Reinforcements coming for Blue Jays as they return to Rogers Centre

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Blue Jays’ offense will right itself at some point. There are reasons to believe that better days are not too far ahead.

But what has been a trying start to the season offensively continued Wednesday as the Blue Jays were blanked by the Rays, 3-0, to cap a sweep at Tropicana Field.

Said manager John Schneider: “You either need to get a big hit or you need to kind of stack some at-bats together.”

Toronto could do neither at the Trop, where the club has lost six straight games. It plated a total of four runs in this three-game series and went 3-for-18 with runners in scoring position. What was a top-five offense last season now ranks 25th in runs per game (3.97) and 24th in OPS (.690). That OPS drops to .652 in RISP situations, which is second-lowest in MLB, ahead of only the Royals’ .642.

They will look forward to getting home for Friday’s series opener against the Angels at Rogers Centre. But before that comes a well-timed off-day.

“Take a step back and just kind of take a deep breath,” Schneider said about what he wants his players to do Thursday. “There's not a game tomorrow where you’ve got to go out and try to do something more, so spend time with your family. Get away from the game a little bit. Keep yourself physically ready and get prepared. But it's a good off-day for us right now, for sure.”

When the Blue Jays’ next lineup comes out Friday, it should have outfielder Addison Barger in it. He’s missed the past few weeks due to a left ankle sprain, but he was scheduled to play Wednesday night in what was expected to be his final rehab game for Triple-A Buffalo. If all goes well there, Schneider expects the man who had 54 extra-base hits in 135 games last season to be activated.

That will lead to a tough decision as to who gets taken off the roster. No. 10 prospect Yohendrick Piñango seemed like a candidate a few days ago, but even after going 0-for-3 and striking out with two runners in scoring position in the seventh inning Wednesday, the rookie is still batting .400 through his first nine games and seems to have secured his spot in the bigs for now. His early success has been a huge bright spot for a scuffling offense.

In other good news, catcher Alejandro Kirk will start hitting this weekend for the first time since undergoing surgery on his fractured left thumb on April 7. He could be back before the end of this month.

George Springer, even though he’s not playing at 100% because of his fractured left big toe, is not going to keep hitting .189. And Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is not going to end the year with two home runs. Heck, he almost hit No. 3 in the series finale, and it could have been a game-changer.

Vladdy represented the tying run in a sixth-inning at-bat against Rays reliever Kevin Kelly. He got a changeup low and inside and lashed at it with 84.7 mph bat speed – about 8 mph more than his season average, which is already among the highest in the Majors.

He got it in the air and drove left fielder Chandler Simpson back to the track, but Guerrero got underneath the pitch just enough so that it landed in Simpson’s glove instead of the seats. He’s still batting .319 with an .818 OPS, but as the Blue Jays hope to get more slug from their star slugger, it’s those kinds of swings that they hope to see more often.

“He's usually a swing or two away from getting going,” Schneider said of Guerrero.

Even though it may not seem like it, the Blue Jays may be close to getting themselves going at the plate. Barger is on track to join them in Toronto. Piñango has been a revelation. Kirk is progressing. Better results are ahead for veteran leaders Springer and Guerrero, who just missed a game-tying home run. Those are all positive developments for a team that needs something to feel good about in the batter’s box right now.

“I think we're gonna be fine,” Ernie Clement said Tuesday. “I think it’s just a rough stretch. It happens to every team throughout a season no matter what. It's about playing the best we can right now and trying to win some ballgames, and then once everybody gets healthy, that's when we'll take off.”