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Different lineup combinations as Blue Jays offence seeks consistency for stretch run
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Photo credit: Bob Kupbens-Imagn Images
Thomas Hall
Sep 2, 2026, 15:00 EDTUpdated: Sep 2, 2026, 15:09 EDT
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Now that a few reinforcements have arrived, it might be time for the Toronto Blue Jays to consider shaking up the batting order, even if it means sacrificing a bit of defence for additional offence.
One night after this lineup was held to one run by Cleveland Guardians ace Gavin Williams, who struck out 13 batters — the most recorded against Toronto’s offence since Sep. 20, 2023 — across seven innings, this seems like the perfect opportunity to take a deep dive into lineup construction through the remainder of this season.
With only 23 games left, the Blue Jays can’t afford to shy away from throwing mud at the wall to see what sticks. That’s sometimes half the battle as a manager when your lineup is underperforming. Granted, most of those exercises typically occur much earlier in the season rather than during the team’s stretch run, given the immense significance surrounding each game.
This might be one of the times when there’s an exception to that rule of thumb, though, especially now that Sean Keys has returned from Triple-A. The hope is that he can provide a spark, just as Brett Bateman and Charles McAdoo have since their arrivals, after tearing the cover off the ball with Buffalo. He’s hit 10 more home runs than any other Blue Jays hitter down on the farm this season, leading the organization with 28 split between two levels.
Previously, there wasn’t much of a pathway back to the majors for Keys, who made a trio of starts in left field last week to help expand his versatility beyond first and third base. It’s a limited sample size — he only made three putouts in 24.1 innings at that position — but clearly Toronto’s brass felt it was sufficient to continue that experiment in the majors.
At the same time, they didn’t feel comfortable enough to start him in left field during Tuesday’s series opener in Cleveland, probably due to Spencer Arrighetti — the bulk guy as part of the club’s 19th bullpen game in 2026 — being a fly-ball pitcher and the team hoping for a softer landing spot against anyone not named Gavin Williams.
Maximizing the platoon advantage remains front of mind for the Blue Jays’ coaching staff, as it also did last year. These days, constructing a lineup is more complex than just righty versus lefty, and vice versa. There are other factors to consider, too, like specific pitch-based platoon matchups. Riding the hot hand often plays into those decisions, as well.
Using these tools, let’s put on our manager’s hat and construct the best and most likely lineups (at least on paper) to be deployed for each righty-lefty pitch group.

Potential lineup vs. right-handed starter (fastballs)

  1. Brett Bateman CF
  2. Alejandro Kirk C
  3. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 1B
  4. George Springer DH
  5. Sean Keys LF
  6. Kazuma Okamoto 3B
  7. Jesús Sánchez RF
  8. Charles McAdoo 2B
  9. Ernie Clement SS
As you might have noticed, Bateman has quickly established himself as Toronto’s primary leadoff hitter lately, regardless of platoon matchup. He’s become an everyday player, and considering how many facets of the game (hitting, fielding, baserunning) he can impact, it’ll likely stay that way until further notice.
Also notable here is that Keys is batting fifth, offering middle-of-the-order protection behind Kirk, Guerrero and Springer. That’s because he raked against fastballs versus right-handers at Triple-A this season — slashing .316/.424/.711 with a .445 xwOBA over almost 100 plate appearances — and wasn’t phased by high-90s velocity, either.
Sánchez, on the other hand (also included above), features favourable results in left-on-right matchups against fastballs at 94 m.p.h. or slower — hitting .375/.377/.589 with a .356 xwOBA in 61 plate appearances — but has struggled mightily versus higher velocity. So, any time there’s a hard-throwing righty on the mound, it’d be wise to swap him out for Nathan Lukes.

Potential lineup vs. right-handed starter (breaking balls)

  1. Brett Bateman CF
  2. Alejandro Kirk C
  3. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 1B
  4. George Springer DH
  5. Nathan Lukes RF
  6. Sean Keys LF
  7. Kazuma Okamoto 3B
  8. Josh Smith 2B
  9. Andrés Giménez SS
Switching to sliders and curveballs, Lukes presents a much better matchup here, considering he’s tied for the team lead in run value (+6) with Springer this season. You’ll also notice that Josh Smith — activated off the 10-day IL on Tuesday — is subbing in for Clement at second base, a result of the former Texas Ranger blasting both of his home runs as a Blue Jay off breaking balls from righties.

Potential lineup vs. right-handed starter (off-speed pitches)

  1. Brett Bateman CF
  2. Alejandro Kirk C
  3. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 1B
  4. George Springer DH
  5. Nathan Lukes RF
  6. Jesús Sánchez LF
  7. Kazuma Okamoto 3B
  8. Charles McAdoo 2B
  9. Ernie Clement SS
This is where a left-handed-heavy lineup has become problematic for the Blue Jays. Most right-handed hurlers who possess an impact off-speed weapon (changeup or splitter) tend to carry reverse splits, meaning they’re more effective against lefties than righties.
Outside of Bateman, as well as Lukes and Sánchez, both of whom are good low-ball hitters, every other lefty bat should probably head to the bench in these less-than-ideal matchups.

Potential lineup vs. left-handed starter (fastballs)

  1. Brett Bateman CF
  2. Alejandro Kirk C
  3. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 1B
  4. George Springer DH
  5. Kazuma Okamoto 3B
  6. Charles McAdoo LF
  7. Myles Straw RF
  8. Andrés Giménez SS
  9. Ernie Clement 2B
For both starting lineups against left-handed starters here, the top half of the Blue Jays’ batting order will remain unchanged — with Bateman, Kirk, Guerrero, Springer and Okamoto slotted consecutively. The bottom four spots, however, are where things can become a bit more fluid.
McAdoo has excelled against southpaws’ fastballs in his limited major-league stint this year, posting a .400/.500/.600 slash line with a .372 xwOBA in 24 plate appearances. More interesting is that Clement hasn’t, sporting a .228/.274/.354 slash line and a minus-five run value (tied for a team-worst) in 84 PAs this season. If the club featured another right-handed-hitting infielder amongst its 14 position players, he’d likely earn this start over Clement.

Potential lineup vs. left-handed starter (breaking balls & off-speed pitches)

  1. Brett Bateman CF
  2. Alejandro Kirk C
  3. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 1B
  4. George Springer DH
  5. Kazuma Okamoto 3B
  6. Sean Keys LF
  7. Charles McAdoo 2B
  8. Ernie Clement SS
  9. Myles Straw RF
Here’s another area where having another righty bat or two could help make Toronto’s lineup — which ranks 29th in wRC+ (82) against left-handed pitching in ’26 — more dynamic in these matchups. If that were the case, they’d likely be able to replace Clement or Straw, both of whom have been reverse-split hitters this year, or even McAdoo, considering his woes against breaking balls and off-speed pitches from the left side of the rubber.
Inserting Keys represents their best chance of moving the needle forward, after he slashed .421/.607/.947 with a stellar .553 xwOBA in these left-on-left showdowns at Triple-A — albeit across just 29 plate appearances.

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