Toronto Blue Jays: Be patient with offence, runs will come

One of the main concerns going into the 2018 season for the Toronto Blue Jays was their offence but with a more patient approach, there should be a big improvement.

A season ago, the Toronto Blue Jays finished 26th in runs and 25th in RBI. So naturally, fans went into the off-season hoping and praying for management to add a big bat to the lineup.

When that didn’t happen, fans were ready to write off the 2018 season. However, there is reason to believe the offence will be better, and I’ll tell you why.

General manager Ross Atkins’ goal this past off-season was to add more depth to their offence. With the additions of Randal Grichuk and Yangervis Solarte, I’d say he accomplished that goal. Even though Grichuk and Solarte aren’t big names like Giancarlo Stanton or Aaron Judge, they are capable of being effective offensive players.

Grichuk was acquired last winter from the St. Louis Cardinals for Dominic Leone and Conner Greene. The past two seasons Grichuk has averaged 23 HR, 63 RBI and a .764 OPS. Those numbers make him a perfect fit as the fifth or sixth hitter.

However, because manager John Gibbons wants to put a hitter in-between Justin Smoak and Kendrys Morales, Grichuk would be the ideal player for that spot.

In a separate deal, the Blue Jays traded prospects Edward Oliveras and Jared Carkuff to the San Diego Padres for Solarte.

In the last three seasons with the Padres, Solarte has averaged 16 HR, 66 RBI and a .762 OPS. With Solarte playing in Petco Park for those seasons, you could probably add five or six more home-runs now that he’ll be batting in the hitter-friendly park the Rogers Centre.

With Donaldson occupying the DH position and leaving Morales to sit on the bench, this is when the team will need Grichuk and Solarte to step up offensively.

So far it looks like that hasn’t been a major concern, especially after Solarte hit his first home run of the season against arguably one of the Yankees’ top relief pitchers in Dellin Betances.

Two other players the Blue Jays will lean on to get their offense rolling, are Devon Travis and Smoak. The Blue Jays are relying on Smoak to repeat his performance from last season. And so far, he looks like he will do exactly that.

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In four games this season, the slugger already has two homers, eight RBI and a .467 AVG. Not to mention the game-winning grand-slam he hit to beat the Yankees in Sunday’s game.  Smoak will need to continue to swing a hot bat until the rest of the offence starts clicking.

Travis’ main goal right now is to stay healthy and contribute to the team. He has struggled at the plate in three games, hitting only .083 AVG and one RBI.

The one positive for Travis is an obvious one; he’s healthy and his surgically repaired knee looks fine too. With Travis batting lead-off, he just needs a little time to get back to his 2016 form.

With only four games gone in the season, fans just need to give the offence some time before they start judging it.

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What do you think about the Toronto Blue Jays’ offense? Let us know in the comments below. You can also share your thoughts with Thomas by messaging him on Twitter.