Toronto Blue Jays' Black Hole in the Cleanup Spot Reaches Historic New Lows

Justin Turner, Bo Bichette, Daulton Varsho and the rest of the Toronto Blue Jays' cleanup hitters have zero home runs through 47 games, setting an unsavory franchise record.

Apr 23, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette (11) reacts during the first inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. / Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

The Toronto Blue Jays' offense has struggled for long stretches of this 2024 regular season, and no issue has stood out more than their lack of power out of the cleanup spot.

Shortstop Bo Bichette made his ninth start in the No. 4 spot this season against the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday. He went 0-for-3 with two line outs and a groundout, all while the Blue Jays went on to lose 5-0.

Through 47 games, Toronto's cleanup hitters have combined for a whopping zero home runs.

Per MLB Network's Jon Morosi and Eric Nehs, that is the longest home run drought from a team's cleanup spot to open a season since the 1997 Houston Astros. That year, Houston didn't get a homer out of their cleanup hitter until the 61st game of the regular season.

Additionally, the 47-game drought is the longest in Blue Jays franchise history – not only to begin a season, but at any point in any season. The previous record was a 46-game stretch between June and July of 1989.

The Blue Jays have 0 home runs from the cleanup spot this year.

I asked Eric Nehs, our outstanding @MLBNetwork Researcher, for some context. Here it is.

This is the longest cleanup HR drought to begin an @MLB season since the 1997 Astros (60 games).

The 47-game drought from…

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) May 22, 2024

For what it's worth, those 1989 Blue Jays went on to win the AL East, notching their seventh consecutive winning season. They would finish above .500 in 1990 and 1991 as well, before winning back-to-back World Series titles in 1992 and 1993.

The 2024 Blue Jays do not appear to be on that trajectory, considering they are sitting in last place in the AL East at 21-25. As it stands, FanGraphs is giving Toronto a 17.4% chance of making the postseason.

Justin Turner leads the way with 29 starts as the Blue Jays' cleanup hitter. Although the 39-year-old two-time All-Star is batting .333 with four home runs and a 1.260 OPS when he bats third, he is batting just .218 with a .583 OPS when he bats fourth.

Bichette may be batting .313 with an .843 OPS out of the cleanup spot, but his only two home runs this season have come out of the No. 3 and No. 6 holes.

Daulton Varsho and Daniel Vogelbach have the next most starts as cleanup men with four and three, respectively. Varsho has thrived as a No. 6 hitter, while Vogelbach has only found success out of the five hole, but neither has contributed much out of the No. 4 spot.

The Blue Jays can end their streak Wednesday against the White Sox. Manager John Schneider has yet to announce who he is penciling into the cursed cleanup spot for the series finale, which gets started at 7:07 p.m. ET at the Rogers Centre.

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