Blue Jays continue to be consistently inconsistent

One thing has become abundantly clear about the 2025 Toronto Blue Jays: They're consistently inconsistent. The Blue Jays followed up an impressive three-game sweep at home of the San Diego Padres by falling flat in Tampa, getting swept by the Rays by a 19-2 margin. Here, we look at some developments over the last few games.

Lineup heats up before cooling off

Toronto's lineup was riding high heading into the weekend against the Rays. The Blue Jays scored 24 runs in three games against a strong Padres pitching staff and were inside the top 10 in the league in a number of key offensive categories in May.

Unfortunately, all it took was a series against a team that's historically given the Blue Jays trouble to quickly cool the bats off. Toronto mustered just two runs and 14 hits over three dispiriting games. Blue Jays manager John Schneider was blunt in assessing the team after a 13-0 loss to cap the weekend.

"In terms of the highs and lows, we got to figure that out," Schneider said, according to Sportsnet's David Singh. "We got to get better at being more consistent. And I think when we do that, that's when you see the true identity of who we are."

Several Blue Jays hitters have performed for most of May. On the whole, the lineup has been more good than bad after ending April at the bottom of the league in most offensive statistics.

However, George Springer's performance has been a real sore spot. Springer has just seven hits in his last 50 at-bats (.140 average) with one home run and an OPS just over .500. The veteran is hitting under .200 over his last 30 games after a torrid start to the season.

Hoffman's struggles continue

Closer Jeff Hoffman has fallen into a spiral after a brilliant start to his season. Hoffman has an ERA over eight in his last 15 appearances and has blown three of seven save opportunities in May.

The right-hander has allowed 13 runs in seven innings this month after permitting only 16 earned runs in 66 1/3 innings with the Philadelphia Phillies last season. It's been a baffling stretch.

Hoffman's HR/9 rate is over two after finishing at 0.52 and 0.81 over the previous two seasons. Yet his numbers include a 2.84 expected ERA, a career-high 13.70 K/9, and just 2.42 walks per nine innings. He doesn't look that far away from the pitcher who dominated April, even if it doesn't appear that way. The Blue Jays need that pitcher to show up again with setup man Yimi García on the shelf with a right shoulder impingement.

If Toronto moves Hoffman out of the ninth inning, Yariel Rodríguez could get a shot. Rodríguez has found his niche in a high-leverage relief role, dominating in May to the tune of a 0.71 ERA with 15 strikeouts, two walks, and a .128 opponent's batting average in 10 appearances.

Is it too early to panic about Santander?

Toronto handed Santander a five-year, $92.5-million contract after he set a career high with 44 home runs in 2024 with the Baltimore Orioles. To say it's been a bumpy start to Santander's Blue Jays career would be an understatement.

The veteran has been worth minus-0.5 fWAR, is hitting .193, owns a career-worst 26.4% K-rate, and, to cap it off, has been navigating a hip issue that sidelined him for several games. Santander has had trouble with pitchers attacking him with fastballs up in the strike zone. Schneider moved him down in the lineup to take some pressure off, but the struggles have largely persisted. The Blue Jays have struggled to generate anything from the third spot in the order, ranking last in the league in wRC+ (58) and OPS (.585). Santander has played 40 games batting third, registering a .568 OPS.

Skeptics would say Santander's batted-ball metrics have never been that great, and the Blue Jays paid up for an outlier season in terms of home run potential. However, Santander was 22% and 19% better than the league average at the plate with 61 combined home runs in the 2022 and 2023 campaigns, respectively. Toronto would gladly sign up for that production in a heartbeat. The 30-year-old is a well-documented slow starter before heating up as the summer months approach. The lineup will continue to feel incomplete until the Blue Jays see production closer to what they envisioned.

Gausman showing flashes of old self

Kevin Gausman has been looking like himself more often than not of late. The veteran right-hander owns a 3.38 ERA with 27 strikeouts against just one walk over four starts and 24 innings in May. Gausman had his best outing in some time against the San Diego Padres, registering seven scoreless innings with just three hits, nine strikeouts, and zero walks.

His trademark splitter was the best it's been all season. More consistency from Gausman and the rest of the starting rotation will help cushion things for the Blue Jays if the bats continue to be as up and down as they've been so far this season.