In a competitive AL East — possibly the best division in baseball — the Toronto Blue Jays have an uphill climb in 2024. Despite multiple 90-win years and a trio of playoff appearances, the Blue Jays have finished better than third in the AL East just once in the last seven seasons. They have also failed to win a postseason series during that stretch.

The 2024 season is still young, but Toronto has yet to win a series and sits at the bottom of the division at 4-6. The team is batting just .196 on the year with an OPS of .627. With so much competition, the Blue Jays can hardly afford a slow start. Here are two moves the club must make to rebound from their early struggles.

Release Daniel Vogelbach

Daniel Vogelbach has proven himself as a capable hitter during his MLB career. The hefty lefty has a career OPS of .752, the product of decent power and a surprisingly good on-base percentage. But Vogelbach's lack of athleticism continues to expose him. The veteran has played just five innings at first base since the start of the 2022 season and he has become a complete liability on the base paths.

Against the New York Yankees on April 6, Vogelbach made two of the biggest base-running blunders at the MLB level, getting called out twice in a game the Jays lost but just one run. In the seventh inning, Vogelbach attempted to advance from second to third on a routine ground ball to the left side. The big man never made it anywhere near the hot corner and was quickly tagged out in a rundown. Not only should Vogelbach have stayed at second, but any other MLB player would have at least stayed in the rundown long enough for their teammate to get to second.

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Then in the ninth inning, Vogelbach found himself on first when the Toronto batter hit a ground ball deep into the hole between shortstop and third. What should have been an infield hit became a fielder's choice as Vogelbach could not get to second base ahead of the throw.

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Daniel Vogelbach's poor base-running —  a product of his lack of speed and bad decision-making — make him unplayable in any situation where he is not at the plate as Toronto almost needs to put a pinch-running in place for him when he reaches base. Vogelbach is not good enough at the plate to make up for these inadequacies.

Call up Spencer Horwitz

When the Blue Jays inevitably decide to get rid of Daniel Vogelbach, they will need to replace him with another bat. Three of Toronto's top six prospects are hitters at the Triple-A level, but the most MLB-ready hitter in the Blue Jays system is Spencer Horwitz — the club's #16 prospect.

The 26-year-old is off to a hot start in 2024. Horwitz has nine walks compared to just four strikeouts through nine games while posting a batting average of .360 and a 1.049 OPS. In the minors last year, the left-handed batter tallied more walks than strikeouts to go with a .945 OPS — earning him a late-season call-up to the Majors where he held his own.

Horwitz can slot in as a DH plus has the flexibility to play first base and the outfield — which should prove especially useful since the Toronto bats have gotten off to a slow start in 2024.