Takeaways from Blue Jays' series vs. AL West

ARLINGTON -- The Blue Jays’ first trip through the American League West could not have gone any better. The second one could not have gone much worse.

Clay Buchholz surrendered seven runs on eight hits over four innings in the Blue Jays’ 10-2 loss to the Rangers on Sunday afternoon at Globe Life Park. Toronto finished its six-game trip through Anaheim and Arlington with a 1-5 record, after previously going 3-0 last month in Oakland.

• Box score

Eric Sogard once again provided one of the few high points for the Blue Jays as he launched his fourth home run of the season. The solo shot was all Toronto could muster vs. lefty Drew Smyly, who allowed two hits and a pair of walks over four innings. The 10 runs were the most the Blue Jays have allowed on the road this season, and the game even featured a scoreless inning from catcher Luke Maile, who recorded a three-up, three-down eighth, including a strikeout.

“It was kind of a tough game for everybody, so obviously it’s not encouraging when somebody like me comes in to pitch,” Maile said. “But I had fun with it. You just have to make the most of it, and I felt like we did it.”

Here are the top five takeaways from Toronto’s road trip:

1) Slamming Sogard
When the Blue Jays signed Sogard to a Minor League contract on Dec. 21, the move received next-to-no attention. He was considered veteran infield depth and not much more. The expectation was that Sogard would be buried in the Minors, and with a glut of infielders, there didn't seem to be much hope of making the Major League roster.

Oh, how things have changed since then. Devon Travis got hurt, and then Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was demoted to Triple-A Buffalo. After a brief experiment with Richard Urena, Sogard received his shot, and he has been on fire ever since. The 32-year-old has reached base in all but one of his 15 games with Toronto. His 21 hits through 15 games are tied for fourth most in franchise history to begin a Blue Jays career. He's batting .375 with a 1.166 OPS, and the Blue Jays are going to ride his hot bat until it cools off.

“Just trying not to do too much and getting good pitches to hit,” Sogard said after the game. “I love seeing a lot of pitches and working the counts. The more pitches I see, the more comfortable I get, so that’s something that’s been putting me in a good position.”

2) The struggling outfield
Simply put, the Blue Jays need to start getting more production from their outfielders. Toronto's outfielders entered play Sunday ranked 28th in the Majors with a .203 average, 30th with a .264 on-base percentage and 29th with a .310 slugging percentage. Randal Grichuk has been decent enough in center, but the other three -- Billy McKinney, Teoscar Hernandez and Socrates Brito -- have been really struggling to put consistent at-bats together.

Despite the lack of success, everyone's job appear safe, except for possibly Brito in a reserve role. No. 10 prospect Anthony Alford is slashing just .167/.261/.359 at Triple-A, and while Jonathan Davis is performing much better with a .314/.489/.571 line, he's viewed as more of a backup at the big league level. Toronto can afford to be patient with Hernandez and McKinney for now, but at some point that patience will wear off.

"Confidence is everything for hitting," Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said of Hernandez, who has been trying to improve his plate discipline this year. "And there is the potential that that lack of decisiveness is impacting him right now. But I’m very confident that it will turn for him. And for McKinney as well."

3) The Guerrero watch
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went 2-for-18 on this road trip and clearly hasn't gotten off to the type of start most people expected, but it's only a matter of time before he figures things out. The 20-year-old has put multiple balls in play above a 100 mph exit velocity, but he's hitting far too many ground balls. Guerrero entered play Sunday with a ground-ball percentage of 66.7 percent. He's also pulled just 27.8 of balls put in play, and while he has made solid contact plenty of times, he has yet to completely barrel a ball. The power will come with time, and while Guerrero picked up the first RBI of his career on Saturday night, there should be more firsts in the near future.

“He’s going to get more than that one,” Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said. “He’s going to get many more RBIs. He’s going to get more comfortable in the big leagues, and he’s going to do really well.”

4) The fifth starter
The Blue Jays don't need another fifth starter until May 18, and that's a good thing because technically the club doesn't even have one right now. Thomas Pannone made a spot start Saturday and allowed seven runs over 2 1/3 innings. Sean Reid-Foley is getting better results in the Minors, but he walked five batters over six innings in a start for Buffalo on Saturday. Then there's veteran Clayton Richard, who has yet to make an appearance because of a right knee injury. Richard might be ready by the middle of the month, and until then, the Blue Jays intend to roll with a four-man rotation.

5) Bullpen at its best
Toronto's rotation struggled during a weekend series vs. Texas, but the bullpen has still been holding up its end of the deal. Blue Jays relievers allowed three runs in the series finale, but they entered play ranked second in the Major Leagues with an opponents' batting average of .191, which trailed only the Cardinals at .177. Toronto also ranked second in WHIP (1.13), third in ERA (3.16) and fifth in innings (128).

“Everybody knows the bullpen has been pretty taxed over this road trip, especially,” Buchholz said. “To only go four, it's another blow. But hopefully us as starters, first of all, get a bit deeper into games and help our bullpen out.”