Toronto Blue Jays Play In Get It Done League

If many of you have watched the last few Toronto Blue Jays games on Sportsnet, it would be impossible to not hear a lot of talk from Buck Martinez and Pat Tabler about playing in the “Get it done league”.

In the minors there is a bit more tolerance for potentially not getting it done, as Josh Donaldson has also said recently, “This isn’t the try and get it done league, it’s the get it done league”.

Apr 22, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Jose Reyes (7) takes batting practice before a game against the Baltimore Orioles at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

Simply put, the Toronto Blue Jays aren’t playing well as a team, and though as always some individual numbers can pop out offensively, things aren’t being rolled together as they were earlier in the year.

Offensively though, I don’t see too much of a need for panic, it’s more about finding what their batting order is going to be every day. Guys are jumping around and we really see how Reyes is a key piece still in the lineup, as is Devon Travis.

I simply hate watching Goins hit. He goes up just looking to swing at anything close and when he does realize he needs to work a count is when he gets his first pitch down the middle heater that he was chasing for the past five at-bats. Partially unlucky, but he brings it on himself.

Josh Donaldson has a great approach this year seeing as going to the opposite field in the Rogers Centre has a lot more perks than doing so in Oakland’s ballpark. Overall I think he does more hitting in the three hole for us than anyone else. I think when the time is right that Bautista may slide into the five or two hole for us, though he obviously won’t like that and because of his ties with the Jays I see no chance Gibbons actually puts him down there, though he should and here’s why:

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Bautista is starting to sound much like he has in years past. He is frustrated and he just seems to be in a rut. To be honest, Bautista has never shown he can be a big clutch hitter for a truly contending team yet. Other guys on other teams don’t put up the same numbers, but when a guy like say Pablo Sandoval steps up in the later innings of close games he just seems to lock in. He hits his home runs but by no means is he an all or nothing guy and many of the home runs he hits are line drives that just clear the wall. When Bautista is up a lot of the time you know he’s looking for a pitch in one spot to hit in the upper deck but I want to see him be a true hitter for a while.

Donaldson has been a winner and hit third in Oakland in a division that has some very good pitching. The way he goes about his business on a day-to-day basis is how all Jays need to. He has emotion but he is controlled, the same can be said for his at-bats to go along with his stellar play at third base. Donaldson is frustrated too but it comes from a good spot.

One thing I really like about Josh is that he is always pumped after a teammate does well. Always high fives, smiles and gets guys in a good vibe. I see Bautista high-five someone after a home run or big hit and it seems he is more concerned with his previous or upcoming at bat. If he hasn’t had a good game then he doesn’t have the same emotion in the dugout and this is sad considering he’s supposed to be the ‘leader’… but he’s not.

At the end of the day with the game on the line and runners in scoring position do you want Josh or Jose up? This is a no brainer when looking at both of their end of game histories at the plate. See below some late inning heroics from Josh circa last year. I like how a few of the walk-offs are down by a couple runs when he hits them. Most of the Jays walk-off bombs always seem when it’s at least tied.

Nothing has seemed to work for the Jays this year and on the mound the importance of what Marcus Stroman meant to our staff is really being felt. The bullpen is having troubles, the starters are doing somewhat okay and the batting order is a jumble every day. Hopefully at some point in the coming weeks the team they want to field can be all together. Until then we can only hope to just hold on and hopefully get some more quality starts as they finally had from R.A. Dickey.

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