Blue Jays To Add Much-Needed All-Star Bat To Lineup

The last thing we expected to be saying about the Toronto Blue Jays at this point of the season is that their offense is in need of a boost. The team is dead last in baseball when it comes to batting with runners in scoring position, at just .168. That's nearly 20 points back of the next-worst Arizona Diamondbacks and Baltimore Orioles. Yikes.

The timing couldn't be better, then, for All-Star run producer Teoscar Hernandez to be returning to the lineup. That will finally come in Friday night's game in Cleveland against the Guardians.

The 29-year-old Hernandez has been out since April 13th with an oblique strain, and the Jays' offense has paid the price. The team had scored only 3.4 runs per game in his absence going into Thursday night. But after going 5-for-11 on his rehab in Dunedin, slugging a HR last night, and playing in the outfield for most of the game, Teoscar is ready to return.

The Jays' regular clean-up hitter was batting .316 when he went down, with a .961 OPS. Last season, he finished with 32 HR, 116 RBIs and a .296 average, and was named an All-Star and a Silver Slugger. His presence fortifies the lineup considerably.

Not only will Teoscar Hernandez give #BlueJays some welcome offence when he returns, he'll also displace Bradley Zimmer to bench. Zimmer's a great fielder but he's been getting exposed at the plate lately with 16 Ks in 37 at-bats for a .251 OPS. Tough to play his bat this often
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) May 5, 2022