Blue Jays back Guerrero entering final playoff push

TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays ' lineup on Aug. 16, 2022 featured a major surprise — Bo Bichette dropped from fifth to seventh in the order, the lowest he’d ever started a game in the majors.

John Schneider, interim manager for about a month at that point, was looking to rouse his all-star shortstop, slumping at .260/.300/.427, and the switch was a sure way to accomplish that. In hindsight, Schneider calls the decision “reactionary,” a byproduct of “me being young in the job and kind of dumb,” but at the time he felt he needed to “like, kick a dog a little bit.”

After some initial expletives and a lot of discomfort, Bichette responded as Schneider had hoped, batting .361/.408/.565 with seven homers and 29 RBIs in the season’s final 47 games, a run that helped carry the Blue Jays to the post-season. Bichette didn’t start in the seventh spot again.

“Does that work for everyone? No,” said Schneider. “But it kind of worked for him.”

The anecdote was pertinent Wednesday afternoon, as Schneider conceded that he’s kicked around the idea of dropping the slumping Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the batting order, but isn’t certain about the potential benefits of such a move. For better or worse, there was intent in the shift for Bichette, while with Guerrero, a shift at this point is more blind grasp than purposeful plan.

“Bo is different than Vlad to where you can strategically try to piss him off to get him going. But I don't think strategically pissing off Vlad is going to change much,” said Schneider.

“I don't want to punish him, you know what I mean?” he added later. “If there were guys that were tearing the cover off the ball, it's a little bit easier to think about, too. But we are built as a team for Vlad to be a focal point of our offence, and I don't think where he hits, he will be pitched any differently. I don't think there's going to be more or less pressure if he's hitting down in the order. But I want him up in important spots, you know what I mean? … I'm always going to have confidence in him.”

That confidence continued Wednesday evening, when Guerrero went 1-for-4 out of the two-hole in a 3-0, bullpen-game victory over the Kansas City Royals. Opener Spencer Miles began the game with two clean innings and Chad Dallas began his 2.2 frames by striking Salvador Perez to end the third and escape Brendon Little’s bases-loaded mess.

Nathan Lukes’ three-run homer in the fourth took care of the offence while Louis Varland, the last of seven relievers needed on the day, got the final four outs as the Blue Jays (65-69) ended a two-game skid.

Lukes made the final out of Monday’s 5-3 loss at second base trying to stretch a two-run single, taking the bat out of Guerrero’s hands in a crucial spot. While that led to some focus on the club’s baserunning, it also fed the ongoing external discourse about whether the struggling slugger would benefit from a move down in the order.

Schneider doesn’t believe that to be the case, which is why he was up in the two-hole against Randy Dobnak.

“He's pretty fine with anywhere,” said Schneider.