The Blue Jays won the first AL pennant for the first time since 1993. Back in 1993, they won the World Series title. Recently, I watched some highlights of the Blue Jays players in the postseason. After watching the highlights, I’m just thinking about one thing.
Over the last several seasons, which players had hit well as a Blue Jay in the postseason? To solve my doubts, I decided to check on the statcast website.
Well, to make things easier, let’s look at stats from 2008 to 2024. Back in 2016, Michael Saunders played for the Blue Jays and he was an All-Star. In the 2016 postseason, he played 8 games, hitting .381/.409/.571 with 1 home run and 1 RBI.
Moreover, Alejandro Kirk made his MLB debut in 2020. He’s a 2-time All-Star. In 2020, 2022 and 2023, he collected 6 hits for the Blue Jays. His batting average was over .350 in those 3 postseasons. Nonetheless, he didn’t collect any RBI in those 3 postseasons.
In addition, Josh Donaldson played for the Blue Jays from 2015 to 2018. He won the AL MVP award in 2015. He played in the postseason in the Blue Jays uniform in 2015 and 2016. In those 2 postseasons, he smashed 4 home runs and collected 13 RBI over 20 games. His batting average in those 2 postseasons was .325. In particular, he slashed .417/.462/.667 in the 2016 postseason.
Moreover, Ezequiel Carrera played for the Blue Jays from 2015 to 2017. In the 2015 postseason, he didn’t collect any hits. However, in 2016, he hit .303/.343/.515 with 1 home run and 3 RBI over 9 games. And Chris Colabello played for the Blue Jays in 2015 and 2016. In the 2015 postseason, he slashed .282/.317/.513 with 2 home runs and 3 RBI in 10 games.
Finally, the Blue Jays fans must remember this name. Edwin Encarnacion played for the Blue Jays from 2009 to 2016. In 2015 and 2016, he smashed 4 home runs and collected 14 RBI in the postseason. In particular, his OPS was over .900 in the 2016 playoffs. Of course, the Blue Jays remember that walk-off home run in the 2016 AL Wild Card game. Bo Bichette didn’t collect any hits in the 2020 playoffs. But, he had 2 hits in the 2022 postseason and in 2023, he collected 4 hits in 2 postseason games.
From 2008 to 2024, the Blue Jays clinched a spot in the postseason 5 times. So, there aren’t many players who had at least 20 plate appearances in the postseason. Nonetheless, looking at the chart, Michael Saunders and Josh Donaldson did help the Blue Jays advance in the postseason. At the same time, we see some familiar names. Alejandro Kirk, Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. are now playing for the Blue Jays. They are key players in the Blue Jays lineup. Their performance will certainly have a huge impact on whether the Blue Jays will win the third WS title in franchise history. And let’s keep watching.
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