The Toronto Blue Jays are drowning.

Last Friday, the vibes were immaculate, as they sat second in the American League East with a 12-8 record. Since then, they’ve lost five consecutive games, which doesn’t even tell the whole story. In their most recent series against the Houston Astros, they registered just nine hits in three games, scoring two runs and hitting two extra-base hits. No matter how good their pitching is, they’ll never win if their bats do that.

For the first time this season, the Blue Jays face off against their American League East rivals, the New York Yankees. It’s a three-game series in The Bronx, with the Jays starting José Berríos on Friday, Kevin Gausman on Saturday, and Chris Bassitt on Sunday. Starting pitching has been solid this season, although they had a rough series against the Astros.

It doesn’t even need to be said, the bats need to wake up, and soon. Their 12-13 record isn’t that bad; they’re still third in the AL East and just three games behind the Yankees. But if they go cold as they did in Houston, those three games behind can turn into six games behind rather quickly.

With 41 home runs, the Yankees are tied for the most in the league alongside the team that defeated them in the 2024 World Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers. On the other end of the spectrum, the Blue Jays have hit 13 home runs this season, the second-fewest in the league, with only the Kansas City Royals hitting fewer (12). Bo Bichette, Anthony Santander, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. have to start hitting bombs.

Speaking of those three, they are at the top of the lineup once again. Santander is their designated hitter for the 11th time in the last 14 games he’s appeared in; he’ll likely start there for the foreseeable future. George Springer bats cleanup, as he was the only Blue Jay regular who had a wRC+ above 100 in the last series.

Andrés Giménez and Alejandro Kirk bat back-to-back in the fifth and sixth spots, with the bottom third of the Jays’ lineup being occupied by Addison Barger, Ernie Clement, and Nathan Lukes.

Let’s set up Friday’s game against the Yankees.

Toronto Blue Jays – José Berríos: 1-1 record, 5.02 ERA, 28.2 IP, 24 SO, 13 BB

New York Yankees – Carlos Carrasco – 2-1 record, 6.53 ERA, 20.2 IP, 15 SO, 7 BB