Jays GM Ross Atkins still believes in his struggling offence

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This article was published 18/05/2022 (1257 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

General manager Ross Atkins gave a vote of confidence on Wednesday afternoon to a struggling Blue Jays lineup that was supposed to be one of the best in the major leagues and, through six weeks of the season, has yet to live up to the hype.

The results after 38 games haven’t been there, but Atkins still likes what he sees. He trusts the track records of those who haven’t produced, believes in the process they’re going through to turn things around, and feels like it’s only a matter of time before the lineup breaks out.

That didn’t happen a few hours later as the Jays put up another dud in a 5-1 loss to the Seattle Mariners. This supposedly powerful lineup ranks 23rd in the majors with 140 runs, 18th with a .679 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, and only the Pittsburgh Pirates have performed worse with runners in scoring position than the Jays’ average of .190.

“Obviously we’ve seen some frustration from them, and they know that we have some guys that aren’t performing quite to the levels they performed in the past, but it is early,” Atkins told reporters while sitting inside the home dugout at Rogers Centre. “I know that’s not exciting to hear, but for me what’s exciting to think about is what’s ahead because of the potential … Their preparation is exactly where we want it.”

There have been some encouraging signs of late, despite the lack of runs. After a slow start, Bo Bichette has a .299 average and .847 OPS over his last 17 games. Second baseman Santiago Espinal extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a pair of singles against Seattle, and has hit .375 over that span. The Jays catchers have combined to hit .285, highest in the majors.

Elsewhere, there are problems. Nobody expects Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to be held down for much longer, but his .838 OPS is well short of last year’s 1.002 and, while it’s true that offensive numbers have dipped across the league, he currently ranks 28th in that department. Then there’s Matt Chapman, who still hasn’t looked anything like the MVP candidate he was a few years ago.

More troubling is the outfield, which was supposed to be a strength and instead has become a liability, at least in the short term. An oblique injury to Teoscar Hernandez provides one reason, but it doesn’t explain what’s happening in left where Lourdes Gurriel Jr. has been missing in action all year with a .227 average. No team in baseball has a lower OPS from its left fielders than the .560 OPS the Jays have produced.

Unfortunately for the Jays, this is what they’ve come to expect from Gurriel. He disappears for long stretches and then goes on a run where it looks the 28-year-old is one of the top hitters in the league. The Cuban is a feast-or-famine player, and while his production has been lacking, the Jays expect things will turn around, because they always have before. The timing, however, became even less clear when Gurriel departed Wednesday’s game after five innings with left hamstring tightness.

“He’s streaky. At the end of the day, he ends up hitting close to .300, the .280s,” Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said, adding after the game that Gurriel is considered day to day. “However, he gets there, it doesn’t really matter. When he gets hot, he gets hot. You can see it right away, when he gets hot, he stops chasing and getting good pitches and then he goes.”

Earlier this week, the Kansas City Royals became the first team to fire their hitting coach this season. There have been some calls through sports radio and reader emails for the Jays to do the same, but it would be out of character for this organization to make such a rash decision. Besides, who would they fire?

The Jays don’t just have one hitting coach, they have several. Guillermo Martinez has the official title, but Hunter Mense works alongside him as an assistant, as does “hitting strategist” Dave Hudgens. Dante Bichette, no longer employed by the team in an official capacity, has chipped in a lot over the last calendar year as well. Singling out someone on the coaching staff would make them nothing more than a scapegoat.

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The biggest issue is plate discipline, or the lack thereof. The Jays have swung at 33.2 per cent of pitches outside the zone, 11th most in the majors. They’ve also swung at 49.1 per cent of all pitches thrown their way, which is seventh highest. Coaches can work with players as much as they want, but having a good eye is not a skill that can be easily taught. It’s up to the guys on the roster to figure it out.

“The things I think will frustrate a coaching staff, players, fans, executives are when there are good pitches to hit that we’re not driving, and I’m not seeing that a ton,” Atkins said.” The pitching has been very, very good. There’s tons of velo, they’re executing sliders. Yes, we’ve chased more than we like, but it’s been really good pitching and I don’t want to lose sight of that. But when we’re good, we’re executing our game plan exceptionally well. This isn’t from a lack of effort.”

Atkins believes in this group, as he should with this much talent, but even if he didn’t there wouldn’t be much that could be done about it. The window when most trades get done is still another month or two away from opening.

There might be some finger-pointing happening elsewhere but, inside Rogers Centre, the Jays know it’s on them to figure this out. The good thing is there’s still ample opportunity to make it happen.

Gregor Chisholm is a Toronto-based baseball columnist for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @GregorChisholm or reach him via email: gchisholm@thestar.ca