Jesse Burrill

The World Series has arrived, and for the first time in 32 seasons, it will feature the Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays' season has felt like a fairy tale in a way. Coming off an 88-loss last-place finish in 2024, expectations were tempered entering the season. But then the Blue Jays started winning, and they didn't stop. Their 18-10 record was the best in the Grapefruit League, and fast forward six months later, they won the American League East for the first time in a decade. Three weeks after that, the Blue Jays had beaten the New York Yankees in the Division Series and the Seattle Mariners in the Championship Series. They are now just four wins away from being World Series champions. Standing in their way are the Los Angeles Dodgers, the reigning champions, one of baseball’s true powerhouses. They have won their division in 12 of the last 13 seasons and are loaded with multiple-time All-Stars, former MVP winners, and a starting rotation that most teams envy. They’re here for a reason, and they will be a formidable test for the Blue Jays. But the Dodgers are beatable, at least that's what manager John Schneider said at media day on Thursday. And he’s right. Both of these teams are good teams and deserve to be at this stage. In baseball, anyone can win. As always, the Fall Classic will be loaded with storylines to follow, from Bo Bichette’s health, to Teoscar Hernández's return to Toronto, to the lingering Shohei Ohtani narrative from his 2023 free agency saga. Those storylines will dominate the headlines, but beyond them, several more under-the-radar storylines will play a role in deciding whether the Blue Jays finally end their 32-year championship drought or if the Dodgers' dynasty will continue. 1) Myles Straw vs. Roki Sasaki Blue Jays fans will remember this fondly. In a trade back in January, the Blue Jays acquired $2 million in international bonus pool space and Myles Straw in exchange for a PTBNL or cash. The assumption at the time was that the Blue Jays were going all out to acquire Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki. The deal took a lot of scrutiny, as Straw was set to make $6.4 million in 2025 and an additional $7.4 million in 2026, which at the time pushed the Blue Jays over the first CBT threshold. All that for a player who played strong defence and had some speed, but was ultimately held to just four ABs in 2024 and spent most of the season in the minor leagues, where he had just a .651 OPS in Triple-A. To make matters worse, the Blue Jays didn’t even end up signing Sasaki, as just a few hours after the Straw trade was announced, Sasaki revealed that he was signing with the Dodgers, and the Jays looked like they had taken Straw and his salary for nothing. But of course, that’s not how it played out. Straw had a productive season for the Blue Jays. He played in 137 regular season games, filled in at center field when Daulton Varsho wasn’t able to play, and even added four home runs to boot. His 2.9 bWAR ended up being the sixth highest on the Blue Jays, while Sasaki battled injuries and struggled at times, only putting up 0.3 bWAR. Straw hasn’t forgotten about the trade either. The Blue Jays ended up using the international bonus pool money to sign 18-year-old right-handed pitcher Seojun Moon out of Korea, and Straw took the time to meet the pitcher when he was in Toronto in September. He joked, “I like to keep up with the prospects, especially to see where my trade money went.” If Sasaki ends up facing Straw in a high-leverage moment late in a game, this storyline may become extremely relevant. 2) Redemption for Brendon Little If the Blue Jays had lost the ALCS against the Mariners, one of the key reasons would have been the blown save by Brendon Little in Game 5. Little came into the game with a 2-1 lead in the 8th inning and was unable to get an out. After a solo home run to Cal Raleigh and then back-to-back walks, Little was pulled. The inherited runners came in to score, and the Jays lost 6-2. It was a devastating moment for Little, who addressed the media post-game, saying, “It feels terrible,” and “I couldn't have pitched worse,” as he looked like he was trying to hold back tears the whole time. Little had been a rock for the Blue Jays most of the regular season; he ended with a 3.03 ERA on the year and an MLB-high 79 appearances, even earning the title of Jays Centre Reliever of the Year. But as the season went on, his numbers got worse. He threw to a 4.88 ERA in the second half, with his strikeout rate dropping and his walk rate rising during that time. Little is certainly going to be relied on in the World Series, though, with the Dodgers' lineup being much more lefty-heavy than the Mariners' was; left-handed batters Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy are three big threats featured in the top half of the lineup. Mason Fluharty and Eric Lauer are going to get work too, but if the Blue Jays are going to silence the top bats of the Dodgers, then Little is going to get his opportunity, and with it, a shot at redemption. 3) Does Max Scherzer have one more great start in him? It seems like a long time ago, but one of the main talking points going into Game 4 of the ALCS was: How will Max Scherzer perform? Over his last six starts of the regular season, Scherzer had an ERA of 9.00, allowing 45 base runners in 25 innings, giving up eight home runs in the process. It felt like the one spot in the rotation that would be a weakness. But even at the age of 41, Scherzer still had it. He ended up throwing 5.2 IP, allowing just two earned runs, and ultimately earning the win for the Blue Jays. His night included an emphatic “discussion” when John Schneider came out to the mound in the fifth inning, ultimately leaving Scherzer in the game. Mad Max was truly in his finest form. But now he has to do it again. It hasn’t been confirmed, but it seems likely that Scherzer will start one of the games in L.A. against the Dodgers, and what version of Scherzer the Blue Jays get may make a huge difference in the series. Will it be the player that pitches into the sixth inning, allowing two or fewer runs, or will it be the Scherzer that the Blue Jays threw out in the final month of the regular season? The Blue Jays hope it's the former and that the future Hall of Famer can find his magic just one more time. 4) George Springer vs. the Dodgers The Dodgers haven't forgotten about George Springer. They have won the World Series twice in the past five seasons, which helps ease the pain, but before all of that was the 2017 World Series, in which the Astros beat the Dodgers in seven games. Springer was a menace in that series. He hit five home runs, reached base 16 times in those seven games, and produced a staggering 1.471 OPS on his way to winning World Series MVP. This was the heart of the trash can/sign-stealing era for the Astros, and many Dodgers fans still feel like they were “cheated” out of that World Series. Now, Springer will get a second chance against that same team to prove he can do it because he is simply just that good. In other words, he doesn’t need the aid of a trash can this time. 5) If the Dodgers win, will it really “ruin baseball"? On a national level, the Dodgers winning wouldn’t ruin anything. Ohtani would get another ring, Clayton Kershaw would get one more championship in his final season as a major leaguer, and the Dodgers dynasty would continue. Now, many Blue Jays fans wouldn't be happy, but there is a bigger point here. In the offseason, there was chatter that the Dodgers were “ruining baseball.” They were coming off a World Series win with the best player in the world signed to a massive contract with several deferred payments, which helped them to also sign stars like Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow the previous offseason. In addition, the Dodgers were able to sign several players for less than their perceived market value because those players wanted to play for L.A. Sasaki, Kirby Yates, Tanner Scott, Teoscar Hernández, Blake Snell, and Tommy Edman all chose to sign with the Dodgers this past winter. Thus, the Dodgers had a team that felt like it would be invincible all season. They had the highest payroll in baseball, and in this era, aside from some tax penalties, there aren’t a ton of restrictions that discourage teams from spending like the Dodgers did. However, the collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the MLBPA is set to expire on December 1, 2026, and one of the main talking points during negotiations is going to be the issue of a salary cap. The NHL, NBA and NFL all have a cap, but this is something the players' union has fought hard against, and it would be very surprising if they let that go in the next round of negotiations. It's not fun to think about the potential impact on CBA negotiations during the height of the World Series, but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts brought it to light after the sweep of the Brewers, saying, "Let's get four more wins and really ruin baseball.” The real answer is whoever wins the World Series will likely not have a major effect on CBA negotiations, but it's going to be a stronger talking point if the Dodgers do end up winning the Fall Classic once again. For what it's worth, the last time the Blue Jays won a World Series, in 1993, Major League Baseball immediately went into a labour dispute the following season. Nobody wants to see that again, but history has a funny way of repeating itself. Either way, all the fun starts tonight in Toronto. The Blue Jays' season is either going to end in heartbreak, after coming so close but not quite reaching their goal, or it will end in triumph, with the whole country ready to rejoice and stand on top of the baseball world. And that would be a true fairy tale ending. View full article

Winner-take-all, do-or-die, Game 7. No matter which phrase you use, it all means one thing: a single game to decide the fate of two franchises. Win the game, and the Blue Jays will be American League champions and will be in the World Series for the first time in 32 years. But if they lose, their fate becomes the same as 27 other teams in baseball, heading home early, knowing just how close things were, but that it ultimately wasn’t enough. The Blue Jays have set themselves up well to be in this position. After a grueling 162-game season to clinch the division on the final day, then beating their AL East rival New York Yankees in four games to win the Division Series, the Blue Jays found themselves in a place they had only seen twice since their World Series runs: the American League Championship Series. The 2015 team put up a valiant effort, but couldn't find a way to win in Kansas City and lost to the Royals in six games. The 2016 team came off a sweep of the Rangers but ran into Andrew Miller, Francisco Lindor, and others, and was sent home after just five games. In 2025, things feel a little different. After losing the first two games at home with their ace Kevin Gausman and rookie sensation Trey Yesavage on the mound, it was starting to feel like déjà vu all over again, but this Blue Jays team is different. They’ve been able to handle adversity all season, from dealing with injuries to multiple key players throughout the year, to being able to still pick up wins even in games when they fell behind, to battling through inconsistencies in their bullpen, it hasn't mattered. The Blue Jays marched into Seattle with a mission, and that was to get the series back to Toronto any way possible. They pulled it off. The Jays used five home runs and a stellar start from Shane Bieber to win Game 3, while Mad Max Scherzer turned back the clock and Andrés Giménez had four RBI to get them back to even in the series. After the bullpen's shake-up in a Game 5 loss, the Blue Jays were able to head back home. Game 6 was electric. Yesavage, with the help of some key double plays, was able to hold the Mariners to two runs while pitching into the sixth inning. Louis Varland and Jeff Hoffman combined to finish out the game. Pair that with home runs from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Addison Barger, and the Blue Jays did the impossible, just like they've been doing all season. They avoided elimination and forced a Game 7. Neither the Blue Jays nor the Mariners have much history in Game 7’s. Seattle has never played in one, and the Blue Jays did just once, a 6-2 loss to the Kansas City Royals in the Blue Jays' first-ever postseason series in 1985. The good news is that history suggests that the advantage may be in the Blue Jays' favour. Here is a stat dug out by the great Sarah Langs that says, “In best-of-seven series with the current 2-3-2 format, teams that have won Game 6 at home to force a Game 7 (also at home), have won that series 20 of 33 times (60.6%), including 14 of 18 times since 1985 (77.8%).” Small sample size galore, and a 77.8% success rate is not 100%, but it does say something about momentum, and right now, that's exactly what the Blue Jays have. Playing at home is always an advantage. The home team wins roughly 54% of the time, and the Blue Jays will get that advantage here. They’ve clearly earned it for how well they’ve played in the regular season. The Blue Jays have to feel like they’ve got the Mariners right where they want them; the Jays won 67% of their home games this season, (54-27), and no matter which number you choose to believe, 54%, 67% or 77.8%, all of those numbers state that the Blue Jays should have an advantage in Game 7. There’s more to this, too. Langs also found this stat: In each of the four previous seasons in which one LCS was a sweep and the other series went seven games (1988, 2006, 2007, 2012), the team that won Game 7 also ended up winning the World Series. Now, how’s that for excitement? There’s a quote from former manager Earl Weaver that states momentum is just the next day's starting pitcher. The Blue Jays will turn to Shane Bieber, who will look to keep momentum going, but you could argue that Bieber has been a momentum killer this postseason, The Blue Jays won their first two games in New York, but then Bieber couldn’t get through three innings in the lone game the Yankees won in ALDS. Then, he was able to stop Seattle’s momentum by firing six quality innings and striking out eight in Game 3 to get the Blue Jays their first ALCS win. Bieber was Toronto's prime acquisition at this year's trade deadline, but Khal Stephen could turn into a first ballot Hall of Famer, and if Bieber can keep the momentum rolling, earn this win and get the Blue Jays into the World Series, then it won't matter, and it may turn into one of the best trades the Blue Jays have ever made. Baseball is a crazy game, especially the fact that after a 162-game season that spans from late March all the way into September, it can all come down to one game, one swing of the bat, or one well-executed pitch at the right time. But weirdly, the Blue Jays are well-suited for that sort of chaos. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. says he's ready, and that's got to be a scary sound for the Mariners to hear. On Monday night, the Blue Jays will get their chance to do the impossible: win just one game, and send themselves to the World Series for the first time in 32 seasons. Whether or not momentum or history is on their side, it's going to be a historic day for the Toronto Blue Jays one way or another. View full article

Trey Yesavage is built for this. How could he not be? His season so far has been somewhat of a fairytale: he's gone from being drafted a mere 15 months ago to playing across five different levels in one season, and not only pitching in the major leagues, but doing so in some of the biggest games the Blue Jays franchise has had in over a decade. His signature moment so far was when he started Game 2 of the Division Series against the Yankees with a historic performance, striking out 11 and helping the Blue Jays make it through to the ALCS. Yesavage is about to face his biggest challenge yet. After helping the Blue Jays move past the Yankees, he’ll get an even bigger test this weekend. On Friday, it was confirmed that he will be the starter for Game 6, which, after the Blue Jays' 6-2 loss to the Mariners in Game 5, became a win-or-go-home game for the team, which is a lot of pressure for anyone, let alone a 22-year-old with just five big league starts to his name. If Yesavage pitches anything like he did in the division series, then it won’t be an issue. If any pitcher gets through five without allowing a hit, then odds are his team is going to win that game. But then there is the chance that he pitches like he did in Game 2 of the ALCS. This saw Yesavage show signs of being beatable, as the Mariners got him for five earned runs while walking three times and striking out just four over four innings on Monday. The five earned runs are the most he’s allowed in a start in his short big league career, with the four walks being the most as well. Not only that, Yesavage had some more question marks as the start went on. In the first inning, he hit the leadoff hitter Randy Arozarena (after a missed strike three call), then walked Cal Raleigh, and then Julio Rodríguez took a splitter that caught too much of the plate on a 1-2 count and sent it deep into left field. Three batters in, Yesavage was down 3-0. For the first time in his career, the adversity had set in. Looking under the hood, his average fastball velocity in that inning sat at 94.8 mph, which was right around his season average of 94.7 mph, so nothing out of the ordinary there. But as the game continued, it started to decline: 1st inning - 94.8 mph 2nd inning - 94.3 mph 3rd inning - 93.1 mph 4th inning - 92.8 mph You can see it dropping on the following chart from Baseball Savant: A drop in velocity could mean many things. It could be fatigue, it could be the sign of a minor injury, or maybe he didn’t have enough calories in him. Who really knows, but with the Blue Jays now facing a win-or-go-home situation, it could be a risky proposition to start Yesavage if he is indeed not 100%. Could the workload be catching up to him? It wouldn't be unimaginable. Yesavage has pitched more this season than he ever has in his career. In college, the highest innings total he reached in a season was 93.1, and so far this season, he’s thrown 121.1 IP, with the most recent of those being in high-stress situations. The Blue Jays were cautious about his innings jump while he was in the minor league; he made piggyback starts and even came out of the bullpen a few times. But this could be a sign that the innings jump is starting to get to him. There is also the possibility that Yesavage may be dealing with some injury. This was always somewhat of a concern for the righty, who throws at such a unique arm slot. While that is very good for causing deception, because hitters just don't see that type of pitcher that often, there may be a link to elbow issues. Baseball America ran a study (which can be read here) that discovered that pitchers who have a lower arm slot suffer significantly less joint stress at both the elbow and the shoulder. So, while his arm slot helps him generate deception, it also introduces biomechanical quirks that could increase the risk of injury or fatigue. Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean that Yesavage is injured or that he is doomed to have surgery, but pair this with the sudden loss of velocity, and it may be enough to raise some eyebrows or at least cause some level of concern. But John Schneider doesn’t seem worried. After Game 2, the skipper did hint that the velocity drop was part of the reason Yesavage got the hook when he did, but there haven't been any signs of major concern. There’s been no news about Yesavage getting looked at, and no one on the Blue Jays coaching staff seems worried about it, so even if there is some doubt, he’ll be good to go this evening. It is also worth considering that his struggles could have been related to something happening off the field. Before his Game 2 start, Yesavage spoke to the media about how people close to him were being harassed for his performance on the field, and he specifically mentioned his parents, girlfriend and brother. Baseball players are human too and go through all the same emotions that everyone else has. It could be possible that maybe his head wasn’t in the right space. If you're thinking about how your performance can affect the people you love and care about, it's very reasonable to see how that could cause your performance on the mound to fluctuate. For what it's worth, Yesavage has earned the trust of the coaching staff and front office, and the Blue Jays are going with their talented rookie phenom to start in what has now become a must-win game. If the Blue Jays lose, their season is over, and the magical run comes to an end. If they win, the Blue Jays will head to their franchise's second-ever Game 7, hoping to earn a spot in the World Series for the third time in franchise history. Trey Yesavage says he’s built for this, and even after the small hiccup in Game 2, I believe in him. Most importantly, the Blue Jays do too. View full article

The House that Jeter built became the one that Vladdy tore down, pumps me up so much

Many of the best baseball teams have an identity; the Toronto Blue Jays are no exception. All season, they’ve been known as a group that does the little things right. They get contributions from everyone on their roster, taking an approach that magnifies all the little things: putting the ball in play, moving runners over, and playing solid defence. On Tuesday night in New York, the Blue Jays lost their identity. Coming into the game, spirits were high. The Blue Jays had gotten out to a roaring start, winning the first two games of the ALDS in decisive fashion. After a 10-1 win in Game 1 and a 13-7 win in Game 2, fueled by eight home runs, 23 total runs scored, and a historic start by rookie phenom Trey Yesavage, the Blue Jays looked like they might have been unstoppable. In the early part of Game 3, it looked like that would continue. The Blue Jays were facing Yankee left-hander Carlos Rodón, a pitcher they’ve seen twice already this season, and got to him early. After a George Springer strikeout to begin the game, Davis Schneider worked a full count and then drew a walk, setting up Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who promptly did this: For Guerrero, it made three straight postseason games with a home run. His second career homer off of Rodón, this one 427 feet, gave the Blue Jays a 2-0 lead. In the bottom half of the frame, Shane Bieber took the mound for his Blue Jays postseason debut and retired two of the first three batters. With a runner on first and two out, Ben Rice hit a groundball toward Blue Jays second baseman Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who moved to his left and had the ball hit off his chest and kick away. It went down as the Blue Jays' first error of the series, and Giancarlo Stanton made them pay with an RBI single to cut the Jays' lead to one. But the Blue Jays didn’t seem to let it faze them. In the top of the third, Schneider led off the inning with a double down the line. Then Yankees manager Aaron Boone gave Guerrero an intentional free pass, the second time this season he’s given the Blue Jays star first base. After an Alejandro Kirk lineout to right field, Daulton Varsho, Ernie Clement, and Anthony Santander all had base hits, and Rodón was taken out of the game. Toronto's bats had the team up to a 6-1 lead. The Blue Jays felt like they were in a good place; they hadn’t lost a single game all season when they had a 5+ run lead, and the win expectancy chart was at 92%. But 92% isn't 100%. From that point on, things started to fall apart. Bieber gave up a lead-off double of his own (to Trent Grisham) to start the bottom of the third, Aaron Judge had one too, and after a Stanton sac fly, the Blue Jays' lead was cut in half to 6-3. One batter later, Bieber was removed from the game. Bieber finished with a line of 2.2 IP, five hits allowed, three runs allowed (two earned), and 54 pitches thrown; his five whiffs were the fewest in his last 25 starts, and of the 12 balls in play Bieber allowed, nine of them were hit hard, which forced the Blue Jays to turn to their bullpen early. First up was Mason Fluharty, who got the last out of the third and the first out of the fourth as well. Austin Wells, the Yankees' number nine hitter, hit a shallow pop-up to short left field. Addison Barger looked like he was camped under it until he broke into a full sprint, and the ball hit off the heel of his glove. Wells ended up on second base. Fluharty followed that up with a walk to Grisham, and suddenly, Aaron Judge was coming to the plate as the tying run. John Schneider chose to turn to Louis Varland, who got a massive strikeout of Stanton in Game 1. Varland, armed with a 100-mph fastball, used his 90-mph knuckle curve that was fouled off to get ahead and then threw a 100-mph fastball down the pipe that Judge swung through to get ahead 0-2. But Judge had the last laugh. Varland threw a good pitch, 100 mph in off the hands, but it didn’t matter. Judge pulled his hands in and roped it down the line, and just like that, the game was tied at six. There’s an old cliché that baseball is a game of inches, and it felt true at that moment more than ever. If the pitch was placed just a few inches away in either direction, or if the ball moved just three more inches to the left, then it's a completely different ball game. But that’s not what was in the cards. The Yankees took advantage of the Blue Jays' second error of the game, and this one felt especially costly. Jazz Chisholm Jr. added a go-ahead home run an inning later to give the Yankees the lead for good, while the Blue Jays continued to struggle in the field. Guerrero saw a ball go under his glove that wasn’t ruled an error, but it was the kind of play he's made before. Santander, who is not known for his defence, took a bad route on a ball, and for a play that had a 90% catch probability, it was the 10% that won. Game 3 was decided by more than just the defence. The Blue Jays' bullpen, which got hit around in Game 2, was vulnerable on Tuesday night as well. The combination of Fluharty, Varland, Braydon Fisher, Brendon Little, Yariel Rodríguez and Tommy Nance combined to go 6.1 IP, allowing five earned runs, whereas the Yankees bullpen, which had its struggles throughout the season, held the Blue Jays to three hits and no earned runs, striking out more Blue Jays batters (9) than over the previous two games combined (7). When the dust settled, the final score was Yankees 9, Blue Jays 6, as New York improved to 3-0 in the postseason when facing elimination. The Blue Jays are still in the driver's seat, even if it feels a little uncomfortable. A win in Game 4 today will erase a lot of the hard feelings the Blue Jays felt in this game. They will face Yankees right-hander Cam Schlittler, who has been dominant lately, highlighted by eight shutout innings against the Red Sox in the Wild Card round. Yet, the Blue Jays have gotten to him before, and they will hope for a repeat of the four earned runs they scored against him over just 1.2 IP earlier in September. The Blue Jays will turn to their bullpen (Varland will technically get the start), which will be looking for redemption as the Jays try to clinch the series in Game 4. The good news is that one bad game does not define your identity, just like one bad pitch doesn’t define you as a pitcher. But the Blue Jays are going to have to clean up their defensive woes and get back to what made them so successful during the regular season. That all starts tonight in the Bronx. View full article

Postseason baseball is defined by epic moments, and for the past nine years, the Blue Jays were on the wrong side of those moments. But over the weekend, things finally changed. Trey Yesavage made history as a 22-year-old, and Kevin Gausman did what you want your number one starter to do. But no one could have predicted the offensive explosion that came from the Blue Jays' bats. In total, they hit eight home runs, had 29 hits, and nine of the 12 batters that took an at-bat in the first two games of this series reached base more than once. All in all, it was 23 runs scored, and the Blue Jays find themselves up two games to none in the ALDS. With so many notable performances to talk about, let's do it by the numbers – 23 of them to be exact, one for each run the Blue Jays scored this weekend. 23 - The number of runs the Blue Jays scored The first one is easy, but scoring 23 runs in two games isn’t exactly new to the Blue Jays. They scored 25 over two games earlier in September against the Reds, they scored 23 against these same Yankees on July 1 and 2 (the latter was when the Blue Jays tied the Yankees for first place in the AL East), they did it against the Athletics at the end of May, and of course, they did it during the thrashing at Coors Field in the first week of August. But doing it in the postseason is different. Baseball has been played for over 120 years, and not once has a team scored that many runs over their first two games of a postseason. No matter what happens from here on out, the Blue Jays' offence can not be taken lightly. 22 - The number of seconds in Ernie Clement's HR trot This one is unofficial, but with a video and access to a stopwatch, this is what we came up with. It's worth noting because Ernie got the party started with a two-run home run off Max Fried on Sunday at a 94.1 exit velocity; it was the softest hit home run of the postseason so far (coming into games on Monday). Still, it counts just the same. Post-game, he said, “I don't remember a thing, I totally blacked out.” For “blacking out,” he still made it around the bases in good time. 21 - Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s average launch angle this weekend The actual number is 21.1, but we can't go any further without talking about Vlad and his historic start to the postseason. He said at the start of the series that he wanted to be like Joe Carter, which is a great goal, but ultimately hard to do. Well, he did exactly that, hitting a solo home run to start off Game 1, and did it again in Game 2, hitting the first postseason grand slam in Blue Jays history – the most memorable moment of his playoff career so far. Putting the ball in the air is a big part of what Guerrero is doing right. 20 - The number of consecutive runs the Blue Jays scored From the seventh inning of Game 1 to the sixth inning of Game 2, the Blue Jays outscored the Yankees 20-0. Twenty consecutive runs is the most within a series in postseason history (stat via Jorge Castillo of ESPN). 19 - The number of at-bats the Blue Jays had with runners in scoring position Getting guys into scoring position is important, but bringing them in is even better. In Game 1, the Blue Jays were 5-for-10 with RISP, and they were 4-for-9 in Game 2. In a postseason series where small samples rule, getting hits with men on base is key, and the Blue Jays did that well over the first two games. 18 - The number of postseason games the Blue Jays have won at home in franchise history This one isn’t so much about the offense in this series, but it’s important to remember the main goal, and that's to win games. The Blue Jays hope this number increases as the postseason progresses. 17 - The number of swings the Blue Jays took at 75 mph or harder The Blue Jays' bat speed has been noticeable through the first two games. Guerrero's average swing speed so far has been 78.9 mph. That's more than 2 mph faster than his 76.7 mph season average and would be higher than Oneil Cruz, who led MLB in that stat with a 78.8 mph average bat speed during the regular season. He’s not swinging wildly either; 100% of his swings have been deemed competitive by Statcast. He’s locked in at the moment. 16 - The number of hard-hit balls the Blue Jays hit on average over the first two games They had 18 hard hits in Game 1 and another 13 in Game 2. That will certainly play. Only Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ernie Clement are without one, and each of Daulton Varsho, Nathan Lukes, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Alejandro Kirk, and George Springer all have four or more. Their 44.9% hard-hit rate is tops in the American League so far. 15 - The Blue Jays' run differential through two games How do you like this one, Michael Kay? With so much talk throughout the early part of the season about the Blue Jays' run differential, they have a positive one when it matters most. Through two games, it's the highest in any of the divisional series so far. 14 - The number of extra-base hits Blue Jays batters have against Carlos Rodón in his career This one is looking ahead to Game 3, but if history says anything, the Blue Jays may be able to continue their success. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is 10-for-17 with a home run and three doubles against Rodón, Springer has two home runs, and Kirk has three doubles as well. 13 - The number of hits/runs/RBI that Nathan Lukes and Andrés Giménez contributed this weekend The storyline for the entire Blue Jays season has been getting production from unlikely sources. Lukes had a clutch two-RBI double in Game 1 to add some insurance, and Giménez did his part by adding three hits and was able to score every time he got on base. Don't forget about the defence these two provide as well. 12 - The number of total bases Daulton Varsho had in Game 2 Varsho’s performance hasn't been the most talked-about from the first two games, but maybe it should be. Two home runs and two doubles in Game 2, with both doubles coming off a fellow left-hander in Fried, can't go unnoticed. The 12 total bases are tied for the seventh most of all time in a playoff game, and the highest in Blue Jays franchise history. 11 - The percentage of pitches that were called strikes against the Blue Jays The actual number is 10.8%, but we’ll round up. This number could have been the number of strikeouts Yesavage recorded, or how many runs the Blue Jays scored before the Yankees got their first hit, but we’ll go with this instead. This is impressive because it shows many things. First, the Blue Jays are just swinging the bat at pitches in the zone (79.1% zone swing rate, second-highest in the postseason), and they’re making contact on a high percentage of those swings (92.3%). In turn, they just aren't having many strikes called against them. Only Giménez has had even half of the pitches thrown to him be in the zone. It's something to monitor going forward. 10 - The number of players who made their postseason debut The number will become 11 if/when Tyler Heineman makes an appearance, but some of the Blue Jays' hitters have had success in their first taste of October. Nathan Lukes had four hard-hit balls in his debut, Davis Schneider ripped a single in his first at-bat, Addison Barger had a hit, and Ernie Clement got the party started in Game 2. There were no jitters from the Blue Jays batters when the lights were a little brighter. 9 - The number of pitches Anthony Santander saw in his first postseason at-bat with the Blue Jays Santander’s role on the postseason roster was in some question, but even though he didn’t have a massive moment like some of the others on the team, he was important in Game 1. He worked Luis Gil to a nine-pitch at-bat before striking out, fouling off six pitches in the process, which in turn forced the Yankees to turn to their bullpen early. Pair that with a single and a flyout that were both hit harder than 95 mph, and it could be a sign that good things are coming from Santander. 8 - The number of extra-base hits the Blue Jays had in Game 2 Five home runs and three doubles in any game is impressive, but in the postseason, it’s almost historic. Eight extra-base hits are tied for ninth all-time by a team in a playoff game. Pair that with the six the Jays had in Game 1, and this has been one of the best extra-base hit performances in postseason history. They've also hit eight home runs in the series, which is more than number seven... 7 - The number of times Blue Jays batters struck out The Blue Jays have built their identity on avoiding strikeouts, and that has continued in the postseason. Davis Schneider is the only Blue Jays hitter who has struck out more than once. 6 - The number of at-bats Isiah Kiner-Falefa will have without a hit This is if he goes 0-for-1 on his next trip up. With all the standout offensive performances from Toronto's first two games, Kiner-Falefa might feel a touch left out. In his five at-bats, he's gone: line out, groundout, fly out, groundout, strikeout. Kiner-Falefa isn’t known for his bat, but he was the only Blue Jay without a hit over the weekend, and it's worth mentioning. 5 - George Springer's place on the all-time postseason home run list George Springer is no stranger to the spotlight; he’s won a World Series MVP before. The Blue Jays were dreaming of some big postseason moments when he signed in Toronto. Over the weekend, he came through; his 403-foot home run in the fifth inning of Game 2 moved him into a tie with Derek Jeter for fifth on the all-time postseason home run list. Next up is Kyle Schwarber, who still has a chance to add some more this October, and is currently sitting at 21. 4 - Addison Barger’s rank in max swing speed this postseason Addison Barger has always been a player who swings hard, but he’s taken it to another level in the postseason. His flyout in Game 1 had an 85.6 mph swing speed, which was his third-fastest of the season and trails only Giancarlo Stanton for fastest in the playoffs (Stanton has three swings of 86 mph or faster this October). Not only are the Blue Jays not swinging and missing much, they’re swinging harder than ever. Barger included. 3 - The % of pitches thrown against the Blue Jays that turned into home runs The real number is 2.8%, but who's counting? This is just another stat that shows how often the Blue Jays have been hitting home runs; the next closest team is the Dodgers, who have hit a home run on 1.3% of the pitches they've seen. Major league average is 0.8%. There's no other way to put it: The Blue Jays are mashing at a historic rate. 2 - The number of Blue Jays with multi-home run games this series Shoutout to Alejandro Kirk and Daulton Varsho. Kirk has been out of this world lately, with five home runs over his last three games, going back to the last few games of the regular season. And Varsho was mentioned earlier. They became the fourth and fifth Blue Jays to hit multiple home runs in a postseason game, joining: Teoscar Hernández (2022) Danny Jansen (2020) José Bautista (2015) Kirk is the first catcher to do it against the Yankees since Johnny Bench, and that's good company to be paired with. 1 - The number of wins the Blue Jays need to advance to the ALCS After all that is said and done, the Blue Jays did what was most important: They won the first two games of the series. Now, the challenge isn’t over. They still have to make sure the offence doesn’t cool off and they can keep things rolling as they head to New York. Thankfully, they just have to win one of the next three games to punch their ticket to the ALCS for the third time since 2015. If the bats keep swinging like this, then that won't be a problem. View full article

The 2024 Blue Jays were in shambles. Injuries and underperformance hindered the team, ultimately leading to just 74 wins and a fifth-place finish in the AL East. The main culprit was a bullpen that, as a group, pitched to a 4.82 ERA and a -2.1 fWAR, the latter being the worst in franchise history. Flash forward to 2025, and the Blue Jays find themselves atop the American League, enjoying a postseason bye after a 20-win turnaround from the year prior. One of the main reasons the Blue Jays were able to celebrate a division title this season is because of how much better the bullpen has been. Here’s a list of some of the top contributors, including the arm we've crowned as the Blue Jays' Reliever of the Year. Honorable Mentions Seranthony Domínguez: 3.00 ERA, 21.0 IP, 24 appearances, 12 BB, 25 K, 0.2 fWAR On performance alone, Domínguez should probably appear higher on this list, but seeing how he pitched less than half the season with the Blue Jays, he ends up here. Domínguez started his Blue Jays career with a bang, striking out two Orioles batters after being teammates with them earlier in the day. Following some struggles early in August, Domínguez locked in, and from August 10 through the end of the season, he allowed just two earned runs in 19 appearances, while recording more strikeouts (19) than baserunners allowed (17). Domínguez has firmly set himself up to be in the back-end of the bullpen for the postseason, and the Blue Jays are going to rely on him heavily. Yariel Rodríguez: 2.88 ERA, 72.0 IP, 65 appearances, 32 BB, 65 K, 0.2 fWAR Rodríguez pitched so well out of the bullpen this season that it's hard to remember that the Blue Jays stretched him out to be a starter this spring. His emergence was key for the Blue Jays, particularly early in the season, highlighted by a fantastic month of May in which he threw 17.0 innings, allowing just one earned run, walking three, and striking out 18. The only thing keeping him from a higher place on this list was his consistency, for as good as he was, he had his share of blow-ups. Here are his ERAs by month: Mar/Apr - 5.68 May - 0.53 June - 2.45 July - 2.13 August - 7.71 Sept/Oct - 2.47 One note in Rodríguez's favour is that he led the Blue Jays in “Situational Wins” (Win Probability Added/Leverage Index) and ranked eighth among all relievers. In a Blue Jays bullpen that had its fair share of question marks, Rodríguez was a bright spot, and he looked so good that it seems like the days of him stretching out to be a starter are over. Eric Lauer: 1.76 ERA, 30.2 IP, 13 appearances, 8 BB, 28 Ks, 0.6 fWAR (numbers as a reliever only) This one might be cheating a bit, as Lauer made 15 starts and spent a large chunk of the season in the rotation, but what he did out of the bullpen can't be ignored. After allowing two runs in his first appearance of the season, he made five appearances out of the bullpen in which he did not allow an earned run, including appearances of 4.2, 3.1, 4.0, and 2.1 IP before he formally joined the rotation in June. The Blue Jays moved Lauer back into the bullpen in September, and his success continued. He threw 12 innings, allowing just four earned runs. It's also worth noting that the Blue Jays went 22-6 in games Lauer appeared in this year, with 10 of those wins coming in games he pitched as a reliever. Lauer’s journey from pitching in Korea to joining the Blue Jays on a minor league deal to playing a key role for the division champions has truly been remarkable. Tommy Nance: 1.99 ERA, 31.2 IP, 30 appearances, 7 BB, 32 K, 0.8 fWAR Speaking of small deals that turned into big successes for the Blue Jays, Nance burst on the scene with a productive 2025 season after being acquired in a minor trade with the Padres the year prior. His 0.8 fWAR in relief was the third-highest on the team, despite his only throwing the seventh-most innings out of the bullpen this year. His 1.87 FIP was also the best out of the bullpen, and astonishingly, he did not allow a single home run all season. The only thing keeping him this far down on this list is that he didn't end up joining the team until mid-July. His spot on the playoff roster may be in question, but he certainly has pitched well enough to deserve to be on the roster and to be a key contributor going forward. 3. Jeff Hoffman 4.37 ERA, 68 IP, 71 appearances, 27 BB, 84 K, -0.4 fWAR Hoffman was one of the biggest offseason additions the Blue Jays made, and his first season in Toronto had some mixed results. It started out fantastically for Hoffman, whose first 14 appearances saw him pitch to a 1.10 ERA, with seven saves and three multi-inning high-leverage relief appearances in there as well. Then, after a West Coast trip to Anaheim in which he allowed three earned runs in back-to-back appearances, a cycle of some inconsistencies began for the All-Star closer. Here are his ERAs by month: Mar/Apr - 1.17 May - 13.50 June - 1.80 July - 4.50 August - 6.00 Sept/Oct - 0.84 The home run ball was an issue for Hoffman, as the 15 he gave up were the most among relievers in the American League, and having a closer with a home run problem can be incredibly stressful at times. But overall, Hoffman did his job; he was meant to get saves and close out games, and he did that 33 times this season, fourth most in baseball. On just pure performance, some of these other relievers pass him on this list, but when Hoffman was on, he was dominant, and pairing that with his saves total is enough to put him third on this list. 2. Braydon Fisher: 1.85 ERA, 48.2 IP, 51 appearances, 18 BB, 61 K, 1.0 fWAR It was hard to decide how the top of this list was going to shake out, but Fisher gets the nod here at number two. His season was nothing short of phenomenal. The rookie right-hander looked locked in right from the start. In 21 of his first 22 appearances, he held opponents scoreless, and did all of that with 33 strikeouts to just five walks. Fisher's signature highlight came in the last week of the season, when he was pitching in Tampa against the Rays, and in both the 10th and 11th innings, he was able to prevent any runs from scoring, and he recorded three straight strikeouts to end the game. Fisher was second on the team in Win Probability Added out of the bullpen, and his 22.3% K-BB% led all Blue Jays relievers. There’s no question he had a very impressive season, but he didn’t make his debut until the middle of May, and that's what ultimately held him back from the top spot. 1) Brendon Little: 3.03 ERA, 68.1 IP, 79 appearances, 45 BB, 91 K, 1.3 fWAR Taking the whole season into account, there was no reliever the Blue Jays relied on more than Little. His 79 appearances were not only the most on the team, but also the most in the American League. His first half of the season was particularly terrific, as he struck out 34.8% of batters, all while inducing a team-high 55.9% groundball rate, meaning when hitters took a hack against Little, they usually put the ball on the ground or swung right through it. The two main reasons Little ends up first on this list are that, aside from Hoffman, Little’s average leverage index (min. 30 IP) was highest on the team, showing that the Blue Jays trusted Little when the stakes were at their highest. He also ended up with a team-high 30 holds, which was top five in MLB. The walks were too frequent, which often led to a stressful viewing experience for fans and the Blue Jays coaching staff alike. Still, the overall numbers don’t lie, and Little was truly one of the best relievers of the 2025 season. The Blue Jays don't get to the top of the AL East if not for their sophomore left-hander putting together consistently good performances throughout the year. View full article

It took 162 games over 26 and a half weeks, but the Blue Jays won the AL East. Here is a recap of the week in which they clinched the division. Weekly Snapshot: Mon, 9/22 through Sun, 9/28 *** Record Last Week: 4-2 (Overall: 94-68) Run Differential Last Week: +11 (Overall: +77) Standings: First Place in AL East (0.0 Games Up on NYY, won on a tiebreaker), First in AL Last Week’s Results Game 157: BOS 4 - TOR 1 Gausman: 5.2 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 7 K Lukes: 1-2, R, 2 BB Schneider, 1-3, 2K Springer: 1-5, K Game 158: BOS 7 - TOR 1 Scherzer: 5.0 IP, 10 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 5 K Kiner-Falefa: 1-3, HR (2), RBI Varsho: 1-3 Straw: 1-3, K Game 159: BOS 1 - TOR 6 Lauer: 3.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K Varland: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K Varsho: 2-4, HR (20), 4 RBI Springer: 1-4, HR (31), 2 RBI, BB Game 160: TB 2 - TOR 4 Bieber: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K Fluharty: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K Lukes: 2-4, HR (12), 3 RBI, Springer: 2-3, 2 R, BB Game 161: TB 1 - TOR 5 Yesavage: 5.0 IP, 5 H. 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K Kirk: 1-3, HR (13), RBI Clement: 2-3, 2 R, 2 RBI Lukes: 1-4, RBI, 3 K Game 162: TB 4 - TOR 13 Gausman: 3.2 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K Springer: 3-4, HR (32), 2 RBI, 2 R, BB Kirk: 3-5, 2 HR (14,15), 6 RBI, 2B Barger: 2-4, HR (21), 2 RBI, 2B Highlights The whole team: The Blue Jays did it. They came into the final week with a two-game lead in the East, and in order to win their division, they had to play to a 4-2 week or better. They did just that. The 94 wins are 20 more than the 74 they had in 2024, and although the Blue Jays had some believers, there weren’t many people who actually thought they would end up as winners. In total, the Blue Jays used 34 pitchers and 24 position players this season; every single one of them contributed in some way. From Vladimir Guerrero Jr., George Springer, and Ernie Clement, each had 4+ bWAR seasons, to smaller contributions, like Jonatan Clase's ninth-inning home run in St. Louis and Lazaro Estrada's five shutout innings in his major league debut, and everything in between. This was truly a whole team effort, and everyone needs to be celebrated for getting this far. Alejandro Kirk: Talk about taking a team on your shoulders. The Blue Jays found themselves in a win and get in situation in game 162, and Kirk stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded, one out and two strikes and delivered the biggest hit of his career: his first career grand slam that set the Blue Jays in motion. He also added some insurance with another home run later in the game, his career-high 15th of the season, having also hit one in the game prior. Even with a small slump at the plate going into this series, this has been Kirk's best week in what has been his best season to date. Nathan Lukes: In a season in which the Blue Jays have relied on getting impact performances from unexpected sources, it was Lukes' turn to step up this week. Not only did he have a go-ahead home run against the Rays, but he also threw out a baserunner trying to advance to third and played some phenomenal outfield defence. Lukes did it all at a time when the Blue Jays desperately needed it, and the Jays don’t end up winning the division without him. The Bullpen: The Blue Jays bullpen was phenomenal this week as well. They used 11 different relief pitchers, and only three of them gave up runs: Braydon Fisher after two hits, and Yariel Rodríguez and José Berríos allowed home runs. The highlight in all this was the bullpen day that the Jays went with on Thursday, when Louis Varland, Eric Lauer, and Rodríguez held the Red Sox without a baserunner into the seventh inning. As the team heads into the postseason, they will continue to rely on the bullpen heavily, so it was nice to see the group performing well heading into the bye period. Lowlights Max Scherzer: The Blue Jays went from having a lot of pitching depth to having their depth tested pretty quickly. IL trips for Berríos and Chris Bassitt had something to do with it, but Scherzer has lost his effectiveness lately, too. After a disastrous start in Kansas City last week, in which he didn’t escape the first inning, he ran into some more trouble this week against the Red Sox, allowing three more earned runs in the first inning, and the home run ball got him again. Since August 25, his eight home runs allowed are fourth most in the American League. What the Blue Jays decide to do with Scherzer in the postseason will be a tough decision point for the team to make. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: The Blue Jays were able to secure the wins they needed without receiving superstar production from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. He’s currently in the worst slump of his career. Vlad’s week was more of the same as of late: just three hits, all singles, with only one RBI. He is doing other things well, including making some smart baserunning plays and some heads-up defence at first base, but his value comes from his bat, and this will continue to be a storyline until the production comes around again. Random Notes of the Week: This is the Blue Jays' seventh division title in franchise history. Their 54 home wins tie a Blue Jays franchise record. The 49 comeback wins were the most in MLB this season. George Springer was finally caught stealing. He was a perfect 17-for-17 before being nabbed on Saturday. Daulton Varsho hit a 371-foot grand slam on Thursday, breaking a scoreless tie. Alejandro Kirk was thrown out 9-3 to end the game on Wednesday. Blue Jays have come to terms on a contract with Korean RHP Seojun Moon. MLB has approved the ABS challenge system for the 2026 season. More on that here. News, Notes and Not Playing RHP Alek Manoah has been claimed on waivers by the Atlanta Braves. IF Orelvis Martinez was claimed on waivers by the Washington Nationals. 10-day IL: Bo Bichette, Ty France Bichette has been hitting in the cage, doing toss and tee work. His status for the ALDS is still up in the air (via Mitch Bannon). Bichette himself added, “I'm feeling better every day. I don’t have a date, but I will be doing everything that I possibly can to get back” (via Bannon). Ty France is still dealing with his oblique injury but remains eligible to return for the ALDS. 15-day IL: José Berríos, Chris Bassitt, SP José Berríos had an MRI that revealed no structural damage in the elbow. He’ll still be getting a second opinion (via Shi Davidi). SP Chris Bassitt had a cortisone shot and began playing catch on Friday (via Bannon). He’s eligible to rejoin the Jays for the ALDS. Trending Storyline The Blue Jays did it: They won the AL East and, more importantly, have earned a first-round bye right into the ALDS. That means the Blue Jays now only need to win three series instead of four to win the World Series, and they are also giving their players some much-needed rest. Berrios, France, Bichette and Bassitt are all on the IL, and this gives them five more days to reevaluate and reassess their situations. It also allows the Blue Jays' bullpen to rest and recover, too. The Blue Jays' relievers made 94 appearances in September, which trailed only the White Sox in the American League. Trey Yesavage, who has thrown a lot of pitches in his first professional season, will get a rest. Kirk, Varsho, and Clement, who have been dealing with minor injuries most of the season, will also get a rest, and the time off will give players like Anthony Santander a chance to get more cage work in so he can be back to his usual self for the playoff run. The Blue Jays have done the hard part; now it's time to rest, recover and prepare to go on a month-long battle to win the ultimate prize. Looking Ahead The Blue Jays will enjoy their bye through the Wild Card round, but they still have work to do. The Blue Jays will have all eyes on the Yankees-Red Sox series to see who they ultimately end up playing. The Blue Jays won the season series against both teams, but Boston did just take two out of three against the Blue Jays in the last week of the season. The Blue Jays' advanced scouts will get their work in, and the results of the Yankees-Red Sox series will determine which pitchers the Blue Jays are set to face in the ALDS. The Blue Jays will also have some time to figure out who they will take to the ALDS; their opponent will matter, and so will the health of some of the injured players. The Blue Jays have been a team that has relied on using all their bench components, but in the postseason, having more pitchers on the roster could be an advantage. It will be very interesting to see which way the Blue Jays decide to go. Either way, the goal for this week is to rest, recover and get prepared for a dramatic series that starts at the Rogers Centre this weekend. View full article

Robots aren’t quite taking over baseball, but MLB is making another drastic leap going into next season. On Tuesday, it was announced that the automated ball strike (ABS) challenge system will be coming to regular season MLB games starting on Opening Day in 2026. It's a system that has been used in the minor leagues for the past few years. The 2023 and 2024 Triple-A seasons featured a mix of a full ABS and the challenge system, and since the end of 2024, it has been the full challenge system. The system won't eliminate the job of the home plate umpire. They will still call balls and strikes, and if either the pitcher, catcher, or batter disagrees with a call, they will tap their helmet or cap, and Hawk-Eye technology will quickly reveal if the pitch was called correctly or not. If the challenger is deemed successful, their team retains the challenge. If they are unsuccessful in their attempt, they lose a challenge. Each team will start every game with two challenges. This will have an effect on everyone in Major League Baseball, and the Blue Jays are no exception. In fact, the challenge system would have been very welcome on Tuesday night, right after George Springer hit a ball down the third base line that was deemed foul by the third base umpire. The very next pitch was a slider by Lucas Giolito that Springer took. Here’s where the pitch ended up: As the rules currently stand, all Springer could do was accept the call and head back to the dugout, and he was clearly frustrated with the decision. This doesn’t just happen to the Blue Jays; bad calls happen to all teams across baseball, but it's plays like this, especially in the highest leverage points of games, that are a big part of the reason why this change is being made. The players should decide the results of a baseball game on the field, not the umpires. You could argue that the Red Sox did a good job of framing and fooling the umpire into calling the pitch a strike (more on that later) but ultimately, pitches in the zone should be called strikes and pitches outside of the zone should be called balls, and with the challenge system, MLB will be closer to that reality without completely removing the human element of baseball from the game. Now the real question is, how will this rule change affect the Toronto Blue Jays specifically? In 2025, the Blue Jays' batters have taken 8,044 pitches outside of the zone, and 357 of them have been called strikes. That 4.4% rate has them 19th in baseball, right around league average. On the pitching side, that number is notably higher for the Blue Jays, with 452 of 8,429 pitches taken outside of the zone called strikes. That 5.4% rate is the third-highest in baseball, behind only the Giants and Yankees. Now, this just isn’t by random chance that these three teams are at the top of this list. Here are the top three teams in framing runs (per FanGraphs): Giants - 22.3 Yankees - 12.9 Blue Jays - 12.8 Alejandro Kirk, Austin Wells, and Patrick Bailey each individually rank in the top five in baseball at turning pitches that aren’t strikes into strikes. He and Tyler Heineman have added close to 13 runs of value for the Blue Jays by being able to “steal” strikes. According to this piece, roughly 10 runs of value is what it takes to add one win to a team or player's FanGraphs WAR, so the Blue Jays' framing has given them at least one extra win based on where they would be if they had league-average framers behind the plate. This seems very relevant, as the Blue Jays are currently tied with the Yankees in the AL East. Now with the challenge system in place next season, the Blue Jays won't get as many pitches outside of the zone called strikes, but they will still get some. So, although their framing may not add quite as much value, it will still be something on the margins that can help the team win. On the hitting side, the Blue Jays have some players who may benefit from the ABS challenge system. Baseball America ran a list of the players who have had the highest percentage of pitches in the “shadow zone” (the area within one full baseball's width inside and outside of the strike zone) that were taken for called strikes. Anthony Santander was 19th on that list with 50.97% of those pitches being called strikes. Davis Schneider was 35th at 49.24%, while Myles Straw (47.83%), Isiah Kiner-Falefa (46.91%), and Ernie Clement (46.67%) also made the top 100. Each is a candidate to see that number improve next season. Schneider seems like one of the most likely candidates for this. First, per Baseball Savant, only Hyeseong Kim of the Dodgers has seen more pitches outside of the strike zone called strikes than Schneider. Pair that with the fact he’s seen a team-high 4.44 pitches per PA on the season, and Schneider has a good chance to see more of those borderline pitches go his way. He also has a good deal of experience with the system already, as he has spent time in Buffalo in three of the last four seasons. Although we don't have public data on exactly how successful he was at those challenges, his walk rate and zone rate numbers have each been better in his two most recent minor league stints than in his major league stints. With a Blue Jays coaching staff that has preached “selective aggression” at times, Schneider seems like the Blue Jay who could benefit the most from this. In conclusion, the addition of an ABS challenge system may not have a dramatic effect on the field of play for the Blue Jays. If anything, it may be a net negative for the team because they have been able to frame pitches so well, giving them a competitive edge in that part of the game. However, framing is still going to be important. Not every borderline pitch is going to be challenged, and being able to fool the umpire and even the batter into challenging a pitch they shouldn't will only help the Blue Jays as games go along. The reality is that the technology is here, and for a sport that has typically been slower than others to adjust to technology, it's important that MLB gets the call right: let the game be decided by the players on the field and not hinge on the decision of a bad call by an umpire at the wrong time. George Springer would surely agree with that. Stats updated prior to games on September 26. View full article

The lights are a little brighter, the stakes are a little higher, and the intensity is at a new high. That is what the Blue Jays will look forward to this October, as they have officially punched their ticket into the postseason with an 8-5 win against the Royals on Sunday afternoon. Postseason baseball isn’t new for the team, as this will be the fourth time in the past six seasons the Blue Jays will be playing in October. But, as all of us know, the Blue Jays haven’t had much success in the playoffs recently, having been swept in the Wild Card round in each of their three previous trips. But things feel different this year. The Jays currently have the best record in the American League, and they've been getting contributions from unheralded sources on the roster all year. Even when they’re down, they still have confidence that they can come back and win, and they know they have enough star power to go toe to toe with all the other top teams in the sport. Although getting through October and into the World Series is now the goal, the regular season isn’t over yet. Even though their playoff spot isn't a question anymore, the Blue Jays still have a lot to play for over the final six-game homestand of the year. Here are five things to pay attention to between now and the end of the regular season. 1) The Blue Jays Still Have To Win the AL East Just making the playoffs isn’t enough for this team. Part of the reason why the Blue Jays haven’t had much playoff success over their last three visits is that they’ve had to play in the Wild Card round all three times. Winning the division and ultimately getting a bye right into the ALDS will allow them to avoid that headache completely. As things stand, the Blue Jays have a two-game lead in the division against the Yankees, with six games left to play. The tiebreaker belongs to the Blue Jays. Here’s the schedule for each team over the next week: Blue Jays: vs. BOS (3), vs. TB (3) Yankees: vs. CWS (3), vs. BAL (3) The odds still favour the Blue Jays, as FanGraphs gives them an 86.2% chance of winning the division. Even if the Blue Jays finish just 3-3 over their final six games, the Yankees would have to go 6-0 to overtake them. Four wins over these next six games guarantee the Blue Jays the division, but they can't get complacent. Getting the automatic bye into the ALDS would be a huge boost to their chances of winning the World Series, and the Blue Jays should make winning the division priority number one this final week of the season. 2) What Will the Blue Jays Do With Anthony Santander and Bo Bichette? There is no question that if Bo Bichette is ready to go, he’ll be on the playoff roster. But whether he’s ready to go or not is still to be determined. We know that Bichette’s regular season is already over, as he’s dealing with a strained PCL in his left knee. The shortstop has been out since Sept 6, and it will be nearly a month between then and October 4, which is when the first game of the ALDS is set to begin. Bichette has been progressing since the injury, as he’s begun some light hitting, but he still hasn’t built up to playing defence or running the bases, making it seem that if he is going to be on the playoff roster, it may have to be as a pure DH. If Bo does have to DH, that makes things more complicated for Anthony Santander, who came to the team through free agency and was expected to be a productive middle-of-the-order bat. So far, that hasn’t been the case, as he had a .577 OPS with just six home runs before being sent to the IL at the end of May with a shoulder injury. Santander was rehabbing with the Bisons, hitting .233/.324/.500 with two home runs over 30 ABs. Now, however, their season has come to an end, so the Blue Jays could get a good look at Santander over the last week to see if he is ready to contribute in the postseason. If Bichette has to be the DH, then that moves Springer into the outfield, and if Santander is going to be an everyday player, then he also slides into the outfield. The Blue Jays might not want to have two sup-par defensive outfielders at the same time. The Blue Jays could also benefit from hitting Santander at the top of the order if he returns to Toronto, just to get him as many at-bats as possible over the final days of the season. That would allow him to get more looks at major league pitching and shake off the rust. 3) How Will José Berríos React to His New Bullpen Role? José Berríos has never missed a start in his MLB career, but after what I'm sure had to be a difficult decision, the Blue Jays told Berríos that they want him to pitch out of the bullpen for the rest of the regular season and into the playoffs. Berríos himself stated that he wasn’t happy to talk about it, but he wants to put his team first. A sudden role change can be hard for any pitcher, especially one as established as Berríos. He got into the bullpen twice this weekend in KC to warm up, though he never got into a game. The Blue Jays will get a good look to see how he fares in a relief role and if he can make the mental adjustment needed to pitch out of the bullpen and help the team in October. 4) How Do the Jays Line Up Their Other Starters? Kevin Gausman and Shane Bieber look like locks to start games in the ALDS, and they’re going to be relied on heavily in the postseason. But with Chris Bassitt’s regular season now over as he is on the 15-day IL, the Blue Jays still have to determine how the back end of their playoff rotation will look, Max Scherzer was a favourite for most of the second half, but he’s struggled as of late. Over his last five starts, he owns a 9.45 ERA, highlighted by his appearance in Kansas City, in which he allowed seven earned runs and only recorded two outs. The other question is with top prospect Trey Yesavage, who had an electric debut in Tampa (5.0 IP, 1 ER, 9 K) and a decent follow-up in Kansas City (4.0 IP, 4 ER, 2 K). The Blue Jays have been aggressive with Yesavage, promoting him all the way from Single A to the big leagues over the course of five months. The team will have to determine if he’ll be one of the pitchers making a start in the postseason, or if he’ll pitch out of the bullpen. His start on Friday against the Rays may have a lot to say about that. 5) Can Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Get Going Again? The Blue Jays' offence went through a dry spell this past week, scoring two runs or fewer in five of their last seven games. Guerrero was a part of that struggle. Before hitting a double in the series finale on Sunday, he had just a .581 OPS and hadn't recorded an extra-base hit since the Blue Jays left Yankee Stadium on September 9. He doesn’t have a signature postseason moment yet, and with the Blue Jays signing him to a massive contract earlier in the season, they are surely hoping that Vlad will deliver some big moments. If he is going to have a big postseason, getting things going during this final week of the regular season may be a big reason why. View full article

Weekly Snapshot: Mon, 9/8 through Sun, 9/14 *** Record Last Week: 5-1 (Overall: 87-62) Run Differential Last Week: +21 (Overall: +86) Standings: First Place in AL East (4.0 games up on NYY), First in AL (2.5 games up on DET) Last Week’s Results Game 144: HOU 3 - TOR 4 (10) Bieber: 5.2 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K Springer: 1-5, HR (28), RBI Guerrero Jr.: 3-5 Kiner-Falefa: 1-2, 2 RBI Game 145: HOU 3 - TOR 2 Berríos: 5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K Giménez: 2-3, RBI Clement: 2-3, 2B Lukes: 1-4, RBI Game 146: HOU 0 - TOR 6 Gausman: 9.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K Lukes: 2-3, RBI, 2 R Schneider: 1-4 HR (11), 2 RBI Barger: 1-4, 2 RBI Game 147: BAL 1 - TOR 6 Bassitt: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K Guerrero Jr.: 3-3, RBI, 2 BB Straw: 2-3, RBI, R, BB, SB, 2B Varsho: 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI Game 148: BAL 4 - TOR 5 Scherzer: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K Barger: 1-2, HR (20), RBI, BB Clement: 2-4, 2 R Springer: 2-5 Game 149: BAL 2 - TOR 11 Bieber: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K Springer: 3-5, HR (29), 2 RBI, 2 R Kirk: 3-4, RBI Clement: 2-4, 2B, 3 RBI Highlights Kevin Gausman: Gausman put together not only one of the best Blue Jays starts this season, but one of the best Blue Jays starts of all time. He went nine innings, allowing just three baserunners and striking out nine Astros batters while throwing 100 pitches. Per Baseball Reference's game score metric, a score of 91 was the best in Blue Jays history since Brandon Morrow’s one-hit, 17-strikeout gem back in 2010, and most importantly, it allowed the Blue Jays bullpen to rest as the team continues a stretch of 13 games in 13 days. You can read more about Gausman’s historic start here. Addison Barger: Don’t look now, but Barger may be finding his stroke at the plate again. This week, he added four extra base hits: three doubles and his 20th home run of the season. Small samples galore, but in the month of September, his 15.2% walk rate and .924 OPS are his highest of any month this season. The Blue Jays are a better team when Barger is producing at the plate, and it looks like this week was the start of another surge. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: Speaking of great months of September, Guerrero has been doing his part. This past week, he went 8-for-22 (.363 BA) with four more walks. His 22 hits since the start of the month are the most in the American League, and he's done that with seven walks and just three strikeouts. As has often been the case with Vlad, his power numbers fluctuate, as just two of those 22 hits have gone for extra bases. But until the power comes, no one is going to be upset with this type of production. Lowlights Jeff Hoffman: Hoffman has had worse weeks than this in his Blue Jays career, but in a week where the Jays only lost one game, Hoffman was a part of the reason why that happened. Entering the ninth in a 2-2 contest, he gave up another home run, his MLB-worst 15th relief home run of the season. It's also worth noting that Hoffman's average fastball velocity was the lowest it's been this season (94.8 mph). That could be a sign of overuse or an injury. As the playoffs are fast approaching, Hoffman is going to be relied on heavily to get some big outs. Alejandro Kirk: If this week ended before the weekend, then Kirk would have likely led off this segment, as he was stuck in an 0-for-18 rut that saw his OPS drop from .796 down to .768. Then the weekend happened. After Kirk recorded a pinch-hit single to end the schneid on Saturday, he hit the game-winning sac fly in the ninth. He followed that up with three more hits on Sunday. The slump is now behind him. Random Notes of the Week: The Blue Jays' sweep of the Orioles was their 10th this season. That's the most that they’ve had since they swept 11 opponents in 2015. The Blue Jays now have an MLB high of 46 comeback wins this season. The Blue Jays have nine walk-off wins this year, and Alejandro Kirk has three of their walk-off hits. RHP Trey Yesavage will be selected from Triple-A Buffalo to make his MLB debut tonight. More can be found here. George Springer’s home run on Tuesday travelled 450 feet. It was the longest home run he’s hit since 2021. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a great inning on Tuesday. First, he threw out Jose Altuve at third in extras with his second-hardest throw of the season. He then proceeded to beat out an infield single, and his sprint speed of 29.4 ft/second was the second fastest he’s run this year. Arizona Fall League rosters have been announced, and the Blue Jays are sending seven players to participate. Notable names include RHP and Rule 5 pick Angel Bastardo, shortstop Josh Kasevich, and catcher Edward Duran. News, Notes and Not Playing RHP Alek Manoah was transferred off the 60-day IL but will remain with Triple-A Buffalo. INF Orelvis Martinez was DFA’d in the corresponding transaction. The former top prospect had been struggling this year, with a .636 OPS and 13 home runs. More on Martinez here. SS Bo Bichette was sent to the 10-day IL with a sprained knee. OF Joey Loperfido was recalled in his place. 10-day IL: Bo Bichette Bichette was sent to the IL with a knee sprain. The expectation is that he’ll receive treatment this week, and there is no current plan for a return (Via Keegan Matheson). 60-day IL: Anthony Santander, Bowden Francis, Yimi Garcia, Nick Sandlin OF/DH Anthony Santander began a rehab assignment this week. There is no set date for a return, but the Bisons' season ends on the 21st, so around that time seems likely (Via Keegan Matheson). RHP Nick Sandlin threw a bullpen session on Tuesday and will throw another before the Blue Jays decide his next steps (Via Arden Zwelling). RHP Bowden Francis threw a live inning of BP on Saturday at the Complex in Florida. He continues to ramp up his throwing program (Via Arden Zwelling). Trending Storylines It's all systems go for the Toronto Blue Jays as the finish line of the regular season is fast approaching. As things currently stand, the Blue Jays are in first place in the American League and are playing towards getting a bye to move straight into the ALDS. There is still much to play for down the stretch. The Blue Jays still need to decide who their starters for the playoffs will be, and each pitcher's performance down the stretch will be a determining factor in deciding who gets those starts and who may be left off the roster entirely. The hierarchy in the bullpen is something to follow going forward as well. Ryan Borucki, Mason Fluharty, Eric Lauer, and Justin Bruihl have all been used as the second left-handed pitcher out of the bullpen for portions of the season, and no matter who the Blue Jays line up against, they are going to need some guys who can get left-handed batters out. Look for one of these players to emerge going forward. With Yesavage set to make his MLB debut this week, he could provide the Blue Jays with some more upside out of their bullpen in the playoffs. Last season, the Tigers brought up their top pitching prospect, Jackson Jobe, to pitch in the postseason, and it's happened in the past with names like David Price and Matt Moore, so it's not unheard of. If he proves he can get major league hitters out and be an option for John Schneider and the rest of the staff in the playoffs, that will be a massive help for this bullpen. Looking Ahead The Blue Jays gear up for their final road trip of the regular season, playing in all seven days. First, they make a visit to George Steinbrenner Field in Tampa Bay to take on the Rays. The Blue Jays historically haven’t played well in Tampa, and during their last trip there, the Blue Jays really did not play well; they were swept by the Rays and outscored 19-2 in the three-game set. The Blue Jays are a different team now (as are the Rays) than they were at the end of May when these teams first met, but regardless, if the Blue Jays are to remain in their spot on top of the American League, they’ll need to improve on their 1-5 record they have against the Rays this season. After escaping Florida, the Blue Jays will head to Kansas City for a three-game weekend series against the Royals. It won't be an easy task for the Blue Jays, as the Royals are still hanging onto their playoff lives and still have a shot of sneaking into the final Wild Card spot. The Royals took a series from the Blue Jays earlier this year at Rogers Centre at the start of August. If scheduled starters line up, the Jays will get another chance at Michael Wacha, who threw eight innings last time, allowing just one run – a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. home run. View full article

George Springer's career has been defined by big moments and loud contact. He has a reputation as one of the game's brightest stars. In other words, he’s not new to the spotlight. Just take a look at his resume. He’s a four-time All-Star and a two-time Silver Slugger Award winner. He was also a key part of the Houston Astros' championship run in 2017, hitting five home runs and winning World Series MVP. That's exactly the type of player the Blue Jays were signing up for when they signed him to a six-year, $150 million contract in January of 2021, which, at the time, was the largest contract in the history of the organization. The first few years of the deal worked out well. Springer battled injuries in his first season but was productive when he played, running a wRC+ of 140. In 2022, he was healthier and still productive, hitting 25 home runs and sporting a wRC+ of 133. Then things started to drop. In 2023, the power numbers dropped, the OPS fell to .732 with a wRC+ of just 103. Things looked even worse in 2024; with a .674 OPS and a 94 wRC+, Springer was a below-average hitter. Many people (myself included) were starting to think that Springer’s days as a high-impact major leaguer might be over, and who could blame them? He turned 35 years old last September and was coming off two straight years of sharp decline; history suggests that a rebound at his age isn't likely. Especially after he went just 4-for-37 in the spring with one lone extra base hit. But George Springer is special, and special players don’t go down easy. After all, this is the player who was injured for a large part of the 2021 season but still hit 22 home runs, and who has more leadoff home runs than any other player in Blue Jays history. Back in January, Davy Andrews wrote a piece making the case for an "uncooked" George Springer. In it, he highlighted that in 2024, Springer had a career low BABIP (.245 in 2024, vs .296 for his career), and while his average exit velocity was low, his 90th percentile exit velocity was right in line with his 2023 number (105.5 in 2023 vs. 105.4 in 2024). Lastly, he argued Springer hit too many balls on the ground and not enough to his pull side. If Springer could make improvements in that area, then maybe a good hitter could be found again. So, let's start there. Firstly, the BABIP has taken a huge jump in 2025. It's risen to .325, the highest it's been in a decade: But there is more to BABIP than just getting lucky with balls in play. The defence that a batter is playing against has something to do with it, as does the quality of contact he has been making. Here is the range of league-wide BABIP per batted ball type over the last five seasons: Groundballs: .241 - .249 Line Drives: .616 - .631 Fly Balls: .116 - .127 Pop Ups: .012-.018 And here are Springer's batted ball type rates over his career: Hitting more line drives will lead to a higher BABIP, and Springer’s line drive rate is the highest it has been since 2015. Pair that with hitting fewer ground balls, and it's one of the reasons his season has been so much better. Secondly, there was Davy's argument that Springer still had it in him to hit the ball hard, and he’s been doing that at an extreme level this year. His hard-hit rate (47.2%) is the highest of his career, as is his xSLG (.586). As well, his 90th-percentile exit velocity (107.0) is the highest it's been over the last three seasons. Part of the reason Springer is hitting the ball harder is that he’s swinging the bat harder. In 2024, his average bat speed was 71.9 mph, which had him outside of the top 100 qualified hitters. Jump to 2025, and that number is up to 73.6 mph, which has him at 64th overall. However, the number that really pops off the page is how often he gets off his “A” swing. Baseball Savant has a stat called fast swing rate, which measures how often a player swings the bat at 75+ mph. Springer's posted a 24.4% fast swing rate in 2023 and a 22.4% rate in 2024, but that number has skyrocketed to 38.8% in 2025. That jump of 16% is the highest for any Blue Jays hitter between the past two seasons. So, when Springer swings, he’s swinging harder AND he’s making better contact. There’s more than just that, too. Swinging hard doesn’t mean that good results are guaranteed to follow. Making contact is still extremely important. After all, no one really cares how hard you swing at ball four. But Springer has made dramatic improvements in that department, too. When Springer gets a pitch at the belt level, he’s been crushing it: Baseball Prospectus houses a metric called “SEAGER,” which is a stat that's used to evaluate swing decisions. It is designed to show who is the best at taking the pitches they should be taking and swinging at the ones they should be doing damage on. (The metric is appropriately named after Corey Seager, who has mastered this approach, known to scouts as a “selective aggression.”) Here is where Springer really shines. Springer is third in baseball in this metric, trailing only Seager himself and AL MVP co-favourite Aaron Judge. This echoes some of the game plans that the new Blue Jays hitting coaches have wanted to see from their hitters this year. Back in April, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet spoke to hitting coach David Popkins. “It just seemed like he kind of lost that aggression that he's had his whole career, that I've always admired from him,” Popkins recalled. “You’d see him kind of sacrifice bat speed just to put balls in play and really reaching for balls and weak contact early. Almost like he’s scared to get to two strikes. Versus the best version of him, I feel like is not afraid to take a couple borderline pitches, and then if you make one mistake, he’s going to hit it really hard”. The data clearly backs that up. Springer himself has even commented on this exact thing, telling Nicholson-Smith, “The last couple of years, there may not have been some A-swings in a lot of at-bats. [Now], I understand what they need from me, and I need to be in a position to get my A-swing off in an at-bat, and that’s kind of all that matters.” Sometimes baseball can be just so simple, and it's worth keeping in mind that sometimes, for a player as talented as Springer is, it doesn’t take much to tap back into that talent – it just takes the right scout, coach, teammate, or friend to find a way to make things click again. Now, George Springer is back and arguably better than ever. Safe to say he’s definitely not “cooked.” Stats updated prior to games on September 8. View full article

Weekly Snapshot: Mon, 8/25 through Sun, 8/31 *** Record Last Week: 3-3 (Overall: 79-58) Run Differential Last Week: + 1 (Overall: + 56) Standings: First Place in AL East (3.0 Games Up on NYY), Second in AL (0.5 games behind DET) Last Week’s Results Game 132: MIN 4 - TOR 10 Scherzer: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K Kirk: 1-2, HR (11), 2 RBI, 2 BB Giménez: 2-3 HR (6), RBI, BB, 3 R Lukes: 2-5, 2 RBI, 2 R Game 133: MIN 7 - TOR 5 Bassitt: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K Springer: 4-5, 2 HR (23,24), 2 RBI, 4 R Lukes: 3-4, R Bichette: 2-4 Game 134: MIN 8 - TOR 9 Lauer: 4.2 IP, 10 H, 6 ER, 0 BB, 4 K Schneider: 2-3 2 HR (9,10), 2 RBI, BB Giménez: 2-3 HR (7), 2 RBI Bichette: 2-5, 2 RBI Game 135: MIL 7 - TOR 2 Bieber: 5.1IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K Bichette: 2-4, R Schneider: 1-3, 2 RBI Kirk: 1-3, 2B, BB Game 136: MIL 4 - TOR 1 Gausman: 7.0 IP, 4 H. 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K Straw: 3-3, 2B France: 2-3 Bichette: 1-4 Game 137: MIL 4 - TOR 8 Scherzer: 4.0 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 1 K Lukes: 2-5, 2 RBI Straw: 2-3, 2 RBI, BB Springer: 2-4, RBI, 2 R Highlights Myles Straw: Here we are at the end of August, and yet Myles Straw appears here yet again as another highlight of the week. Everything he’s done, though, has proven that he’s worthy of that spot. He spent the early part of the week on the bench, but since Varsho got hit in the hand and has been out of the lineup the last few days, Straw has continued to be productive. He went 5-8 on the week, including a double and a walk, and he was doing it on defence too; he threw out William Contreras trying to advance to third on a fly ball. Oh, and he robbed a homerun too. He’s done everything the Blue Jays have asked for and more. George Springer: I haven’t been keeping track of how many times a player has appeared as a highlight winner on this list, but George Springer has to be a leading candidate. He did it again this week, highlighted by a two-home run day on Tuesday. The week as a whole saw him go 10-24 with those two home runs and a double. He’s also spent a good chunk of time in left field this week, as the Blue Jays have had to rotate some other players in the DH spot, adding in a team-high two stolen bases this week as well, and George Springer just keeps doing it. Tommy Nance: We’ll touch on the rest of the bullpen in a moment, but credit to the one player in the pen that has actually exceeded expectations, and that's Tommy Nance. He’s been used most of the season as the low-leverage, first man out of the bullpen type guy, but the numbers have been there. On the season, it's been a 0.86 ERA with more strikeouts (24) than innings pitched (21), and this week, 4.1 IP allowing four baserunners. Striking out five more and, more importantly, not allowing a run to score. He really shone with he came into the game on Sunday to relieve. Brendon Little: With the bases loaded and just one out, he proceeded to get a strikeout and a groundball to escape the inning and keep the Blue Jays' one-run lead at the time. Nance has proven that he deserves some more high-leverage work going forward. Kevin Gausman: This is a shoutout to the best starting pitching performance of the week, and that belonged to Kevin Gausman. In total, he went seven innings, allowing just four hits, and only one of them for extra bases. Walking none and striking out eight. He went toe to toe with Quinn Priester, who was also dominant, so Gausman had to be on his game. It continues an excellent stretch of games for Gausman, who has a 3.11 ERA since the start of July. His next start will come at Yankee Stadium against the Yankees, a team that is right on the Blue Jays' heels in the AL Wild Card race. Lowlights Jeff Hoffman: This was not a good week for Jeff Hoffman, After he blew a save last week in Miami, he got into action on Tuesday to protect a one run lead, two pitches in he gave up a game tying home run, and then gave up another one a few batters later, after getting the save on Wednesday he came into a tie game on Saturday and the home run ball bit him again, two more long balls allowed and another earned run on a double. It's been a season of ups and downs for Hoffman, and he’s now allowed an MLB-high 14 home runs, tied for the most in baseball by a reliever this season. His season number now stands at 5.11 and has been a net negative WAR player on the season. (-0.3). He did get in the finale on Sunday, and although he did allow some baserunners, he did not allow a run. We’ll see how John Schneider and the rest of the Blue Jays staff manage Hoffman going forward. Louis Varland: This spot could have gone to many other relievers in the Jays' bullpen, as Brendon Little, Yariel Rodriguez, and Hoffman have all had pockets of poor performance lately, but we’ll use this time to highlight Varland. He had a stretch dating back to August 15th, where he allowed an earned run in six straight appearances. His first two appearances this week, that trend continued, a walk and a hit in his three batters faced against the Twins, and two more hits and another run against the Brewers in the opener on Friday. Since joining the Blue Jays, he’s pitched to a 6.97 ERA. That was not the pitcher the Blue Jays had hoped to get when they acquired him at the deadline. The saving grace may be his outing on Sunday, where he faced five batters, set them all down, and struck out three of them. Hopefully, this is the outing that gets him back on track. Vladimir Guerrero Jr: Don’t look now, but this week was not a good week for Vlad at the plate; he went just 2-23, both singles, with just two walks. Coming into Sunday, out of all qualified hitters, only Alex Bregman had a lower wOBA than Vlad’s .072 this week. It's worth noting that Vlad had been dealing with a Hamstring issue that kept him out of the lineup for a few days over the previous weekend. He may still be dealing with that injury, but the Blue Jays are going to need Vlad to step up at the plate if they’re going to remain in the lead for the AL East crown going into September. Random Notes of the Week: Blue Jays fans ate 96,633 dollar dogs on Tuesday, a new record Chris Bassitt recorded his 500th career strikeout as a Blue Jay this week. Ernie Clement received the 2025 Heart and Hustle Award this week. The Blue Jays have signed 28-year-old DH/OF Eloy Jimenez to a minor league contract. He was most recently in the Rays' minor league system. The Blue Jays have signed LHP Ryan Borucki to a minor league deal after being released by the Pirates last week. He’s pitched to a 4.47 ERA over his five seasons in Toronto. Former Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston was named to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum’s Hall of Game this week. Myles Straw robbed Jackson Chourio of a homerun this week, the first time he’s done that in his big league career (Via Julia Kreuz). Brendon Little didn’t throw a single Knuckle Curve in his appearance on Sunday. Shane Bieber struck out the side in the first inning of his home debut on Friday night. Bo Bichette’s 14-game hit streak came to an end on Sunday News, Notes and Not Playing C Alejandro Kirk had an X-ray on his left hand after taking a foul ball. Results were negative (Via Arden Zwelling) INF Ernie Clement had a CT scan on his left hand that revealed a small hairline fracture; he also received 10 stitches in his shin. He’s day to day (Via Zwelling) SP Max Scherzer was taken out of his start with upper back tightness (Via Mitch Bannon). Scherzer said post-game that he felt it before the start, and that he doesn't think it's going to be a long-term thing (Via Hazel Mae) OF Daulton Varsho was hit in the hand with a pitch this week. X-rays came back negative, and he is considered day-to-day for now. (Via Keegan Matheson) LHP Justin Bruhil was recalled earlier this week, and RHP Paxton Schultz was sent down to Triple A. The Blue Jays have claimed INF Isiah Kiner-Falefa off waivers from the Pirates. Kiner-Falefa spent the first half of 2024 with the Blue Jays. He’s hitting .264/.300/.332 with 1 HR and 15 SB on the season. Yimi Garcia was sent to the 60-day IL in response 15-day IL: Yimi García, Nick Sandlin, Yimi García is going to have elbow surgery and is done for the year. Expectations are that he’ll be ready to go for Spring Training Next year. (Via Shi Davidi) More here Sandlin had another injection in his elbow on Monday and should resume throwing over the weekend. (Via Hazel Mae) 60-day IL: Anthony Santander, Alek Manoah, Bowden Francis OF/DH Anthony Santander did a full slate of baseball activities, including running on the field. If all things go well, he’ll go on a rehab assignment after the road trip to Cincinnati (Via Davidi) RHP Alek Manoah had his 30-day rehab window extended last week, and is continuing to pitch for the Buffalo Bisons (Via Ben Nicholson-Smith) Trending Storylines The main storyline for the Blue Jays has been the performance of the bullpen, since the all star break, the Bullpen ERA is at 5.72, the worst in the American League, a 4.74 Walk rate, which is also worst in the American League, and a -0.4 fWAR which, you guessed it, is also the worst in the American League. These are the players who are going to have to right the ship down the stretch. There have been some concerning signs. Brendon Littles' Knuckle Curve hasn’t been getting as many swings and misses lately. Jeff Hoffman and Yariel Rodriguez have seen fluctuations in their velocity as of late. The bullpen turning things around, and rather quickly, will be priority number one for this team going forward. On the offensive side of the ball, the Blue Jays have been doing okay; they were third in wRC+ at 130 this past week, despite having games this week where they scored two runs or less. It hasn’t been all smooth, as previously mentioned, Vladimir Guerrero Jr has had some trouble this week. And Addison Barger hasn’t hit a home run since the Blue Jays were at Dodger Stadium earlier in the month. But Nathan Lukes has had a stretch of multi-hit games, and so has Bo Bichette. It's been a mix of ups and downs, but everything seems status quo for the bats. The health of Ernie Clement and Daulton Varsho can help boost the offence if they are healthy. Looking Ahead Coming off a 3-3 Home stand, the Blue Jays will head on the road again for six more games. The first stop will see the Blue Jays visit Cincinnati, home of the Reds, who are currently out of the playoff picture, but they are 4 games back of the Mets for the third and final wild card spot. They’ve been struggling as of late, as they’re just 2-8 over their last ten games. The Blue Jays will have their work cut out for them, as they’re set to face Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, and Zack Littell over the series. Bassit, Berrios, and Bieber will get their shot for the Blue Jays. After an off day on Thursday, the Blue Jays will head to the Bronx to face the Yankees for the final time this regular season, in what could be one of the biggest series of the season so far. The good news is the Jays have played well against the Yankees so far this season, as they are 7-3, including a four-game sweep at Rogers Centre earlier this year. The Yankees have been playing much better as of late, as they were on a seven-game winning streak before the White Sox took the finale on Sunday. They will have three games in Houston before the Blue Jays visit on the weekend. As of now, Gausman, Scherzer, and Bassitt line up for the Blue Jays, and it'll be Cam Schlittler, Luis Gil, and Max Fried for the Yankees. View full article