The Toronto Blue Jays are looking for a big win tonight to open their series against Tampa Bay, and the lineup card leans on the same core group that's carried this team all year.
Ernie Clement leads off again at second base, hitting .295 on the season, still one of the most consistent bats in this order night after night.
Nathan Lukes bats second in right field at .282, setting the table ahead of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who slots in at first base batting third.
Guerrero sits at .262 with six home runs, still searching for the kind of power surge that's defined most of his career to this point.
George Springer bats cleanup as designated hitter, and he's picked up a bit lately, now up to 10 home runs on the season despite a .219 average.
Kazuma Okamoto follows at third base, and his 22 home runs remain the clear power anchor of this entire lineup even with a modest .234 average.
Daulton Varsho bats sixth in center field at .241, looking for more consistency after a season full of stretches that never quite connected.
Straw's spot at the bottom brings real speed to the order
Alejandro Kirk catches and bats seventh, still working through a rough season at .204, a number that hasn't moved much in either direction lately.
Andres Gimenez rounds out the middle infield at shortstop batting eighth, hitting .233 with seven home runs of his own this year.
Myles Straw closes out the order in left field, hitting .225 with three homers across 87 games, bringing real speed and defensive value to the bottom of this lineup.
It's a group that blends steady production up top with more modest bats further down, the kind of construction a team leans on during a season full of injuries and roster shuffling.
Does this lineup have enough juice to deliver the big win Toronto wants tonight, or does the bottom third need to simply get on base and let the top of the order do the damage?
Toronto sits at 46-52, last in the American League East, and a strong start against Tampa Bay would go a long way toward building on last week's message from John Schneider about needing more from this offense.
Does this Blue Jays lineup have enough firepower to beat the Rays tonight?
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