Toronto aggressive in 'more complex' game

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Blue Jays have come out swinging in 2021 ... at everything.

They saw just four pitches in the first inning of Friday’s 13-1 loss to the Astros at Sahlen Field, continuing a trend that’s both fueled their success and held them back, depending on the night.

No team in baseball has swung at more first pitches (62%) than the Blue Jays, but it’s not all blind aggression. They also entered Friday with the third-highest swing rate when it comes to pitches in the strike zone (69.9%), so they’re attacking the good ones, too. This is a matter of identity, and of the Blue Jays’ lineup trying to play to its own strengths.

Contact hitters don’t swing for the fences, catchers don’t steal bases, and the Blue Jays don’t wait around.

“I’m sure the front office and coaches wish we were a little more patient, but that’s just the kind of hitters we have in this lineup,” said Marcus Semien, who just won the American League Player of the Month Award by being, well, aggressive. “We have guys who swing the bat. We have guys who take walks here and there, but at the end of the day, you still want to do damage. The Mike Trouts of the world or the Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s are the guys who do both. It’s hard to hit for power and get on base. That’s why, when you do both, you see the MVP.”

Guerrero is, of course, the outlier. He’s capable of jumping on pitches, like he did when he went 4-for-4 in Tuesday’s opener against the Marlins at Sahlen Field on just seven pitches. Guerrero swings at 44.7% of pitches, which is below average, but clearly has some more trigger-happy hitters around him, led by Randal Grichuk (55.8%), Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (55.3%) and Bo Bichette (54.7%).

Bichette embodies this as well as anyone. The 23-year-old shortstop tends to live in battle mode, falling to 0-2 or 1-2 then trying to shoot a rocket the other way.

“There’s a lot of ways to get on base,” Semien explained. “Back when I first got called up, a lot of coaches and coordinators would talk about having a ‘good at-bat.’ A lot of [guys] now in our clubhouse are thinking, ‘What is a good at-bat?’ If I get on base, that’s the goal, right? If you get a hit on the first pitch or you walk on 10 pitches, what’s the difference? The only difference is you made that pitcher work more, but everybody in the bullpen throws 100. It’s a little more complex now.”

Semien has a point. As bullpen usage and pitching roles have changed drastically across baseball, there needs to be a reaction from lineups. Aggression isn’t the fool-proof answer here, but for a team like the Blue Jays, it often will be. The drawback, of course, is that aggressive approaches lead to streaky hitting, which we saw in Friday’s loss as the Blue Jays put up just six hits.

Manager Charlie Montoyo has changed his thinking on this as the game has evolved, too. When he sees his lineup taking early hacks, he sees something that is working. The Blue Jays rank near the very top of the Major Leagues when it comes to runs, homers, average, OPS or most other offensive stats, so why should it matter how they get there?

“Pitching in the big leagues is nasty,” Montoyo said. “If you get a fastball down the middle 0-0, be ready to hit. Same on 3-0, that might be the only time you get a fastball. Things have changed. You take a 3-0 fastball, now it’s a 3-1 slider. Things have changed. When you get a chance and see a fastball, be aggressive with it. We’ve done a good job of that.”

There will be thin days like Friday, of course, but this one was always out of reach after Hyun Jin Ryu gave up an uncharacteristic six earned runs over 5 2/3 innings, then Tyler Chatwood allowed five runs on six hits without recording a single out, continuing a worrying stretch of play for him.

The Blue Jays view the aggression of their lineup as a core strength, regardless of the inconsistencies that come along with it, so they’ll need to eat the nights where it looks like a flaw along the way.