On Thursday, the Toronto Blue Jays required some ninth-inning offense to avoid becoming the first team no-hit in 2019.
Although the season is just a week old, the Blue Jays have made a habit out of being shut down early. Thursday's game was their eighth contest of the season -- it was the fourth time they'd been held without a hit over the first six frames; it was the third time they'd been held hitless through seven. Woof.
The #BlueJays have played eight games so far this season. This is the fourth time they have entered the sixth inning without any hits.
— Gregor Chisholm (@gregorMLB) April 4, 2019
You might be asking, dear reader, just what about these Blue Jays have made them so prone to being shut down? The short answer is, well, they aren't good. Consider that this was the lineup the Blue Jays trotted out there against the Blue Jays on Thursday:
Brandon Drury
Socrates Brito
Randal Grichuk
Rowdy Tellez
Danny Jansen
Billy McKinney
Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
Freddy Galvis
Alen Hanson
We punched those names into our proprietary translation software. Here's what it spit out, along with each player's career OPS+:
Not Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (91)
Well-named recent trade addition who was previously on waivers (49)
Fine and recently enriched outfielder (111)
Fan favorite who has impressed in a small sample (168)
Quality young catcher with rec specs (95)
Budding journeyman on his fourth org (100)
Gurriel the Younger (100)
Glove-only shortstop (80)
Recent trade addition who was previously on waivers (76)
Obviously we're being pithy by design, but look at that bunch. That's one player with a season's worth of plate appearances who checks in as an average or better hitter; three who have in limited samples; two who are better suited as reserves; and two more who could hit the waiver wire again tomorrow without any objection.
To Toronto's credit, the lineup does look better when Justin Smoak is healthy and Teoscar Hernandez is slotted into a corner. It's still not a great nine. Entering Tuesday, the Blue Jays had posted an 84 wRC+ as a team -- that's the eighth-worst mark in baseball and dropping.
The bright side for Blue Jays fans is that hope is on the way in the form of prospects. Guerrero should be up once he heals, and he could be joined by the likes of Bo Bichette, Anthony Alford, and Cavan Biggio. At that point, Toronto will have the makings of a legitimate lineup.
The dim side is that, until then, the Blue Jays could continue to be the catalyst for push notifications telling of an in-progress no-hit bid.
