Why Blue Jays Should Approach Final Week with These Lineup Adjustments
It has been a less-than-ideal season for the Toronto Blue Jays, who went into the season with aspirations of a World Series title after just missing the ring a mere offseason ago. However, things have not gone according to plan.
After their loss against the Texas Rangers Saturday night, the Blue Jays have fallen behind the mediocre turtle race that is in play for the final AL wild card spot and are three games under .500 as well as three games behind the Chicago White Sox.
Well, with only seven games left on the year, it is going to be nearly impossible for the Jays to even make the postseason, which means that they have to look ahead to next year, which means salvaging key players moving forward.
At first glance, there are a couple of players who desperately need to be benched for the remainder of the year, while others should be shut down entirely just to avoid injury. So, for the final week, let's see both Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Ernie Clement ride the bench while Louis Varland, Dylan Cease, Trey Yesavage, Mason Fluharty, and Jose Soriano stay away from the game entirely.
Benching Clement and Guerrero Makes a Whole Lot of Sense
It is truly hard to fathom the drop-off that Guerrero Jr. has had this season, as he has been begging for a move down the batting order, and while it is a team game, Vladdy is solely responsible for his team's downfall because if he had been even half as competent, it would have never come to this.
Then, there is Clement, who went from his first All-Star selection to one of the worst hitters in the game, with a sub-75 WRC+ since the All-Star break. As the offense has seemingly failed to score runs all year, it means that both Charles McAdoo and Sean Keys should get consistent chances over the last week.
Too Much Pitching Talent the Team Can’t Risk Injury With
To say that the bullpen has not been the root cause of the issues this season would be entirely fair. Miles, Varland, and Fluharty can absolutely not afford any injury this year, as it would deter the entirety of next season.
But just preserving the pen isn't in the best interests of the team, as Soriano and Cease need to have made their final starts of the yea,r while Yesavage needs to be shut down altogether. Yesavage has tried very hard to make it back before the regular season was over, but now it is time to rest.
The circumstances are truly unfortunate for Toronto, but if an injury with the pitching staff were to happen at this point in the year, said pitcher could miss the entirety of 2027, and that truly isn't worth it.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.