From a hot start to a 4-5 record early on this season, the Toronto Blue Jays have run into an early-season injury bug. Toronto has also suffered its first series sweep, and the Chicago White Sox came to play against the American League champions.
Toronto was looking to bounce back after a series loss to the Colorado Rockies, and they dropped game one 5-4 in the 10th inning, game two 6-3, and the final game 3-0.
This series wasn’t ideal for the Blue Jays, not only because of the series sweep, but also because they lost starting catcher Alejandro Kirk due to a left thumb fracture suffered in game one of this series.
While it was ugly as it gets for Toronto, a team that dropped five of its last six games and suffered back-to-back series losses, there’s a ton of time for things to turn around.
Toronto is now in a must-win situation for its next series, but it won’t be easy, given it’s a 2025 World Series rematch. The Los Angeles Dodgers are off to a hot start to begin their season, and they’ll look to continue that against Toronto.
The Blue Jays extended their losing streak to four games against the White Sox. Here are three takeaways from the Blue Jays and White Sox series.
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Kazuma Okamoto’s Strikeout Rate is Raising Early Concerns
It felt like just a little while ago that you saw the promise in Kazuma Okamoto on the Toronto Blue Jays. Now, you’re seeing another side of Okamoto that is raising some concerns just nine games into his MLB career.
In nine games, he’s had 34 at-bats, and in 17 of those, he’s struck out. He’s been incredibly reliable for the Blue Jays defensively, but this side of the game is coming at the wrong time.
Okamoto leads the team in strikeouts and sits third in the at-bat category behind George Springer (38) and Ernie Clement (37). Springer is second in strikeouts with 13, and Clement is near the bottom of the list with just two strikeouts.
Why is Okamoto’s strikeout rate so concerning? It’s because he’s sitting at a 50% strikeout rate right now. Bat discipline isn’t an issue either, but it’s more than that. Okamoto is getting out primarily by striking out. You might ask why bat discipline isn’t an issue, but the numbers argue that it is, and that’s solely based on the fact that Okamoto has shown great control when it comes to swinging the bat at times.
This is a trend that I’m going to track, and it’s one to watch as Okamoto hits either cleanup or fifth in the Jays’ lineup right now.
Lack of Offence Makes it Hard to Compete in Winnable Games
The Toronto Blue Jays are in a situation where they need at least something to happen in each game, and they still aren’t getting the bare minimum. Home runs are nice, but that is not going to win the Blue Jays games outright.
Getting on base consistently is becoming a problem for the Blue Jays, and when they do manage to get a couple of runners on base, the bats disappear entirely. Across nine games, they’ve left 72 runners on base, and that is a problem that is starting to take shape.
The issue outright isn’t getting on base; the Blue Jays don’t have a problem with that. Stringing hits together consecutively is also a problem starting to take shape, and that relates to players in the Jays’ lineup striking out more often than not.
Scoring just seven runs against the White Sox should raise alarm bells. The team looked lost at the plate, and when they had players on base, nobody could capitalize on scoring runs when the Jays needed it most.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are going to be no easy opponent, and Toronto needs to figure out its offensive issues quickly. The Blue Jays are set to face Justin Wrobleski in game one, Yoshinobu Yamamoto in game two and Shohei Ohtani in game three.
Blue Jays Aren’t Playing Simple Baseball Well Early This Season
Tyler Heineman was incredibly hard on himself after a couple of throws that should’ve turned into routine plays in back-to-back games. Both of them proved costly as Chicago capitalized on the mistakes to emerge victorious.
Other plays throughout the series equalled Heineman’s, but everything piled up equally into an ugly weekend for the Blue Jays.
I’ve already mentioned the Blue Jays’ shortcomings at the plate, but some pitches their batters chased were questionable.
Eric Lauer, who wasn’t playing at 100% this game, wanted to play for the Blue Jays even though he is fighting the flu. He wasn’t able to find his game, and he managed to just pitch three innings where he walked three and struck out none.
Per manager John Schenider, Lauer wasn’t the only player dealing with flu-like symptoms.
That could answer a ton of questions as to what happened against the Chicago White Sox, but for now, the Blue Jays need to reset for a big series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
