The Toronto Blue Jays dropped Kazuma Okamoto from the lineup amid the team’s offensive struggles.
Toronto is set to kick off a three-game series on Friday against the Philadelphia Phillies. Ahead of the series opener, the Blue Jays revealed their lineup. Okamoto dropped from second to fifth in the lineup and will remain playing first base amid Vladimir Guerrero Jr. being out due to an injury.
The Blue Jays lineup is as follows:
- N. Lukes RF
- A. Kirk C
- J. Sánchez LF
- G. Springer DH
- K. Okamoto 1B
- A. Giménez SS
- E. Clement 2B
- J. Smith 3B
- B. Bateman CF
Toronto decided to move Alejandro Kirk to the second spot while Okamoto was dropped to fifth. Along with that, center fielder Brett Bateman will start and make his MLB debut after being acquired from the Chicago Cubs in the Kevin Gausman trade.
Okamoto is hitting .229 with 24 home runs and 70 RBIs this season. However, in his last 30 games, he’s hitting .211 with 5 home runs and 17 RBIs, while in his last 7, he’s hitting .207 with 0 home runs and 2 RBIs, while striking out 11 times.
Blue Jays Offense is Struggling
A big reason why Toronto is struggling this season is due to the lack of key hits.
Toronto went 1-for-19 with runners in scoring position on Thursday in an extra-innings loss to the Cubs. That included not scoring a run in the 10th or 11th inning, which was frustrating for manager John Schneider.
“Just didn’t get the hits we needed to,” Schneider said. “There’s a lot left on. It gets magnified, obviously, in extras when you get a guy there. But just couldn’t sequence them out the way we wanted to today against [Cubs starter David] Peterson or really the rest of the way, except for [Alejandro Kirk’s RBI single in the seventh]. Had chances to add on. Leadoff double in the ninth, had a chance to add on.”
Schneider, meanwhile, knows if Toronto is going to go on a run, they need to get the offense to step up.
“You want to get the offense going,” Schneider said. “You want to either get some timely hits or add some slug like we’ve talked about a lot. The other phases of the game, I like what they’re doing. I like the way they’re competing, and you got to brush this off, leave it here and go on to Philly.”
However, Guerrero is once again out of the lineup, but he’s struggled all season to hit, which is a major issue.
Toronto Makes Roster Move
Ahead of the Blue Jays’ series opener against the Phillies, Toronto made a roster move.
Before the series begins, the Blue Jays announced they placed nine-year MLB veteran Luis Urias on the IL and promoted Brett Bateman to the MLB.
Urias left Thursday’s game with a quad injury, and he is now placed on the IL, which is frustrating as he’s been a surprise player for Toronto.
However, it opened the door for Bateman to make his MLB debut. Bateman was acquired in the Gausman trade and is known to be a stellar defensive center fielder.
Blue Jays Make Kazuma Okamoto Change Before Phillies Series Amid Struggles