John Schneider isn't blinking. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is back in the three hole again this afternoon, slump and all, as the Blue Jays chase a series win in San Francisco.
Guerrero is hitting .259 this season with just four home runs, and he's cratered to .147 over his last 10 games.
That's the kind of stretch that gets hitters moved down in a lot of lineups. Schneider clearly isn't there yet.
The rest of the card looks familiar after Tuesday's rout. Ernie Clement leads off at second base, and he's hitting .298 with a .306 average over his last 10 games.
Nathan Lukes bats second in right field, hitting .285 on the year, ahead of Guerrero and George Springer, who slots in at designated hitter.
Springer is hitting just .221 this season, though he's picked things up lately with a .238 average over his last 10 games.
Daulton Varsho bats fifth in center field, and his .246 season average has slipped hard recently, down to .094 over his last 10 games.
Jonatan Clase gets another shot after his loud debut
Kazuma Okamoto hits sixth at third base, and his 20 home runs lead the position players in that lineup even with a .235 average.
Alejandro Kirk catches and bats seventh, sitting at .182 for the season and .152 over his last 10 games, a rough stretch by any measure.
Jonatan Clase bats eighth in left field in just his second career game, and he already has a home run to show for it.
Andres Gimenez rounds out the order at shortstop, hitting .234 on the season with a slightly better .259 mark over his last 10 games.
Sticking with a struggling hitter in a premium spot is a little like refusing to fold a bad poker hand because you've already put money in the pot.
Does loyalty to a name like Guerrero make sense in the middle of a slump this deep, or is it time to protect him with a lower-pressure spot?
Toronto sits at 43-49 and third in the American League East, and this afternoon's finale in San Francisco is a chance to build on Tuesday's momentum before this lineup gets tested again.
Should John Schneider drop Vladimir Guerrero Jr. out of the three hole given his recent slump?
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