26-year old lefty swinging DH/OF Adam Lind looked like a player on the rise after his 2009 season. In 2009, Lind played in 151 games for the Blue Jays and he was 179 of 587 (.305 avg, .932 OPS) with 93 runs scored, 35 homers and 114 RBIs. But this season Lind has looked helpless at the plate at times. Lind has played in 75 games for the Jays this year and he is 58 of 285 (.204 avg, .609 OPS) with 29 runs scored, 9 homers and 34 RBIs. He has also whiffed a stunning 77 times already this season. I’m beginning to think that the Blue Jays need to give him a few days off to work on things without the pressure of performing in games.

The Blue Jays decided that they have seen enough of 27-year old righty swinging 3B Edwin Encarnacion for the time being as they have sent him to AAA. Encarnacion has played in 37 games for the Jays this year and he is 24 of 120 (.200 avg, .765 OPS) with 17 runs scored, 9 homers and 22 RBIs. The Blue Jays are likely going to leave him in the minors for a little while until he gets his act together. The Blue Jays have recalled 27-year old right swinging Jarrett Hoffpauir from AAA to replace Encarnacion at 3B. Hoffpauir has played in 57 games in AAA this season and he is 77 of 235 (.328 avg, .910 OPS) with 42 runs scored, 9 homers, 43 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He also has shown outstanding plate discipline walking 21 times this year while only whiffing 15 times. Hoffpauir got his first taste of the major last season with the Cardinals playing in 8 games in which he was 3 for 12 (.250 avg, .854 OPS) with 1 run scored and 2 RBIs. Hoffpauir doesn’t have near as much power as Encarnacion but he will make a lot more contact.

UPDATE: (6/21/2010) - The Blue Jays have decided to designate Encarnacion for assignment instead of sending him to the minors. He has played in 79 games for the Blue Jays in his two years with the team and he is 61 of 274 (.223 avg, .755 OPS) with 42 runs scored, 17 homers and 45 RBIs. The Blue Jays hope to be able to trade him in the next ten days while getting something decent for him.

UPADTE: (6/24/2010) - The Blue Jays didn’t find any takers for Encarnacion so they sent him to AAA after he cleared waivers.

28-year old righty swinging 2B Aaron Hill is off to a rough start for the Blue Jays this year. Hill has played in 29 games for the Jays this year and he is 19 of 116 (.164 avg, .592 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 4 homers and 12 RBIs. He started this season a little gimpy due to a minor injury but even that can’t explain how helpless he’s looking at the plate right now. After all, Hill played in 158 games for the Blue Jays last year and he was 195 of 682 (.286 avg, .829 OPS) with 103 runs scored, 36 homers, 108 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. The Blue Jays need Hill to start getting his bat going as they can’t continue hitting him at the top of the batting order if he is not producing.

After starting the first month of the season out very well, Alex Gonzalez has gone very cold at the plate for the Toronto Blue Jays so far this month.  In April he hit .289 with 7 HRs and 19 RBIs.  Through 12 games so far this month, he is hitting .191 (9/47) with 3 HRs and 8 RBIs.  He hasn’t been drawing very many walks either, so he isn’t getting on base very much for the Jays.  Overall his power numbers have been very nice and he is on pace for a career high in homeruns and RBIs, but the Jays need Gonzalez to get on base more.  He may be trying too hard to go deep and he needs to try and get back in the groove he was in last month.  The Blue Jays are going to need a good year out of Gonzalez if they want any hope of making it out of the AL East.

You really have to wonder if starting 1B Lyle Overbay and starting LF Travis Snider have holes in their bats. Overbay has played in 8 games so far this season for the Jays and he is 3 for 30 (.100 avg, .367 OPS) with 4 runs scored and 2 RBIs. While that is pretty pathetic Overbay is in no danger of losing playing time yet because of his major league track record and the fact that the Jays don’t have anyone to replace him with. Travis Snider has even been worse because of his whiffing…..which is something he is really good at. He has played in 8 games for the Jays so far this season and he is 3 for 28 (.107 avg, .443 OPS) with 1 run scored and 2 RBIs. Snider has whiffed 9 times already this season for the Jays! Snider was sent down early last year when he was struggling and it could happen again unless he starts hitting soon.