St. John’s baseball: Joe Panik continues quiet season as Blue Jays win

Former St. John’s baseball standout Joe Panik continues to struggle this season with the Toronto Blue Jays as his team begins to pick up victories.

Utility player Joe Panik has been somewhat of a platoon player in his first season with the Toronto Blue Jays but since the injury of star Bo Bichette, Panik has seen more playing time.

However, that playing time has not resulted in better results for the former Red Storm standout who has struggled in the shortened 60-game season.

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Most recently Panik started at third base on Monday for the Blue Jays as they wrapped up a four game series with the Tampa Bay Rays.

As winners of seven of its last nine, the Blue Jays are looking to make a charge up the American League standings but aren’t getting production from their do-it-all infielder.

In Monday’s 6-4 victory, Panik started the game at third base and moved over to second base in the later stages of the game but went 0-for-4 at the plate, adding to his season struggles.

A solid infielder, Panik provides stability at all positions in the infield for the Jays, but hasn’t been able to get it done at the plate, which is the main reason why his playing time is so inconsistent.

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Hitting just .179 on the season, Panik is 4-for-39 on the year but is just 2-for-his-last-16, and has not accumulated an extra base hit on the year.

The former Johnnie has walked just three times, struck out 11 times, and scored four runs. Panik has just a .238 on-base percentage and a .179 slugging percentage.

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Following Monday’s game, the Blue Jays will travel back to its temorary home in Buffalo, New York as the team gets set to host the Boston Red Sox, the last play team in the American League East, for a three game series starting on Tuesday evening.