After being swept by the Tampa Bay Rays last week at Tropicana Field, the Toronto Blue Jays were beaten by their division rivals again on Monday night at Rogers Centre.
The Jays lost 8-5 to fall to 18-23 on the season. The Rays surprisingly lead the American League East at 27-13 – the best record in the AL.
Kevin Gausman reached a major career milestone, but gave up six earned runs on 10 hits over 4.2 innings and the offense struck out 10 times.
It's easy to blame the Blue Jays massive injury situation for the team's struggles, and it certainly is a major part of them, but it's also fair to note that some of the expected productivity from the guys who are playing hasn't been there either. Especially recently.
Jeff Hoffman was removed from his closer's spot earlier in the campaign and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is mired in a situation unlike one he's ever been in.
As noted by Damon of Just Baseball:
Vladimir Guerrero Jr has now gone FIFTY (50) straight plate appearances without recording a singular XBH. It is the longest drought of his career.
His OPS has dropped .149 points in the last 13 days.
Guerrero is still hitting .300 with a .773 OPS, but the precipitous drop in extra-base hits means that the Blue Jays are not getting the kind of performance they need out of their highest-paid player. He hasn't had an extra-base hit since April 28 and hasn't homered since April 20. He has only two home runs and seven doubles on the campaign.
His task won't get any easier on Tuesday as the Jays take on the red-shot Shane McClanahan. Back from two season's worth of injuries, McClanahan is 4-2 with a 2.60 ERA.
Left-hander Patrick Corbin is on the mound for Toronto, and he's 1-1 with a 3.60 ERA.
Elsewhere in Blue Jays news
–Yariel Rodriguez, recently returned to the 40-man roster, made his season debut on Monday, throwing a scoreless ninth inning. He walked one and struck out two. Signed to a deal worth more than $30 million before the 2024 season, Rodriguez is in the third year of a four-year deal.
–The Blue Jays also designated veteran left-hander Eric Lauer for assignment this week. A valuable pitcher in the 2025 run to the World Series, the Blue Jays will look to trade him or release him if they can't find any takers.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Remember to join our BLUE JAYS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Blue Jays fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!
