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The Toronto Blue Jays have big plans to help with their lack of offense
Photo credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
The Toronto Blue Jays are typically criticized for their lack of power at the plate, but lately, a new concern has surfaced, their growing inability to handle fastballs.
When the Tampa Bay Rays swept the Blue Jays last weekend, limiting them to only two runs across three games, they overwhelmed Toronto's hitters with a barrage of fastballs, a surprising tactic from one of MLB's least fastball-reliant pitching staffs.
Should the Blue Jays shuffle the lineup to jumpstart their offense?
Nick Ashbourne from Sportsnet writes that given this emerging trend, the key question now is: how have the Blue Jays fared against fastballs so far in 2025, and are they built to handle a steady dose of heat as the season progresses.
"While Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and George Springer have handled these pitches well, everyone else has ranged between mediocre and decidedly unimpressive. That said, it's only been approximately a third of a season, which is a pretty small sample for data on individual pitch types." -Ashbourne
By now, you might be thinking that the Blue Jays' 2025 lineup was never expected to be elite, so it's not exactly shocking that they've struggled against fastballs in recent seasons, with the notable exception of Guerrero Jr.
"In past seasons, the Blue Jays' lineup was criticized for having too many hitters with similar profiles who could be pitched to in broadly the same way. In recent seasons, Toronto has evened out its group from a right-left perspective, but it's come around to a new problem despite its more balanced configuration." -Ashbourne
Once again, this is a lineup that pitchers can settle into a groove against by sticking to one approach. Regardless, most of these hitters have a tough time handling a steady diet of fastballs.
| POLL | ||
MAI 29 | 639 ANSWERS The Toronto Blue Jays have big plans to help with their lack of offense Should the Blue Jays shuffle their lineup to jumpstart their slumping offense? | ||
| yes | 534 | 83.6 % |
| no | 105 | 16.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
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