It’s my Parting Shot to call for at least one change, although many are needed, with the 2024 edition of the Toronto Blue Jays…..
A 15-17 start! Yes, I know the Major League Baseball season is a marathon, not a sprint, and that there are still 130 more Jays’ games to go – but Canadian baseball fans will abandon them and leave the team as a Toronto team only unless things change!
I still believe the Blue Jays should rid themselves of President Mark Shapiro and G-M Ross Atkins, but they seem to hold immunity idols with Ted Rogers – so time to look at other moves!
How about the offence? In short, it is offensive! The Jays are 24th in the Majors and 12th in the American League in team batting average at .225 going into today’s action. There are only 30 M-L-B teams and 15 in the A-L, you know. Toronto’s 111 runs scored, or slightly under three-and-a-half per game, is more than only even more sad sack Major League teams like Oakland, the Chi Sox and St. Louis! The Jays’ pitching is 23rd in the Majors with a four-point-three-four earned run-average, but is under pressure to be outstanding considering the lack of offence!
Individually, the supposed Blue Jays’ stars that have been with the team for a while, have flat-out failed them! George Springer is the lead-off hitter and has a .212 average, Bo Bichette is struggling just above the “Mendoza line” at .205 and Vladimir Guerrero Junior is hitting a, cue the sarcasm metre, stellar .231! Those three have combined for seven home runs! There are 21 major leaguers who have hit that many dingers on their own!
Shapiro and Atkins are convinced that second-generation players like Guerrero, Bichette and Cavan Biggio will come close to matching what their star fathers did in the Majors. Fans know better than Biggio will never be a Hall-of-Famer like his dad Craig, Bichette has been better than father Dante, but Bo is slumping hard right now and may need a change of scenery. And, Vlad Guerrero Senior rivalled Roberto Clemente for being able to hit bad pitches and make something happen, getting them both to Hall-of-Fame! Vlad Junior is a D-R-K right now – a Designated Rally Killer!
Manager John Schneider and pitching coach Pete Walker aren’t exempt, but I fear one or both of them will get axed before any players are moved or the Shapiro-Atkins disaster tandem is shown the door!
Bring on the Saskatoon Berries!!
That’s my Parting Shot, I’m Les Lazaruk…..
