This story was excerpted from Keegan Matheson’s Blue Jays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
TORONTO -- It’s taken a while, but it finally feels like the Blue Jays’ lineup is waking up after sleeping in.
Home runs were always going to be the alarm clock when this time came. It started with a couple of big, come-from-behind wins over the Red Sox this week that shifted the energy of the club. And if you listen to manager John Schneider, he’ll tell you without an ounce of doubt that momentum is a real, meaningful thing in baseball.
Now, to keep this rolling, the Blue Jays need some individual players to get hot at the right time. George Springer has been the star of the show and looks completely reborn in the cleanup spot this season, while Vladimir Guerrero Jr., slowly but surely, is starting to drive the ball more consistently. Bo Bichette needs to be part of this solution, too, and it’s been entirely too long since he saw one go over the wall. But these three hitters have the potential to be part of the solution:
Santander’s three-run, game-tying home run against the Red Sox earlier this week felt like the moment that would catapult him forward. It’s May now, so as Schneider put it after that win, it’s time for Santander “to go off.”
Still, he began the weekend batting .178 with a .571 OPS.
“He walks into the clubhouse like a guy who hit 44 home runs every day,” general manager Ross Atkins said Friday. “Nothing ever changes with him or his work ethic. We talk about work ethic all the time and I think about it every time I say, ‘These guys are the hardest-working guys,’ but Tony’s routine and his commitment to being the best he can possibly be is as good as it gets. It’s like Marcus Semien level, up there with anyone.”
Slow Aprils are nothing new for Santander, so the Blue Jays had to expect this up to a certain point. The coaching staff has spent a lot of time talking about how the players in their clubhouse are managing early struggles mentally -- which they’ve been impressed with -- and it sounds like Santander is leading that.
“No one wants to see anyone struggle,” Atkins said, “but it’s powerful for all teammates and all involved when you see someone going through a less-than-ideal stretch and handle it with grace.”
Kirk’s season numbers aren’t impressive just yet, but he’s looked like a different hitter over the past 10 days.
“He’s taking better, more aggressive swings,” Schneider said, “and he’s controlling the zone. He’s on a good little roll and I think that’s what it really comes down to, nothing crazy or different in his work. He’s taking some intentful swings.”
Having that out of the fifth spot in the lineup is so important for the Blue Jays, especially if Santander heats up on the other side of Springer and Kirk starts having more RBI opportunities. He has the power to drive the ball in big spots, but also the high-end contact tool to simply put a ball in play with a runner on third. At his best, he can be an old-school “run producer” and adjust his game to the moment.
We’re starting to see the Kirk we saw in Spring Training again, and that’s a dangerous hitter.
Clement has played excellent defense and is quietly one of the best baserunners on this team, but the hits just aren’t falling yet. He has the same high-end contact tool we see from Kirk, but it feels like Clement is a small adjustment away from making that work in his favor.
“Ernie’s at his best when he’s aggressive and it’s no secret that he is an aggressive hitter,” Schneider said. “Teams are kind of expanding the zone on him. It comes and it goes. We don’t want him to lose his aggression, but it’s probably the way he’s being pitched. He wants to do well, he wants to perform and that can creep into it sometimes, too. I love the way he’s playing defense and not letting it impact what he’s doing at third. I think it’s just one of those things where teams are being a little more aggressive out of the zone with him.”
Clement entered the weekend with a .536 OPS, so the Blue Jays clearly need a bit more from him offensively, but that should come and he’ll be given every opportunity to do so at third.