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Charlie Montoyo isn’t ready to hit the panic button on his offence despite a glaringly slow start from Blue Jays hitters this season.
“Players go through slumps and everyone’s going through it at the same time early on,” Montoyo said before Toronto concluded a three-game series against the division-rival Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday. “It’s just not a good feeling for the whole team but they’re going to come out of it. I know that’s the right thing to say but it really is.
Toronto batted a cumulative .182 with a .251 on-base percentage over the season’s first six games.
Opposing defences pose challenge
And the Blue Jays haven’t exactly faced stellar starting pitching so far this season either.
Montoyo said the defence of the Tigers and Orioles has made things more difficult for his hitters.
“The right-handers have been shifted, all of them, so that’s not a good sign,” he said. “We’ve got to make that adjustment and try to go the other way.”
We’re pulling off the ball … everybody’s pressing.— Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo on his team’s struggles at the plate
The rookie manager also added that the struggles at the plate seem to be having a domino effect throughout his young batting order.
“We’re pulling off the ball, everybody’s doing the same thing, everybody’s pressing,” Montoyo said. “When somebody presses it kind of goes to everybody else.
“Have I ever seen anything like this, the one hit in 50-something [at-bats]? No I haven’t. I’ve seen it now but it’s going to change.”