<p>The Toronto Blue Jays finish up their ten-game road trip this weekend with a three-game set in Baltimore, looking to find momentum again after dropping last night&#8217;s contest in Boston. The club was riding a three-game winning streak against the Red Sox but let last night&#8217;s game squeak away late in extra innings.</p>
<p>Toronto&#8217;s bats were almost as cold as the weather at times in Boston, especially in the power department. While the Jays did post 17 runs during the four-game set, it came on the back of 36 hits, in which only three were for extra bases. Springer amassed a double and a home run, while Bichette added a double of his own at Fenway Park, and the top three batters in the Jays lineup are still without an extra base knock heading into the 15th game of the season.</p>
<p>That&#8217;s a tough way to win ballgames, and considering the starting pitching has been lights out to start the year, the Jays&#8217; bats will need to find a way to unlock some power and provide more run support for their pitching staff.</p>
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<p>This task is well-suited considering Toronto is entering Baltimore when the O&#8217;s pitching staff is currently struggling. Kyle Bradish, Andrew Kittredge, Grayson Rodriguez, Albert Suarez, Trevor Rogers, Tyler Wells, and now Zach Eflin are all on the IL, and Baltimore&#8217;s pitching depth is being tested due to all the injuries. Collectively, the group owns a 4.54 ERA while allowing 56 earned runs through 13 games, tied for seventh in the Major Leagues. The starters have particularly not fared well, as the group has authored a 5.37 ERA through the 13 games while allowing 39 of those 56 earned runs (tied for second most in Major League Baseball) with 10 home runs.</p>
<p>In terms of the probable pitchers, Toronto is facing two of the Orioles arms that are faring well out of the gate. Tomoyuki Sugano is projected to take the ball tonight. He last faced the Blue Jays on March 30th and held them to four hits and two earned runs through four innings of work. He followed that with a strong outing in Kansas City, going 5 1/3 while allowing five hits and just one earned run (a solo homer).</p>
<p>For Saturday, the projected starter is Cade Povich, who the Jays missed on the opening weekend. Povich struggled a bit in his first outing against the Boston Red Sox, allowing five hits and three earned through 4 1/3 while striking out eight, but rebounded nicely by allowing just one earned run against Kansas City. The one thing to note is that Povich got hit around by the Royals, allowing 12 hits on the day but limiting the damage to just four runs (three of which were unearned).</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Not since 1981 have the Blue Jays hit so few home runs (5) through their first 11 games in a season. </p>
<p>They&#39;re the only team in baseball without a home run from the top three spots in their batting order.</p>
<p>&mdash; Jonah Birenbaum (@birenball) <a href="https://twitter.com/birenball/status/1909586518970081546?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 8, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Sunday was supposed to be Eflin&#8217;s day in the rotation, but with him on the IL, the club may move Charlie Morton into the spot, considering the club had an off-day on Thursday. Morton has struggled mightily out of the gate, allowing a minimum of four earned runs one each of his three starts this season, with 17 hits and three home runs against him as well. He also walked five batters in his last outing against Arizona. Kyle Gibson is also down in triple-A if the Orioles desperately need an arm and don&#8217;t want to use Morton, but the right-hander is still getting game-ready after signing late into the spring and just tossed 3 1/3 innings in Norfolk yesterday.</p>
<p>One area that might cause the Jays some trouble is the Orioles&#8217; bullpen, which boasts a strong host of relievers that have limited damage this season.</p>
<p>Bryan Baker, Yennier Cano, Seranthony Dominguez, and Gregory Soto have yet to allow an earned run this season, with each going at least four innings this year, while fellow relievers Matt Bowman and Keegan Akin have allowed just one and two earned runs, respectively. Both pitchers boast an ERA under three.</p>
<p>If the Blue Jays want to reverse their power struggles, they will need to get to the starters early and often before the shutdown arms in the bullpen enter the game. Limited run support for the starters will not fare well for the Jays, especially since the Orioles feature a potent lineup that can hit the ball a long way (as evidenced by the opening weekend).</p>
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The Toronto Blue Jays finish up their ten-game road trip this weekend with a three-game set in Baltimore, looking to find momentum again after dropping last night's contest in Boston. The club was riding a three-game winning streak against the Red Sox but let last night's game squeak away late in extra innings.

Toronto's bats were almost as cold as the weather at times in Boston, especially in the power department. While the Jays did post 17 runs during the four-game set, it came on the back of 36 hits, in which only three were for extra bases. Springer amassed a double and a home run, while Bichette added a double of his own at Fenway Park, and the top three batters in the Jays lineup are still without an extra base knock heading into the 15th game of the season.

That's a tough way to win ballgames, and considering the starting pitching has been lights out to start the year, the Jays' bats will need to find a way to unlock some power and provide more run support for their pitching staff.
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This task is well-suited considering Toronto is entering Baltimore when the O's pitching staff is currently struggling. Kyle Bradish, Andrew Kittredge, Grayson Rodriguez, Albert Suarez, Trevor Rogers, Tyler Wells, and now Zach Eflin are all on the IL, and Baltimore's pitching depth is being tested due to all the injuries. Collectively, the group owns a 4.54 ERA while allowing 56 earned runs through 13 games, tied for seventh in the Major Leagues. The starters have particularly not fared well, as the group has authored a 5.37 ERA through the 13 games while allowing 39 of those 56 earned runs (tied for second most in Major League Baseball) with 10 home runs.

In terms of the probable pitchers, Toronto is facing two of the Orioles arms that are faring well out of the gate. Tomoyuki Sugano is projected to take the ball tonight. He last faced the Blue Jays on March 30th and held them to four hits and two earned runs through four innings of work. He followed that with a strong outing in Kansas City, going 5 1/3 while allowing five hits and just one earned run (a solo homer).

For Saturday, the projected starter is Cade Povich, who the Jays missed on the opening weekend. Povich struggled a bit in his first outing against the Boston Red Sox, allowing five hits and three earned through 4 1/3 while striking out eight, but rebounded nicely by allowing just one earned run against Kansas City. The one thing to note is that Povich got hit around by the Royals, allowing 12 hits on the day but limiting the damage to just four runs (three of which were unearned).

https://twitter.com/birenball/status/1909586518970081546

Sunday was supposed to be Eflin's day in the rotation, but with him on the IL, the club may move Charlie Morton into the spot, considering the club had an off-day on Thursday. Morton has struggled mightily out of the gate, allowing a minimum of four earned runs one each of his three starts this season, with 17 hits and three home runs against him as well. He also walked five batters in his last outing against Arizona. Kyle Gibson is also down in triple-A if the Orioles desperately need an arm and don't want to use Morton, but the right-hander is still getting game-ready after signing late into the spring and just tossed 3 1/3 innings in Norfolk yesterday.

One area that might cause the Jays some trouble is the Orioles' bullpen, which boasts a strong host of relievers that have limited damage this season.

Bryan Baker, Yennier Cano, Seranthony Dominguez, and Gregory Soto have yet to allow an earned run this season, with each going at least four innings this year, while fellow relievers Matt Bowman and Keegan Akin have allowed just one and two earned runs, respectively. Both pitchers boast an ERA under three.

If the Blue Jays want to reverse their power struggles, they will need to get to the starters early and often before the shutdown arms in the bullpen enter the game. Limited run support for the starters will not fare well for the Jays, especially since the Orioles feature a potent lineup that can hit the ball a long way (as evidenced by the opening weekend).

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Blue Jays bats need to find a way to exploit the Orioles starting pitching

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