TORONTO — Like with many traditional stats, the perception of RBIs within the baseball industry has evolved significantly in recent years, from a status-defining evaluative tool to a less indicative byproduct of opportunities afforded a player.
The shift is entirely understandable, as without runners on base, a batter can only drive himself in. If the same slugger has the same season in two different lineups, one with a .400 OBP-hitter in front him, the other with a .300 OBP hitter in front him, it’s pretty clear which version is going to end up with more RBIs.
At the same time, Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider believes being a dependable run-producer isn’t as simple as that, arguing, “there’s something to getting a guy in with the infield in or infield back, hitting a sac fly or whatever it may be.” He concedes that “it’s kind of an old-school thought,” but he’s “always thought there are certain guys that are really good at it, that look forward to those spots and not change their approach, or adjust to what the defence is telling them.
“So I think it has a lot to do with the hitter,” he continues. “You’ve got to have guys on, for sure. … But guys that really drive in a lot of runs consistently know what they’re doing.”
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who on Saturday at 25 years, 182 days became the youngest player in Blue Jays history to reach 500 career RBIs, very much seems to know what he’s doing. His RBI single in a 7-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals pushed him to 96 for the season and he has 12 games remaining to reach the 100 milestone for the second time.
Our penchant for round numbers has long made the century mark an especially meaningful total for RBIs and it’s a plateau few Blue Jays have reached over the past decade.
The last time it happened was 2021, when Guerrero (111), Bo Bichette (102), Teoscar Hernandez (116) and Marcus Semien (102) all broke the barrier. Prior to that, it was Edwin Encarnacion bringing in 127 in 2016, the year after he (111), Josh Donaldson (123) and Jose Bautista (114) each reached triple digits.
In each of those seasons, the Blue Jays were among the most productive offences in baseball, which is far from the case this year (tied for 17th in the majors with 735 runs) and makes what Guerrero is doing all the more impressive.
“The mental capacity he’s shown this year has been unbelievable,” said Blue Jays teammate George Springer. “For him to have the year he’s having and for us to not have the year we wanted to and he’s almost got 100 RBIs, almost 30 homers, hitting .320, that just shows you who he is, how talented he is. If I had played better, if we had Bo (healthy all season), a lot of times he’d probably be in a much different situation. If that doesn’t really show you how good he is, and I don’t really know what does.”
And that’s without considering Guerrero’s age.
Before him, the youngest Blue Jays player to reach 500 RBIs was Lloyd Moseby at 27 years, 219 days, while the team’s only players to do it in fewer than his 806 games are Joe Carter (663 games), Carlos Delgado (714 games), Bautista (788 games) and Encarnacion (794).
All were far more experienced than Guerrero, and Springer sees the necessary ingredients in the all-star first baseman.
“Guys that drive in 100-plus RBIs are very selfless hitters,” Springer explains. “They’ll sacrifice an at-bat for a groundball to short to drive you in. He does that, he’ll move a guy. It’s very obvious in his at-bats when he hits a ball to the right side or he gets a guy in, he claps. A guy that young, a guy that talented, for him to be OK sacrificing an out, whether that’s a groundball, flyball, getting hit by a pitch, he does it all. Yeah, sure, he wants to hit the homer, he wants to get the big hit, but Vladdy is perfectly OK hitting a groundball to short and driving me in.”
That’s the difference Schneider points to between power bats and run-producers.
“You see some guys that have a ton of homers, like 30 homers and 60 RBIs, and that shows you some holes,” he says. “Guys that consistently drive in runs, they’re really good hitters and Vladdy fits in that category.”
VARSHO TARGETS TEXAS: Daulton Varsho is aiming for a return to the Blue Jays lineup Tuesday in Texas after missing the entire weekend sweep of St. Louis with the lingering effects of an Aug. 23 dive on his right shoulder.
Varsho hurt himself diving for a Zach Neto line drive in the eighth inning of a 5-4 win over the Angels on Aug. 23. While the play looked relatively innocuous, “I tried to dive, it tumbled on me and I tried to keep in front,” Varsho says. “Since then, it’s been off-and-on, good days, bad days. So it’s just getting through the season healthy.”
Exacerbating the issue is that last Tuesday he took the worst part of a collision at first base with Pete Alonso.
“That wasn’t great,” quips Varsho, who primarily experiences the discomfort while throwing. His hope is that what amounts to a five-day break will help eliminate the inflammation in his shoulder.
SPOT START COMING?: The Blue Jays begin a run of nine games without an off-day on Tuesday versus the Rangers and if they stay on turn in the rotation, they’ll have a decision to make Sunday.
Since the beginning of August, the starters have thrown on at least one day of extra rest in six of the last eight turns and they’ll do it again this week with Chris Bassitt, Bowden Francis and Kevin Gausman lined up for the Rangers and José Berríos and Yariel Rodriguez poised for the first two games of a weekend set at Tampa Bay.
Without a spot start Sunday, that would mean Bassitt pitches Sunday’s series finale on regular rest followed by Francis, Gausman and Berríos at home versus Boston next Monday-Wednesday.
The Blue Jays could certainly do that, but they’ve been quietly deliberate about getting their starters extra rest since the trade deadline, which could mean another bullpen game in the Rays finale if Ryan Yarbrough isn’t used too much beforehand, or perhaps an outing for Jake Bloss, who allowed four runs, three earned, in 4.2 innings Sunday for triple-A Buffalo in a 6-2 loss at Gwinnett.
With the triple-A season ending next Sunday, Bloss can make one more start in the minors and the Blue Jays could potentially give him one more outing in the final week of the big-league season afterwards.
CANADIANS FALL IN FINAL: The advanced-A Vancouver Canadians, the only Blue Jays farm team to reach the playoffs this year, couldn’t make it back-to-back Northwest League titles, falling 3-2 in 10 innings Saturday to Spokane, which clinched the series 3-1.
All four games in final were decided by one run, ending a season of extremes for the Canadians, who went 30-33 in the first half but surged to 38-28 in the second half to secure a spot in the championship series. They went 8-20 against Spokane during the regular season, so the final was always going to be an uphill climb.
The season isn’t over for three Canadians, as starter Kendry Rojas and infielders Adrian Pinto and Peyton Williams are expected to play in the Arizona Fall League.