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Outlining the Blue Jays’ struggles scoring early in games
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Photo credit: © Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
Ben Wrixon
Apr 11, 2026, 10:00 EDTUpdated: Apr 11, 2026, 09:21 EDT
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The Toronto Blue Jays have struggled offensively so far this season, and the first few innings of games have been especially rough for this group. 
Even in Friday night’s 10-4 win over the Minnesota Twins, the bats didn’t get going until a five-run fourth inning. They looked mostly uncompetitive through the first three frames, continuing a pattern they have shown through their first 13 games. 
The Blue Jays have recorded a 61 wRC+ while striking out 29.4% of the time in the first inning this year. The number drops to an impossibly bad wRC+ of 2 in the second inning, a frame in which they have scored just one run all season. From the third inning onwards? A much better 121 wRC+. 
Their struggles in the first inning are easily explained: George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. haven’t been doing damage. The former had a .959 OPS last year, while the latter is a generational talent who needs no introduction. They’ve combined for just three home runs this far. Things will improve in this department once they get it going, and fortunately for the Blue Jays, both have looked better in their most recent wins.
The issues have also translated into the second inning, with Addison Barger, Daulton Varsho, and Kazuma Okamoto having hit a lot during this time and not yielding a ton of results. Barger was in a dreadful slump before landing on the injured list. Varsho finally hit his first home run on Friday against the Twins, and Okamoto has done most of his damage later in games. Still, manager John Schneider hasn’t settled on a consistent 4-5-6 in his lineup yet, making it tough to establish consistency. 
More broadly, though, the Blue Jays’ preparation is a little off right now. They succeeded on the strength of their preparation last season, frequently coming into games with rock-solid plans to grind out opposing starting pitchers. Even if they didn’t score early, they were working at-bats and running up pitch counts to get into the soft part of the bullpens they were facing. 
There hasn’t been much of that so far. Their at-bats, especially early in games, have been more aggressive. They’ve been hitting into quick and easy outs early in counts. This has allowed opposing pitchers to breeze through the lineup the first time around.
It’s no coincidence that Davis Schneider’s insertion into the lineup over the last two games has led to better results. He’s among the best—if not the best—on the Blue Jays at seeing pitches. He works pitchers for walks to set the table for his teammates. He should be an everyday player in this lineup while Barger is out, at the bare minimum. The patience he provides is a breath of fresh air. 
Ultimately, the Blue Jays will begin to hit better early in ballgames when Springer, Guerrero, and Varsho truly hit their strides. However, dialling back into a more selective approach as a team could also help improve their results in the first few innings. 

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