seems like he's heating up as well.

The last member of that trio is Bichette, who is coming off a forgettable 2024 season. He slugged just four home runs last year in 81 games, but has authored a solid bounce back season so far this year. While he's only hit one home run this year, he mashed 20+ home runs from 2021-'23, so it's clear that there's some pop in his bat.

The Blue Jays also have some solid power options in Daulton Varsho (two home runs in six games) and George Springer (four home runs).

It's weird to see the Blue Jays be in last place in MLB in home runs given the talent in their lineup, but there's stilla chance they can turn things around.

To do that, they'll need their big three of Guerrero, Bichette and Santander to start to turn things around.