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To put that into context, the Jays added Santander because they thought he would be an elite hitter who offered protection behind Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Instead they have a guy who ranks 150th among qualified hitters with a .537 on-base plus slugging percentage. Only 12 batters have performed worse.

Some of those struggles were expected. There have been warnings before in this space that the 30-year-old is a notoriously slow starter who typically doesn’t heat up until May. Nothing has changed, but it’s almost the end of April and there have been few signs that a turnaround is imminent.

Santander will enter Sunday’s doubleheader against the New York Yankees mired in an 0-for-21 slump. He has just one walk over that span while striking out seven times. Despite the struggles, he has remained in the No. 3 spot of the order because his team lacks viable alternatives.

Jays fans are quickly realizing what Orioles fans already knew: Santander is an extremely streaky hitter. When he’s on, he is one of the elite power hitters in the game. When he’s off, there will be long periods when the only time he gets noticed is by striking out in a big spot.

The Jays offence hasn’t been anywhere close to good enough. They rank 26th with 3.53 runs per game, and the Kansas City Royals are the only team with fewer home runs. There is a long list of Jays who need to be better, and right at the top is Santander.

Fluharty, not foolhardy

Find someone in your life who trusts you as much as Jays manager John Schneider trusts rookie left-hander Mason Fluharty. Schneider has continuously turned to his inexperienced reliever in high-leverage situations over the last couple weeks, and it has led to some fairly impressive results.

Full disclosure: There’s a small group of journalists who have been known to say “Foolhardy for Fluharty” whenever Schneider makes a questionable decision to bring him into a tight spot. One of those situations occurred Friday night, when Fluharty entered in the eighth inning trying to preserve a 1-1 tie at Yankee Stadium.

“What the heck is Schneider doing?” is something this columnist thought to himself, and it wasn’t the first time. Fluharty ended up surrendering a run, but it wasn’t his fault. Outfielder George Springer took a poor route on a fly ball, and what should have been a routine play fell for a double. What stood out is that Fluharty didn’t crumble after the miscue and limited the damage.

In 10 appearances this season, Fluharty has yet to allow a hit to a right-handed batter and is holding opponents to a .571 OPS. I still don’t like pulling Yimi García just to have Fluharty face a lefty, but Schneider’s moves have mostly worked out. If the media are going to criticize when things go wrong, they should point out when things go right, too.

Roden and Wagner

There was no shortage of critics during the off-season who felt the Jays needed to do more than sign Santander to improve the offence. After last year’s sluggish performance, it was easy to make the case they required at least two more big bats. The front office didn’t agree and ended up handing regular playing time to Alan Roden and Will Wagner.

So far, that decision has backfired. Roden won the starting job in left field after a strong spring, while Wagner has played regularly at third, designated hitter and even first base. Neither one has performed well, with Roden producing a lowly .581 OPS and Wagner even worse at .515.

Roden is 25, Wagner is 26 and they’re both still getting their feet wet in the majors. It would be short-sighted to write them off because of one poor month. But inserting two rookies who weren’t considered can’t-miss prospects is risky strategy for a team that views itself as a contender.

Jays-Yankees rainout fallout

Saturday’s rainout in New York shouldn’t have much of an impact on the Jays rotation. Kevin Gausman was pushed back one day and will start the opener of Sunday’s doubleheader. Chris Bassitt remains on schedule to start the second game, and Monday’s off-day means both will stay on schedule next week.

There is, however, a change coming soon. The Jays have gone without a fifth starter for the last week, but they’ll require one on the upcoming homestand when they play six games in six days. The club could opt to feature Yariel Rodríguez or Josh Walker in a bullpen game, or they could call up someone such as Jake Bloss.