Let me paint you a picture of how bad the Toronto Blue Jays have been at the plate to start the season.
In their first three games, they've struck out 47 times. That's the most by any team to start a season in MLB history (since 1900).
Forty-seven strikeouts in three games. That's an average of nearly 16 strikeouts per game. That's not baseball, that's batting practice gone horribly wrong.
This isn't just a slow start. This is historically bad. And when you combine it with Bo Bichette's brutal 1-for-14 start (eight strikeouts alone), you start to wonder what's going on with this lineup.
The Blue Jays were supposed to be playoff contenders. They've got talent - Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bichette, George Springer. But talent doesn't matter if you can't make contact.
"We need to make adjustments," manager John Schneider said after Sunday's loss. "This approach isn't sustainable."
No kidding.
Here's the thing about strikeouts: They kill rallies. You can't advance runners, you can't put the ball in play, you can't manufacture runs. Every strikeout is a wasted opportunity, and Toronto is wasting them at an alarming rate.
The good news? It's only three games. Plenty of time to turn it around. The bad news? Bad habits become ingrained quickly, and right now the Blue Jays are developing some very bad habits.
Toronto needs to get back to basics - see the ball, hit the ball, put it in play. Strikeouts happen, but when they're happening at this rate, something's fundamentally broken.
Fix it now, or this season could spiral fast.
That's what sports is all about, folks.
