John Gibbons' Blue Jays came into Thursday night's game against the Twins (TOR-MIN GameTracker) caught in a downward trend. They'd lost six in a row and were just coming off a home sweep at the hands of the Rays (the Jays were outscored 31-6 in that three-game set). With his team at a season-worst four games below .500, Gibbons surely felt the need to try something.

Here is that something ...

The first thing that jumps out is Jose Bautista in the leadoff spot. Bautista hasn't batted leadoff since June 15, 2010. He was in the midst of his incredible breakout season (he'd hit 54 homers that year), and once that power was recognized he resettled in the middle of the order, pretty much for good.

What you see above is pretty unconventional, in that Joey Bats, despite being capable of occasionally swiping a bag, is not a speedster. He does, however, work counts and get on base, and those are more valuable leadoff skills than "merely" being fast. On that point, it's good for the Jays to get Kevin Pillar and his sub-.300 OBP out of the No. 1 hole.

More generally, you'll observe that Gibbons has placed his top three hitters -- Bautista, Josh Donaldson, and Edwin Encarnacion -- in the top three spots. There's something to be said for simply getting your best hitters as many trips to the plate as possible, and that's probably his thinking. The Jays last season led the AL in runs scored, and this season they've slipped to ninth. Thus we have Gibbons' tinkering and experimentation.

Most well-designed studies show that batting order doesn't make a huge difference, but it's one of the ways in which the manager can exercise his tactical instincts. Gibbons on Thursday night certainly did just that.