With his 35th home run of the season on Sept. 22, Edwin Encarnacion joined Toronto Blue Jays teammates Josh Donaldson (39) and Jose Bautista (36) to become the 14th trio of teammates to belt 35 or more homers in the same season.
The first threesome to accomplish this feat was Johnny Mize (51), Willard Marshall (36) and Walker Cooper (35) of the 1947 New York Giants. The last club to match this feat was the 2006 Chicago White Sox with Jermaine Dye (44), Jim Thome (42) and Paul Konerko (35).
With 11 games remaining in the 2015 season, the Blue Jays power men have a shot at becoming the third team with three 40-homer hitters in their lineup in one year—the clubs that have achieved this include the 1973 Atlanta Braves (Davey Johnson, Darrell Evans and Hank Aaron), the 1996 Colorado Rockies (Andres Galarraga, Vinny Castilla and Ellis Burks) and the ’97 Rockies (Galarraga, Castilla and Larry Walker).
Catcher Russell Martin, who has clubbed 20 home runs, first baseman Justin Smoak, who has belted 16 and Troy Tulowitzki—acquired in a late season trade with the Rockies—has gone deep 17 times in 2015, including five with Toronto, gives the Blue Jays the most powerful lineup in the majors. The right-handed hitting shortstop Tulowitzki has had two 30-homer seasons during his 10-year career.
“It’s a deep and powerful lineup,” Tulowitzki told Toronto Star baseball writer Richard Griffin. “A lot of teams have deep lineups, but I think the power that all of us have at any point in time to hit the long ball — and I think that’s what we’ve done well — it makes it that much more special, different than any other lineup.”
Toronto’s 213 homers leads all major league clubs, and the feat reached by Donaldson, Bautista and Encarnacion, have made the pennant-seeking Blue Jays special.
The first threesome to accomplish this feat was Johnny Mize (51), Willard Marshall (36) and Walker Cooper (35) of the 1947 New York Giants. The last club to match this feat was the 2006 Chicago White Sox with Jermaine Dye (44), Jim Thome (42) and Paul Konerko (35).
With 11 games remaining in the 2015 season, the Blue Jays power men have a shot at becoming the third team with three 40-homer hitters in their lineup in one year—the clubs that have achieved this include the 1973 Atlanta Braves (Davey Johnson, Darrell Evans and Hank Aaron), the 1996 Colorado Rockies (Andres Galarraga, Vinny Castilla and Ellis Burks) and the ’97 Rockies (Galarraga, Castilla and Larry Walker).
Catcher Russell Martin, who has clubbed 20 home runs, first baseman Justin Smoak, who has belted 16 and Troy Tulowitzki—acquired in a late season trade with the Rockies—has gone deep 17 times in 2015, including five with Toronto, gives the Blue Jays the most powerful lineup in the majors. The right-handed hitting shortstop Tulowitzki has had two 30-homer seasons during his 10-year career.
“It’s a deep and powerful lineup,” Tulowitzki told Toronto Star baseball writer Richard Griffin. “A lot of teams have deep lineups, but I think the power that all of us have at any point in time to hit the long ball — and I think that’s what we’ve done well — it makes it that much more special, different than any other lineup.”
Toronto’s 213 homers leads all major league clubs, and the feat reached by Donaldson, Bautista and Encarnacion, have made the pennant-seeking Blue Jays special.
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