There's No Questioning This Blue Jays Offense

Vlad Guerrero Jr. couldn’t contain his smile as he bounced in front of the Blue Jays dugout, clapping as he watched Lourdes Gurriel Jr. pull a well-placed cutter towards the left-field wall.

As the ball soared into the clear Boston sky, George Springer and Teoscar Hernandez slapped each other on the chest and pointed toward the middle of the field, willing the hit to stay fair as it cleared the Green Monster.

Gurriel’s solo shot was Toronto’s second home run of the frame and pulled the Blue Jays up 4-0. In the first inning of Sunday’s game alone, the Blue Jays had six pieces of contact hit over 95 MPH. Two of Toronto’s hard-hit balls were improbably caught, but it didn’t matter. Six home runs later, the Blue Jays bashed open a 14-run lead to put on a Fenway Park firework show. Bullpen questions remain and the rotation deserves credit, but this elite lineup defines the 2021 Toronto Blue Jays, and it will only get better.

"I’m hoping it can be like that every day," Hernandez said. "So we can have fun and laugh the whole game.”

In the fourth inning, Bo Bichette ran fingers along the grip of his bat and readjusted his helmet looking at the third pitch of the at bat. He watched a nasty breaking ball soar out of the zone for ball three, working well ahead of Boston’s Ryan Weber. Two pitches later, he slashed a liner into right field for one of his four hits on the contest.

The Blue Jays early laser show set up the rest of their game. It allowed Bichette to take borderline pitches, allowed Robbie Ray to continue to attack the zone as he has all season, and it let Toronto work burn Boston’s long reliever with the series finale scheduled for tomorrow. Boston’s best pitcher of the day was infielder Marwin Gonzalez, who pitched a clean eighth inning with a 50 MPH eephus pitch.

“It’s fun to watch,” Manager Charlie Montoyo said.

Boston relievers dove out of the way as a 111 MPH Guerrero liner crashed into the Red Sox bullpen in the seventh. Over two-thirds of Toronto’s lineup hit a home run Sunday. The only starting Jay without a hit, Riley Adams, had one of the loudest outs of the game with a 400-foot first inning flyout that would’ve left 10 MLB ballparks.

Blue Jays starter Robbie Ray didn't know how to approach Toronto's lineup on a day like today, he said.

"Just try to get them to hit the ball at someone," Ray said. "The way we were swinging today was really impressive."

The Blue Jays gave $150 million to three-time All Star and MVP candidate George Springer this offseason, and they lead the league in home runs despite him playing only four games. The Blue Jays' first five hitters in the current lineup are all hitting over .270, and the top four have OPS over .800.

“What we did today is what we’re gonna show most of the time when we play," Hernandez said. "Springer is going to bring even more danger to our lineup.”

On Sunday Toronto’s bullpen still allowed a run and Robbie Ray let up three himself, but any imperfections were smoothed over by the offensive showcase. The Blue Jays won’t put up double-digit runs every game, and they’ll need all phases to win ball games, but this high-ceiling offense is their defining feature.

Toronto will go as far as their ever-improving lineup can take them, and on days like today that sure looks like October.

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