Brandon Valenzuela is back in John Schneider's lineup Sunday as the Blue Jays chase a Mother's Day sweep of the Angels.
Toronto has won the first 2 games of this series by scores of 2-0 and 14-1, so Sunday's lineup is not built around a reset. It is built around pressure, carryover, and another chance to finish the job at Rogers Centre.
George Springer leads off as the designated hitter, with Addison Barger hitting second in right field. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. stays in the 3-hole, and Kazuma Okamoto holds the cleanup spot.
That top 4 tells you what Schneider wants. Springer sets the table, Barger gets a bigger run-producing lane, and Guerrero hits in the middle of traffic instead of trying to create everything himself.
Jesús Sánchez bats fifth in left, Daulton Varsho hits sixth in center, and Ernie Clement lands seventh at second base. Andrés Giménez is at shortstop in the 8 spot, with Valenzuela catching and batting ninth.
Valenzuela is the name that jumps off this lineup card because Schneider is riding the hot hand again. He went 4-for-5 with a home run in Saturday's 14-1 blowout, and that kind of night usually earns another start.
The bigger point is that Toronto is not treating him like a fill-in right now. A catcher hitting ninth can still change the length of a lineup when he is driving the ball, and Valenzuela has done exactly that this weekend.
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The Blue Jays are leaning into what worked
Barger's placement matters too. One day after his 101.2 mph throw cut down Jorge Soler at the plate, he is right back near the top of the order, which says Schneider wants his bat and his arm in the middle of everything.
This lineup also keeps Varsho and Giménez lower, which can turn the bottom third into more than a dead zone. If Valenzuela reaches, Springer gets a shot to hit with movement already on the bases.
And that is the feel of this card. It is not flashy for the sake of it. It is a manager sticking with the group that just piled up 20 hits and never let the Angels breathe Saturday.
Toronto enters Sunday at 18-21 and still has ground to make up in the division, so a sweep is not just a nice weekend finish. It would give the Blue Jays a 3-game push after a rough stretch and keep some momentum in the dugout heading into the next turn.
On Mother's Day, Schneider did not overthink it. He kept Valenzuela in, kept Barger high, left Guerrero in the middle, and handed his club a lineup built to finish off the Angels.
Should Brandon Valenzuela stay in the Blue Jays lineup even after Alejandro Kirk returns?
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