Mike LeSage

Weekly Snapshot: Mon, 9/15 through Sun, 9/21 *** Record Last Week: 3-4 (Overall: 90-66) Run Differential Last Week: -23 (Overall: +63) Standings: First Place in AL East (2.0 games up on NYY), First in AL (3.0 games up on SEA) Game 150: TOR 2 - TB 1 (11 innings) Yesavage: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K Bullpen: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 9 K Clement: 1 for 4, both runs scored Game 151: TOR 6 - TB 5 Berríos: 4 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 0 K Springer: 3 for 5, 2 RBI Lukes: 1 for 4, HR (11) Loperfido: 1 for 2, HR (4) Game 152: TB 2 - TOR 1 Gausman: 6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K Clement: 2 for 3 Rest of Jays: 2 for 27 Game 153: TB 4 - TOR 0 Bassitt: 4.1 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K Jays: 4 for 29 Game 154: KC 20 - TOR 1 Scherzer: 0.2 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 2 K Heineman: 1.1 IP, 13 H, 10 ER, 0 BB, 0 K Springer: 2 for 3, HR (30) Rest of Jays: 1 for 27 Game 155: KC 2 - TOR 1 Bieber: 6.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K Varsho: 1 for 3, HR (19) Rest of Jays: 3 for 27 Game 156: TOR 8 - KC 5 Yesavage: 4 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 K Giménez: 2 for 4, 2 RBI, 1 run, first triple Highlights: George Springer: Springer had 10 hits to lead the team this week, including a homer on his birthday. His five RBI were also a team best on a week when runs were hard to come by. The now 36-year-old has continued to defy the odds and provided a boost more often than not, leading the team in multiple offensive categories all season. It’s a shame he doesn’t like the roof being open, because I feel like in these playoffs, he’s going to blow it off. Trey Yesavage: What a first performance from the young right-hander. His 9 Ks set a franchise record for a debut. He missed an immaculate inning by one pitch (arguably umpire-induced) and ended the game with 19 swing-and-miss strikes, good for second-best of all Jays pitchers this season (Kevin Gausman’s 21 against the Tigers in July is the team high). The future looks bright, and he may be called on for a larger role than any of us expected, even a week ago. Lowlights: Max Scherzer: The Jays have very publicly discussed the fact that Scherzer has been tipping pitches for at least the last couple of weeks. If that’s the simple answer, the fix should be similarly simple. If there’s something else in his mechanics that is causing these results, the Jays don’t have much time to sort it out. For a player (regardless of pedigree) to be in the discussion to start Game 3 of a playoff series, we need to be confident they can get out of the first inning without a meltdown. Stats of the Week: The Blue Jays franchise got back to .500 (3850-3850) for the first time since May 1995. Toronto ends the season with a 40-41 road record. Only the Mariners have a worse (39-42) road record of AL teams with playoff aspirations (though we can also dent Boston’s record this week). George Springer’s leadoff home run on his birthday was the second time in his career he’s led off a birthday game with a dinger. He's the only player in MLB history to do it twice. Salvador Perez’s home run against Max Scherzer was the 303rd of his career. The first home run of his career was also against Scherzer. 14 seasons ago. Schneiders has recognized the season record of hot dogs consumed at the Rogers Centre this season and will have Hot Dog Champ merch available at the final Loonie Dog game of the season tomorrow. News, Notes and Not Playing: José Berríos was moved to the bullpen. Trey Yesavage was called up from Triple A. Ryan Borucki was DFA’d. Mason Fluharty was called up from Triple A. 10-day IL: Bo Bichette Bichette has started light hitting and has been showing improvement. His status for the playoffs is still unclear. 15-day IL: Nick Sandlin, Chris Bassitt Sandlin continues to ramp up but appears to be out of runway to make a meaningful return this season. Bassitt hitting the IL really throws a wrench into the playoff rotation picture. 60-day IL: Anthony Santander Santander played in the final two games of Buffalo’s season. He went 3-for-9 with a home run, three RBI and one run scored over his final three appearances. His availability and potential return may be complicated. Trending Storylines: The Jays scored three runs total across their four-game losing streak on the road. The last time they had a road trip through Tampa Bay, they had similarly brutal results and righted the ship when they returned home. With a week to go in the season and the desire to lock up homefield and a first-round bye, the Jays will need to repeat that trend and get results. The magic number to win the division sits at four, so Toronto can handle their business without ever having to look at the out-of-town scoreboard. With the Yankees facing the White Sox and then the Orioles, that might be the route the Jays need to take. Looking Ahead: The final homestand of the regular season is here with a pair of AL East teams coming to Toronto and hoping to play spoiler. First up is the Red Sox, who are currently clinging to a Wild Card spot. Boston has a one-game lead over Houston and Cleveland and owns the tiebreaker against both. FanGraphs has the Red Sox's playoffs odds close to 90%, but with nothing assured and series against Toronto and Detroit to close out their year, Boston will be looking to clinch early. We’re projected to see Lucas Giolito, Garrett Crochet and Brayan Bello in the series, so hopefully the Jays bats just need some home cooking to get going again. Three games against Tampa will provide the cap on the regular season. Ideally, business is taken care of by the time Boston leaves town, and the final series can be used as a tune-up for the playoffs and a way to get the rotation and bats set for the postseason. View full article

I was getting ready to make an argument for Scherzer as the game 3 starter... and then I watched this first inning. Maybe Bassitt is the guy.

1. Does this cement Gausman as the Game 1 starter regardless of who our first playoff opponent is? 2. That 10 IP shutout from Halladay is such a beautiful stat line. 3. I could honestly stare at that game score chart for hours.

Weekly Snapshot: Mon, 9/1 through Sun, 9/7 *** Record Last Week: 3-3 (Overall: 82-61) Run Differential Last Week: +10 (Overall: + 65) Standings: First Place in AL East (2.0 Games Up on NYY), First in AL (0.5 game up on DET) Last Week’s Results Game 138: CIN 5 - TOR 4 Bassitt: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K Bichette: 4 for 4, HR (17) Varsho: 1 for 3, HR (16) Game 139: TOR 12 - CIN 9 Berríos: 2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K Varland: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K (First win as a Blue Jay) Springer: 3 for 4, 2 HR (25, 26), 3 RBI, 3 R Guerrero Jr.: 3 for 4, 3 runs Game 140: TOR 13 - CIN 9 Bieber: 6 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 6 K Barger: 2 for 4, HR (19), 4 RBI Springer: 2 for 4, 3 R Game 141: TOR 7 - NYY 1 Gausman: 8 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K Guerrero Jr.: 4 for 5, HR (23), 3 R Bichette: 3 for 3, 2 RBI Game 142: NYY 3 - TOR 1 Bassitt: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 K Guerrero Jr.: 2 for 4 Rest of team: 3 for 27 Game 143: NYY 4 - TOR 3 Scherzer: 4.1 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 8 K Lukes: 2 for 3 Highlights: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: Vladdy had a real face-of-the-franchise week, leading not only the Jays but the entire league in fWAR over the last seven days. He had 14 hits, including three doubles and a pair of homers, to go along with eight runs scored. His leaping dive, from what felt like halfway up the third base line, to score the first run in New York will be one of the defining images of the season. Kevin Gausman: Gausman gave the pitching performance of the week. His eight innings were also the most by any Jays starter. Recognizing a need to “reach 100 pitches” and take the strain off of an overworked bullpen is going to be an ongoing concern down the home stretch, and Gausman did the most on that front this week. The one earned run against a tough New York Yankees lineup was almost secondary to the workhorse nature of his outing. Chris Bassitt: Not a typical highlight week from the Hound on the Mound, but I’d like to take just a second to tip the cap for the last-minute rotation shuffle that had Bassitt and Max Scherzer swapping places to give Scherzer an extra day to get ready for the Yankees. For all the questions around the rotation and how the personnel would be handled, that wasn’t a move that was expected (at least externally). Making two starts on the week, Bassitt didn’t find himself in the win column, but he did lead all Jays pitchers in fWAR. Lowlights: Addison Barger: Barger picked up a homer, stole a base and had 4 RBI on the week. He also went 3-for-17, and his .176 BA on the week was the worst of the Jays that saw everyday action. In smaller samples, Davis Schneider and Myles Straw both had “oh-fer” weeks (0-for-7 and 0-for-6, respectively), but we’ve come to expect more from Barger. As Bob Ritchie suggests, this is hopefully the last time we see Barger in this spot. Louis Varland: There are a few pitchers we could throw into the lowlights section this week (check out Bryan Jaeger's great breakdown), and maybe picking on a guy that just got his first win as a Jay isn’t the move. On the other hand, four earned runs in under three innings of work just isn’t getting it done for a playoff-bound bullpen. Varland wears the crown of shame this week. Random Notes of the Week: George Springer moved into the franchise lead for leadoff home runs (23), surpassing Devon White’s mark. September 2 was the 35th anniversary of Dave Stieb’s no-hitter, the only no-no in Blue Jays history. Kevin Gausman’s performance this week now gives him 10 of the top 16 Jays starts this season by Game Score. While the Jays were on the road this week, Morgan Wallen performed at the Rogers Centre and got a shoutout on social media from Gausman for performing in a Roy Halladay jersey. News, Notes and Not Playing: Dillon Tate was called up and sent back to Triple A over the course of the week. Isiah Kiner-Falefa reported to the Jays after being claimed on waivers from Pittsburgh. Easton Lucas was sent down to Triple A. Ryan Borucki and Braydon Fisher were called up from Triple A. Day-to-day: Bo Bichette Bichette missed Sunday’s game after a collision at the plate on Saturday. He expects to be ready for the next series. 60-day IL: Anthony Santander, Nick Sandlin After being shut down for much of the summer, Santander has made significant progress the last couple weeks and is expected to begin a rehab assignment this week. Following another elbow injection, it was hoped Sandlin would begin throwing again. Instead, he found himself transferred to the 60-day IL. Trending Storylines: It’s all eyes on the playoff race from here on out. The Yankees have closed the gap in the division to two games. If you had given us this position at the start of the year, we would have grabbed it with both hands, but now that we have it, it’s time to maintain it. The Texas Rangers are the first team outside of the Wild Card picture and are 8.5 games behind Toronto, so the Jays are (not mathematically, but figuratively) guaranteed a playoff spot. In fact, if gambling is your thing, most betting sites don’t even have odds available on “making the playoffs” for Toronto at his point. They’re the betting favourite to win the #1 seed in some futures markets, but not to win the division in others. All of that to say, it’s a close race. Every player and every play (like yesterday’s failed hit-and-run in the ninth inning) is going under the microscope now. Time to play like champions. Looking Ahead: The penultimate homestand of the regular season welcomes the Houston Astros and the Baltimore Orioles to the Rogers Centre. The Astros are the one team at the Jays' level of the playoff race that Toronto doesn’t have the tiebreak against, so it will be key (for that and other reasons) to pick up wins against them now. Baltimore has less to play for, but their three games against Toronto this week and their seven games remaining against the Yankees have as much potential to swing the division as any of the Jays' head-to-head matchups do. 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Weekly Snapshot: Mon, 8/18 through Sun, 8/24 *** Record Last Week: 3-3 (Overall: 76-55) Run Differential Last Week: +2 (Overall: +55) Standings: First in AL East (5.0 games up on BOS), Second in AL (1.5 games back of DET, 4.0 up on HOU) Last Week’s Results Game 126: PIT 5 - TOR 2 Gausman: 5 IP, 5H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K Jays: 6-for-32, 11 K, 3 E Game 127: TOR 7 - PIT 3 Scherzer: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K Springer: 2-for-4, HR (20), 2 R Kirk: 3-for-5, HR (10), 3 RBI Game 128: PIT 2 - TOR 1 Bassitt: 5.2 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 10 K Springer: 1-for-3, leadoff HR (21) Bichette: 2-for-4 Rest of Team: 0-for-22 Game 129: TOR 5 - MIA 2 Bieber: 6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K Varsho: 2-for-4, HR (14), 3 RBI Game 130: TOR 7 - MIA 6 (12 Innings) Berríos: 6.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 K Springer: 3-for-6, HR (22) Bichette: 4-for-6, 2 R Game 131: MIA 5 - TOR 3 Gausman: 6 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 7 K Varsho: 1-for-4, HR (15), 3 RBI Bichette: 2-for-3 Highlights: Shane Bieber: Tough to ask much more from a pitcher in his season (and team) debut. After looking sharp on his rehab assignment, there was still some doubt about how Bieber would handle major league batters for the first time since April of last year. Six innings of two-hit ball with nine strikeouts was better than expected. A tougher test is coming soon, with his next start projected to be against the Brewers, but if he looks as good as he did this week, the Jays might have another ace up their sleeves. George Springer: With his home runs this week, Springer now has nine career seasons of at least 20 homers. His three dingers this week led the team, and his leadoff home run in the second loss to Pittsburgh was the only source of Blue Jays offense that day. Bo Bichette: His 0.45 Win Probability Added led the team this week and was four times more than that of the next closest hitter (Springer’s 0.11 was second-highest). He also led the team in hits (11), singles (8), doubles (3), runs scored (6, a tie with Springer) and wRC+ (213). In a week when a lot of the bats went quiet, Bichette just kept doing what he does best. Lowlights: Kevin Gausman: It might be a touch unfair to have Gausman here. If he were a different pitcher, we might be celebrating his performance opposite Paul Skenes at the start of the week, and maybe we’d be a bit more forgiving of the two mistake pitches that led to all of his earned runs against Miami yesterday. Yet, with respect to Bieber and Max Scherzer, I still think of Gausman as the ace of this staff, and this week he didn’t live up to that title. Random Stats of the Week: Springer’s leadoff home run against Pittsburgh was his 22nd as a Blue Jay, putting him into a tie with Devon White for the franchise lead. Bieber is the only pitcher in Blue Jays history to have 9-plus strikeouts and zero walks in his debut. News, Notes and Not Playing: Braydon Fisher drew the short straw and was sent down to Triple A to make room for Bieber’s activation. Mason Fluharty also went down to Triple A, and Paxton Schultz took his place in the 'pen. Day-to-Day: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Vladdy left Monday's game with hamstring tightness, possibly related to a splits-inducing defensive play at first base earlier in the game. He entered last night’s game as a pinch hitter and is expected to return to full duties this week. 60-day IL: Bowden Francis, Alek Manoah Manoah sounds to be the closer of the two to returning, and while both pitchers still have the potential to pitch in 2025, I would be surprised to see either of them pitch an impactful inning at this point. Trending Storylines: Bieber’s introduction to the pitching rotation led to some expected roster shuffling. Eric Lauer spent a couple of days sitting in the bullpen. He got up and warmed up a little during Bieber’s start, but ultimately didn’t see any game action this week. John Schneider has announced the starters for the upcoming series against Minnesota and Milwaukee, and Lauer is back in the rotation, slated for Wednesday night against the Twins. The Jays will run a six-man rotation, at least for this week. On the other side of the ball, one of the hallmarks of the 2025 Blue Jays has been the production they’ve gotten from the bottom of the order and the unexpected stars. This week, they were carried by the names you would expect (even with Guerrero Jr. missing time): Springer, Bichette, Varsho and Kirk provided the majority of the offense, while the rest of the team trended downwards. I don’t think there’s anyone specific to worry about, but a lot of players are on a watchlist for the upcoming series. Looking Ahead: The Minnesota Twins come to town for a three-game set to start the week. After their fire sale at the trade deadline, the Twins have gone 8-13, but the Jays will have to contend with Minnesota's best pitcher, Joe Ryan, on Monday night. Hopefully, Louis Varland or Ty France brought some intel with them that can give the Jays' bats an edge. Unfortunately, the Jays won’t be seeing Alan Roden on this visit. His season ended with a thumb injury that required surgery, and he’ll close out his year on the 60-day IL. Then, after an off-day on Thursday, it’ll be the Milwaukee Brewers and their league-best record coming to town for a three-game series over the weekend. The Brewers will be coming off of a four-game series against the Diamondbacks, so hopefully the Jays can capitalize on the visitors' travel fatigue. View full article

I saw Schneider quoted as saying he had spoken with the vets about the possible changes coming (but that they hadn't committed to a path) and they were "all on board". He's the exact manager I'd want navigating this - so I'm on board too!

That's the way I would lean too. Especially for the next 3-ish weeks. Maybe tighten it to 5 in mid-September for the run-in. Of course 1000 things could change between now and then.

Shane Bieber pitched what is expected to be his final rehab start on Friday night in Buffalo. He threw 90 pitches (64 strikes) over seven innings, getting four strikeouts and giving up six hits, while earning a shutout win. Provided he recovers after the start as expected, his next stop should be joining the Blue Jays. Toronto is in first place in the American League and holds the tiebreaker against the majority of its closest rivals (NYY, BOS, DET, and SEA). They’ve gotten to this point behind a remarkably stable rotation of Kevin Gausman, José Berríos, Chris Bassitt, Max Scherzer, and Eric Lauer. In fact, those five have been so stable that the last win earned by a Jays starter that wasn’t one of those five was way back on April 18 when Bowden Francis got the win over Seattle. A game that happened so long ago that Anthony Santander and Alan Roden both had RBIs in the win. The Jays didn’t acquire the former Cy Young winner to not have him start, so the question becomes how to integrate him into a winning team without upsetting the balance. One option would be to pivot to a six-man rotation. Bieber could slot in to pitch one of the upcoming games in Pittsburgh, and everyone else just gets bumped a day. This would provide an extra day of rest for one of the oldest pitching staffs in the league. Lauer, considered the baby of the rotation, is over 30 years old (as someone older than Scherzer, it kills me to think of Lauer as ‘old’, but we can at least agree that he’s older than the league average). Interestingly, Bieber is just three days older than Lauer and will help bring an injection of youth into the rotation. Before the season, when talk of a six-man rotation was floated, both Gausman and Bassitt spoke out against the idea, preferring the rhythm of a traditional five-man cycle. Both vets have also talked about ‘doing what’s best for the team’ (a much easier ask when the team is winning), with Bassitt most recently volunteering to pitch out of the ‘pen heading into the All-Star break if a situation warranted it. That scenario didn’t come to be necessary, and I would have to imagine Bassitt’s opinion on being a bullpen option becomes different the more permanent the move is talked about. Suppose one of the starters is going to the ‘pen based on seniority; that’s undoubtedly Lauer. Of course, he’s fresh off being named Jays Centre Pitcher of the Month, so maybe he isn’t the most deserving based on results. If the Jays are going to go with a five-man rotation, the other option is to have one of the current starters turn into a piggy-back guy and essentially make a scheduled long relief appearance every fifth day. If this is the route the Jays take, the optimal way to decide it is by looking at the pitchers' splits as they face the same lineup multiple times. I looked at the opponents' batting average and FIP for each of Toronto’s current starters to see if there is an obvious candidate. I also included the MLB average and Shane Bieber’s career marks as reference. We’re not getting out of here without talking about Scherzer’s massive FIP jump his third time through the order. Over his last six starts, Scherzer has looked the best we’ve seen from him in a Jays uniform, and he has delivered on exactly what we had hoped to see when he was signed. He has also surrendered eight home runs across those games, with six of those homers coming on his third time facing a batter, and they are the only earned runs he's surrendered. He’s got the resume, pedigree, and ‘future hall-of-famer’ title to be given more runway to work through those issues, but if the trend continues, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Scherzer get the Berríos Treatment come playoff time. On a recent episode of TSN’s Overdrive, guest and retired major league player, Eric Hosmer, presented a more extreme option: Mad Max, Blue Jays closer. Hosmer mentioned a concern about the workload on Scherzer’s arm and that a move to the ‘pen (especially for the postseason) could be a way to achieve maximum effort from Scherzer and take advantage of his ultra-competitive persona. Using Bieber’s career numbers isn’t exactly fair statistically, but he also doesn’t have any 2025 numbers to work with yet. At the risk of muddying the table, I left the career numbers of the other pitchers out of it, but you can take my word for it: Bieber is (historically) the best of the bunch. Once his rehab is behind him and he gets some major league innings under his belt this season, we could be in for something special. No matter what you believe, Bieber is coming, and that means changes. View full article

Beautifully written piece - and what a showing by Fluharty. I get the methodology, and (theoretically) understand why you'd take 45 degrees as the angle, but I'm not sure I want to live in a world where that 2nd pitch to Shohei is a checked swing. 😁

Weekly Snapshot: Mon, 8/4 through Sun, 8/10 *** Record Last Week: 4-2 (Overall: 69-50) Run Differential Last Week: +28 (Overall: +44) Standings: First in AL East (4.0 games up on BOS), First in AL (1.0 game up on DET) Last Week’s Results Game 114 TOR 15 - COL 1 Lauer: 6 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K Bichette: 3-for-6, 2 HR (14 and 15) and 6 RBI Clement: 5-for-6, 3 runs scored Game 115 TOR 10 - COL 4 Berríos: 5.1 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K Varsho: 3-for-5, 2 HR (10 and 11) and 6 RBI Guerrero: 3-for-5, HR (17) Lukes: 2-for-4, HR (10) Game 116 TOR 20 - COL 1 Gausman: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K Schneider: 3-for-7, 2 HR (6 and 7) and 4 RBI France 4-for-4, 4 runs scored Clement: 4-for-7, HR (6) and 4 runs scored Game 117 LAD 5 - TOR 1 Scherzer: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K Little: 0 IP, 1 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 0 K Barger: 2-for-4, RBI Game 118 LAD 9 - TOR 1 Bassitt: 4.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K Clement: 2-for-4, HR (7) Rest of team: 3-for-28 with 12 Ks Game 119: TOR 5 - LAD 4 Lauer: 3 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K Bullpen: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 8 BB, 6 K Guerrero Jr.: 2-for-4, HR (19) Highlights: Every bat the team brought to Colorado: I’ll save the breakdown for the Stats of the Week section, but it was a historic offensive output from the Jays across the three games. A +39 run differential in three games to go along with 63 hits and 13 home runs. All nine starting Blue Jays had a hit by the time there was one out in the third inning of the first game, and they just kept rolling. Scherzer vs. Kershaw: From their Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux matchup beginnings to the twilights of their respective (soon-to-be) Hall of Fame careers, this was a head-to-head pitchers duel worth staying up past my bedtime for. Both pitchers delivered a quality start, going six innings each with very similar stat lines. Scherzer had the edge in Ks (5 to 4), but Kershaw came out on top when it came to earned runs (2 to 1) and ultimately got the win. While it would have been nice for the Jays to get the W here, it was still a highlight just to see the two legends go at it. Mason Fluharty picked up the first save of his MLB career, coming into the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded and having to face Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts. No pressure. After working Ohtani, who had homered earlier in the game and was a problem all series, to a full count, he got him to chase an 83-mph sweeper below the zone for strike three. He followed that up by getting Betts to ground into a force out, securing the win for the Jays. With some upcoming decisions to be made about the pitchers on this roster, Fluharty is staking his claim to a spot. He had two other (much lower leverage) appearances this week and didn’t surrender a run. Braydon Fisher was also called on four times this week and tallied nine Ks in less than four innings of work. Newcomer Louis Varland had himself a week, chipping in with 3.2 IP of shutout baseball with five Ks mixed in. Lowlights: Jeff Hoffman didn’t pitch until Sunday. There wasn’t a need for a closer in any of the first five games. How much rust can accumulate in a week? He came in to face the Dodgers and forgot how to throw strikes, walking five batters and only throwing 10 strikes on 33 pitches. Thanks to Ernie Clement's homer and Fluharty’s lights-out save, Hoffman walked away with the win (despite a blown save). Is it time to reassess our Bullpen Trust-O-Meter? Plate discipline against the Dodgers: Toronto as a team has been incredibly disciplined at the plate this season and boasts the fewest strikeouts in the league as a result. This made their 35 Ks in the series against the Dodgers all the more surprising. No one player stood out as being particularly egregious either; it was a full team effort. Still, if the Jays match up with the Dodgers again (say, in late October), this will be something to key in on. Random Stats of the Week: Leo Morgenstern did an incredible job breaking down all of the team records that were set in the Colorado series, but a number of players also notched single-game personal bests across those games. Bo Bichette’s six RBI in the first game marked a new career high. His six ABs in the first and third games also tied his previous best. Ty France’s four runs scored in the third game of the series were a career high. Nathan Lukes had a career-best four RBI in the third game. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s seven ABs and four hits in the third game both tied career highs. Daulton Varsho’s six RBI in the second game set a new career high, and his two homers tied his best output. His 467-foot blast was also the longest of his career. Davis Schneider’s two home runs and four RBI both tied his career best marks. His seven ABs in the third game were a career high. Ernie Clement’s five hits in the second game set his new career high. He set another in the third game with 7 ABs, a new high mark for himself. Joey Loperfido tied his career-high marks for singles and hits in a game with the three he had in the second game of the series. He also set a new personal best for ABs with his six in that game. The Blue Jays lead the AL and are second in the majors (behind LAD) with a team wRC+ of 114. Toronto leads the majors with 25.0 position player fWAR. Jeff Hoffman joins Juan Acevedo as the only pitchers in the history of baseball to pitch one inning or less, walk five batters without being tagged with an earned run and have their team get the win. Hoffman is the only player to “earn” the win themselves (Acevedo was credited with a hold). News, Notes and Not Playing: Buck Martinez returned to the Blue Jays' booth for the series against the Dodgers after being away since the end of May. He revealed that he has had a recurrence of the cancer that he battled in 2022, and after calling the upcoming homestand, will be taking more time off for treatment with the aim of returning in September for Toronto’s playoff push. Ali Sánchez was DFA’d and ultimately picked up by Boston. Buddy Kennedy was called up and made his Blue Jays debut. 7-day IL: George Springer Springer “still has a few more boxes to tick” before he starts a full rehab assignment, as per manager John Schnieder. 10-day IL: Andrés Giménez, Giménez has started his Triple A rehab assignment. He stole a base and scored two runs while going 4-for-5 on the weekend. The second baseman is expected to make multiple rehab starts before coming back to the big league club. 60-day IL: Anthony Santander, Shane Bieber At last update, Santander still hadn’t started swinging a bat, and for the first time, there seems to be some doubt if we will see him return at all this season. Bieber pitched on Saturday and threw 78 pitches, scattering four hits and one walk against six strikeouts. He is expected to make at least one more rehab start before a decision is made regarding his Blue Jays debut. Trending Storylines: The Jays took full advantage of a golden opportunity to beat up on the worst team in the league this week, but we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that Toronto also has the best record in the AL against teams over .500. As we march towards the playoffs, the Blue Jays will need to keep finding ways to win games against teams on both sides of that line. The Jays have run a number of different lineups (often out of necessity) and been aggressive with managing their bullpen personnel – but there are some tough decisions on the horizon before rosters expand in September, and how Toronto manages them could have ripple effects moving forward. Looking Ahead: The Jays get an off day on Monday and then welcome the Chicago Cubs to the Rogers Centre for a three-game set, followed by three more at home against the Texas Rangers. The Cubs will bring Pete Crow-Armstrong with them, who has seen a lot of press this week as ‘the best defensive player in baseball’ and been heralded for his Outs Above Average and the quantity of five-star catches he’s made. Toronto has some defensive wizards of their own, and it will be interesting to see who comes out on top. The Rangers sit third in the AL West and are 2.5 games back of a Wild Card spot. Texas has also given up the fewest earned runs in all of baseball, so the Jays' bats will have to be sharp for this series. Fortunately, the Rangers are aided by their home ballpark, which they’re not bringing with them, but they still rank bottom third (in the good way) for ERA on the road. Toronto has scored the sixth most runs at home this season, so this should make for a fun matchup. View full article

I'm willing to find a way to love Ty France, but it's certainly not immediate.

It's not 2015 and he’s not David Price, but Shane Bieber has said goodbye to his friends in Cleveland and will bring the swag of a Cy Young pedigree north of the border. Bieber was drafted by Cleveland in 2016 and made his debut with them in 2018, throwing over 100 innings in his rookie season. In 2020, he was the unanimous choice as the AL Cy Young winner in the pandemic-shortened season, as he led the league in ERA, FIP, strikeouts, wins and a number of other categories. Now, a lot has changed since 2020, but Owen Hill recently wrote about a number one starter being on the Jays' trade deadline wishlist, and the hope is that Bieber can step up and say, “I’m the One.” It doesn’t take much to envision a future in which Bieber adds more hardware to his cabinet with Toronto. ALCS MVP, maybe? Never say never. Before we get to what could be, let's take a healthy look at the risks. First is the price that was paid. Back in February, Jays Centre had Khal Stephen as the #9 prospect in the organization, and he’s only moved up those rankings since. Depending on which source you look at, he was ranked as high as fifth system. That's a big price to pay considering the other big risk at play: Does anyone know if we’ll see that ace-level, Cy-worthy capability from Bieber, or will he be a ghost of his former self? He is currently nearing the end of his rehab from Tommy John surgery and hasn’t pitched in the majors since April of last year. In 2024, he made two starts and pitched 12 innings before being sidelined with a right elbow injury that necessitated the TJ route - a heartbreaker for Cleveland. That wasn’t his first injury, though it has been his longest stretch of missed time to date. He also missed significant time in 2021 with a right shoulder strain, making 16 starts and throwing fewer than 100 innings. He still put up a 3.03 FIP and struck out 134 batters when healthy though. He also missed a chunk of time in 2023 with inflammation in that right elbow, a precursor to the injury in ‘24. Again, when he was healthy, he was generally serviceable with flashes of brilliance, and the Blue Jays will be hoping he can find that sweet spot when he completes his rehab and joins the rotation. Bieber has a five-pitch mix and leans primarily on his fastball and slider. Speaking with MLB.com about his rehab performances, he sounded confident: “I had plenty of time to work and refine. I feel like my stuff is in a great spot, both from metrics and output, so I don't think I'll falter that much with a little bit of time off.” His four-seam fastball has been sitting between 92-94 mph in his rehab starts this year, and through 11 ⅓ innings, he has 21 strikeouts and a 1.59 ERA with only one walk. Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti also noted that Bieber’s changeup has had more depth to it than in the past. That changeup is a little atypical in that it is only about 3 mph slower than his fastball, but it comes with an additional 13 inches of vertical break on average; this strikeout of Seth Brown in 2024 is a great example. Bieber also has five career starts against the Jays and has picked up three wins to go along with one loss and one no-decision. The most memorable of those wins came in 2019 when he went nine innings, shutting out the Jays and holding them to one hit (a seventh-inning ground rule double by Eric Sogard). All three of Bieber’s wins came at the Rogers Centre, so here’s hoping that there’s some magic in the building he can tap into. The reality of Bieber’s injury history means that whatever recent stats anyone is looking at are all subject to a small sample warning. So, the risk is high, but the potential reward is too. At the time of this writing, there are still five-plus hours left until the trade deadline, and I would hope Toronto isn’t done adding, but if Bieber can hop on that red eye, get a private landing at Pearson Airport and become a stabilizing presence as the Jays push for playoff glory, he might make us look back at this trade as a lot closer to the David Price deal than we realize. View full article

Minnesota sits 10 games back of the Tigers in the AL Central and five and a half games out of a Wild Card berth with at least five teams to leapfrog. They’ve arguably been more unlucky than bad, but find themselves looking at an uncertain future. The Jays' biggest need ahead of the trade deadline is pitching support, and the Twins have a number of appealing players that have been rumoured to be available. I’ll start by saying, yes, I would love to have any combination of Joe Ryan, Jhoan Duran and/or Griffin Jax on the Jays, but I’m not sure I would love the price tag those kinds of names are going to command. I’m also not sure the Jays have a Daniel Norris-type prospect to offer, and I’m not sure that the high-end Twins pitchers are equivalent to a 2015-era David Price, so we’ll shelve that discussion for now and look elsewhere. The guy I have my eye on at the moment is lefty reliever Danny Coulombe. The Twins have had 21 players throw at least five innings for them this season (compared to the Jays' 24), and Coulombe has the lowest ERA (1.16), second-lowest FIP (1.96) and seventh-best fWAR (1.0) among those arms. He’s also 35 years old and on a one-year, $3 million contract. He had elbow surgery on his throwing arm in 2024 (while with Baltimore) and has had one stint on the IL this season (left forearm strain) with Minnesota. His acquisition would not be without risk, but the Jays have managed a number of pitchers through IL stints already, and at 35, he would become the oldest arm in the ‘pen, but he is still younger than starters Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt. Coulombe has a five-pitch mix, leading with his cutter (thrown 39% of the time) and mixing in a sweeper and sinker (21% each) with a sprinkling of his four-seam fastball (16%) to raise hitters' eyes and the rarely seen knuckle curve (4%). The cutter and four-seamer are what he leans on as his put-away pitches (each has a PutAway% around 30%), and they have the highest whiff rate of his pitches, but the soft contact his sweeper generates (hitters have only hit .100 against it) seems to keep hitters off balance. There’s about a 10 mph difference between his four-seamer and sweeper, with the cutter landing right in between. When he’s healthy, his stuff plays. Righties are only hitting .164 against him (only Brendon Little has a better BAA for the Jays at .154), and he is also keeping lefties in check to the tune of a .211 average. Both of those marks would fit nicely into Toronto's bullpen. His ERA and FIP would be best of the team's pitchers, and his 1.0 fWAR to date would rank him sixth, between Little (1.2) and Braydon Fisher (0.7). Whose roster spot would he be taking? Fellow lefties Little and Mason Fluharty have shown enough to keep their spots. Justin Bruihl was roughed up in his last outing and would be the first lefty out the door. Chad Green has had a rough time since the All-Star break, and even pre-break, all of his stats were worse than what Coulombe has been putting up in Minnesota. Green would be my pick for the shortest leash and first man removed from the ‘pen to make room. What would the Jays have to give up to get Coulombe to Toronto? I’m not sure what level of prospect the Twins would ask for, but if they get a haul for one of their star players, they may just have to move Coulombe to make roster room. He was traded by the Twins once already for cash considerations, when they sent him to Baltimore ahead of the 2023 season. This might be an opportunity for the Jays to flex some financial muscle as they did in the Myles Straw trade, which has worked out pretty well so far. One last note, which shouldn’t swing a trade offer in either direction, but is a fun thing. Baseball Reference lists Coulombe’s nickname as “Frenchie,” and he is the only player in MLB history (as recorded by B-Ref) with that spelling of the nickname. There have been eight other players labeled as “Frenchy,” including, most recently, Jeff Francoeur. Most unbelievable of all, Walt French, who played from 1923-1929, wasn’t one of them - his nicknames were “Piggy” and “Fitz.” Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was born in Montreal, but I think it’s time we add another Frenchie. Stats in article updated prior to games on July 29. View full article

Weekly Snapshot: Mon, 7/21 through Sun, 7/27 Record Last Week: 5-2 (Overall: 63-43) Run Differential Last Week: +16 (Overall: +42) Standings: First place in AL East (5.5 games up on NYY), first place in AL (2.5 games up on DET), first place in MLB (0.5 games up on CHC and MIL) Last Week’s Results Game 100: TOR 4 - NYY 1 Gausman: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K Hoffman: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K Bichette: 2 for 4, 1 R, 2 RBI Game 101: NYY 5 - TOR 4 Scherzer: 5 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K Springer: 2 for 3, 2 R, 1 RBI Game 102: TOR 8 - NYY 4 Bassitt: 7.1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 8 K Guerrero: 2 for 5, 2 R, 2 RBI Bichette: 1 for 4, HR (13) Game 103: TOR 11 - DET 4 Lauer: 8.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 1 fat lip Clement: 2 for 4, HR (5), 4 RBI Loperfido: 2 for 5, HR (2) Lukes: 2 for 5, HR (6) Game 104: TOR 6 - DET 2 Berríos: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K Springer: 3 for 5 Game 105: TOR 6 - DET 1 Gausman: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K Springer: 3 for 5, HR (18) Guerrero: 2 for 4, HR (14) Lukes: 1 for 2, HR (7) Game 106: DET 10 - TOR 4 Scherzer: 7 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 11 K Bichette: 5 for 5, 2 RBI Highlights: Almost every pitcher. We’ll cover the two not included in a moment, but the starters all went out and got the job done. The Jays received six quality starts from the rotation on the week, with only Scherzer’s start against the Yankees not qualifying. Kevin Gausman threw two absolute gems to go along with 18 Ks and a 0.69 ERA on the week. Yariel Rodríguez, Mason Fluharty, Braydon Fisher and Brendon Little combined for just under nine innings of work without giving up a run, and Jeff Hoffman assembled the infinity stones to get the save against the Yankees on his bobblehead night. Davis Schneider got the start against some tough lefties this week, and outside of his double against the Yankees, he didn’t do a whole lot at the plate. He does get to walk away with the catch of the week though. Running to his right and diving at full extension to rob Spencer Torkelson of extra bases, Babe came up clutch. Statcast rated the play as a three-star catch with a 60% catch probability, making it Schneider’s most difficult catch of the season. Bo Bichette’s 10 RBI definitely deserve recognition; he had a pair of RBI in five out of seven games this week! He also had the fourth five-hit game of his career. He leads the team in runs batted in, which is even more impressive when we remember that his move to the fourth spot in the order was fairly recent, and he spent 82 games (and 355 ABs) as the leadoff hitter. Ernie Clement had his first triple of the season against the Yankees, but my favourite hit of the week from the whole team was his three-run homer against Detroit. With the Tigers intentionally walking Addison Barger to get to face Clement, you love to see them pay for it immediately, and that’s just what happened, as he sent the ball almost 400 feet over the left field wall. Lowlights: Oh boy, Chad Green, where do we start? In less than two innings of work, Green faced 12 batters and gave up six runs. It was one thing when he gave up three earned runs with a 10-run lead in the first game of the series, but coughing up three more when he came in to face the bottom of the Tigers order with the Jays down three after Max Scherzer made his best start of the season was another thing. It didn’t help that he was immediately followed by Justin Bruihl giving up another three of his own. Green had only given up one run in 11 appearances heading into the All-Star break, but he’s been the least reliable arm out of the ‘pen since. Random Stats of the Week: In addition to his five hits against the Tigers on Sunday, Bo Bichette also faced 35 total pitches that day - a career high for him. Cutting into the Tigers' lead on Sunday, the Jays scored four runs in the ninth inning. It was the fourth time in their last 10 games that they scored at least four runs in the final frame. Kevin Gausman’s game score of 79 against Detroit was the fourth highest Jays mark of the season. Gausman also holds the first, second, third and fifth spots. Before Sunday’s game, the Jays were 6.5 games up in the division, their highest mark since 1993. Max Scherzer missed the opportunity to earn a win on his birthday, but Braydon Fisher picked up the W on his the day before. Bo Bichette’s .393 BA with runners in scoring position is the best in MLB. News, Notes and Not Playing: Will Wagner was placed on the restricted list on the weekend in order to attend the Hall of Fame induction of his father, Billy Wagner. Alan Roden was called up in a corresponding move. 7-day IL: Alejandro Kirk Kirk entered the concussion protocol IL after taking a sharp foul tip straight to the mask. Ali Sánchez was selected from Triple A in a corresponding move. 10-day IL: Daulton Varsho, Andrés Giménez Varsho has homered in three straight games on his rehab assignment. He could be back in the lineup as early as tonight. Giménez is expected to begin his rehab assignment this week. 15-day IL: Yimi García, Paxton Schultz, Nick Sandlin García and Sandlin have been shut down from throwing following their respective cortisone injections. Projected timelines should be available late next week. Schultz was scheduled to pitch on Saturday and is expected to be available this week. 60-day IL: Alek Manoah, Anthony Santander Manoah’s next rehab start is expected to be a simulated game so that his pitch count can be precisely managed. Santander still has not begun hitting and is being evaluated on a ‘week-to-week’ basis. Trending Storylines: First things first, the Jays got some heavy lifting done this past week and now have the advantage if it comes down to a tiebreak situation with the Tigers or Yankees, who, despite Toronto's dominance over them, still represent the biggest threats to a first-round bye. The early part of this week is going to be dominated by the upcoming trade deadline. The front office for the best team in baseball is expected to be busy and should be leaving no stone unturned. We have highlighted a number of potential trade targets here at Jays Centre, from relievers to tweeners to number one starters, and, of course, a bat or two. A week from now, we could be talking about some fresh faces and shifted lineups. Looking Ahead: Four games in Baltimore in less than a 48-hour span is a hell of a way to run into the trade deadline, which is scheduled for the Jays' off-day on Thursday. Then it’s the Kansas City Royals coming to Toronto for a three-game set on the weekend. Baltimore is 15.5 games back of Toronto in the AL East and 8.5 out of the Wild Card hunt. KC is 8.5 games back of Detroit in the Central, but only four games out of the WC. View full article

Jim Clancy was with the Jays from their first season in 1977 until his last game in October 1988 (when he got the win over Baltimore). He was one of the earliest ‘all-time Jays’ and remains among the franchise leaders in several categories. Today, we look back and remember the impact Clancy had on those early years and the legacy he has left behind today. Clancy was drafted in the 4th round of the 1974 MLB Draft by the Texas Rangers. He was drafted from St. Rita of Cascia High School in Chicago, where he was also the quarterback of the school football team. He ultimately chose the baseball route and was inducted into the St. Rita Hall of Fame in 1985. Following the draft, he began working his way through the Texas minor league system. In the 1976 expansion draft, established teams could protect 15 players from their 40-man roster, and an additional three players after each of the first two rounds. In the third round, though they may not have known it at the time, the Jays found their ace in Clancy. He was called up at the end of July in the Jays' first season to join the major league club and get his debut start against the team that drafted him, Texas. It was a rough start, giving up five hits and five runs and getting the hook after two innings. His next start was a different story. Clancy got his first win in a complete game, giving up only one earned run. He would go on to throw 72 more complete games over his career with the Jays and is second all-time with the franchise. Number one on that list is long-time Clancy teammate Dave Stieb. Stieb and Clancy were absolute workhorses for the Jays in the early days and were even roommates for a short time in the late 70s when Stieb first joined the team. While Stieb would go on to eclipse a lot of Clancy’s marks, it was Clancy who hit the milestones first. He was the first to 1000 innings pitched and 100 wins. Only five Jays pitchers in the team’s history have hit that total for wins, and only eight have thrown that many innings. Clancy would throw another 1200+ innings and is again, second all-time with his 2204 2/3 innings pitched. He led the team in bWAR in 1980 and was the team’s sole representative at the 1982 All-Star Game. In that 1982 season, Clancy led the entire league with 40 starts - a franchise record and a feat that hasn’t been surpassed in the league since. Incredibly, the following closest all-time marks (38 starts) belong to batterymates Stieb and Luis Leal from that same 1982 season. Then it’s Clancy again with sole ownership of the 4th spot (37 starts in 1987) and a shared hold of the 5th (36 starts in 1984). Even in a different era, when the workhorse pitcher was more common, Clancy stood out, and the Jays benefited from his reliability. Arguably, Clancy’s most memorable game with Toronto came at the end of September in his All-Star season. Pitching in the first game of a double-header against Minnesota, Clancy sat down every batter he faced through 8 innings - 24 of 24. Entering the 9th inning, a perfect game within reach, Clancy had it broken up by a bloop Randy Bush single into no-man's land between the second baseman and right fielder. Clancy’s catcher that day, Buck Martinez, said the broken-bat single was the Twins' only chance to spoil the perfect game because “the way he was throwing there was no way they were going to get a hit off him.” Clancy ended up getting the win in a complete game, one-hit shutout. He faced one more batter than the minimum in that game, a franchise record, which has been equalled twice, but it’s another case where Clancy was the first. On October 1, 1988, Clancy would take the mound for Toronto one last time. His catcher that day was Ernie Whitt, another player the Jays acquired in the 1976 Expansion Draft and the only player remaining with the team as long as Clancy. After five innings, Clancy was in line for the win and picked up his 128th with the franchise - only Stieb and Roy Halladay would go on to get more. Jim Clancy isn’t always the first Blue Jays name mentioned in a conversation about the history of the team, but the more time you spend looking through the franchise's statistics and record books, the more often his name pops up. In March 2017, former Blue Jays president Paul Beeston, remarking on Clancy and his durability, said, “He would take the ball and pitch until his arm fell off,” in a Sportsnet article in appreciation of Clancy. Manny Randhawa of MLB.com tipped Clancy as the best pick of the 1976 draft, and in 2020, Keegan Matheson ranked Clancy as his #3 all-time right-hander for the Jays. A mainstay of those early Jays teams, and no matter how you look at it, gone too soon. View full article

Ahead of spring training we flagged a number of potential milestones that might be hit this season. Check out our previous entries: Berríos’ 100 wins, Vladdy’s 500 runs and Bichette’s 100 HRs. As with the previous milestone appreciation articles, we’ll be looking back at the plays and the pitchers that helped get Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to hit #1000. Starting with the milestone-setter itself: on Friday night in Sacramento Vladdy earned the 1000th hit of his career with a 5th inning single off of Athletics pitcher Luis Severino to the deep right-centre gap. This was Guerrero’s 16th career at bat against Severino and his fifth hit against him (early in Vladdy’s career he had a 5 K streak spread over three games against Severino). Guerrero becomes the 10th player in franchise history to get 1000 hits with Toronto and the youngest of the ten to do it. It only took Guerrero three at bats in his debut game in 2019 to get his first hit, a double off of (then Oakland) Athletics pitcher Yusmeiro Petit. Toronto opened the gates early that game and allowed fans into the Rogers Centre early just to watch Vladdy take BP. He would go on to hit 195 more doubles up to this point. He’s had 172 hits leave the yard as homers and another 626 singles, but my favourites are probably the 6 triples. Two of those triples coming against the Yankees are just a bonus, plus one against Tampa Bay that ultimately gets fielded by future-teammate Kevin Kiermaier. 798 of Vladdy’s hits have come against right handed pitching with just 202 against lefties. Though his batting average suggests it's more about opportunity than anything else (.290 vs RHP and .273 vs LHP). He’s also pretty evenly split home and away with 396 hits coming at the Rogers Centre (and another 91 at the Jays’ temporary pandemic home stadiums) and 513 on the road. His 72 at Fenway mark the most hits in another team’s stadium. All but one of Guerrero’s hits have come when he started the game, the one exception occurred in his rookie season. He was brought in to pinch hit for Jonathan Davis in the 7th inning of a game in Tampa, and while he didn’t get a hit in that AB, he did knock a double in the 9th inning in his second at bat, marking his only career hit as a substitute. Almost half (449) of Guerrero’s hits have come with a man on - and 238 of them with one in scoring position. He has hits in almost every possible man-on/out situation with the exception of a runner on 3rd with no out (he’s 0 for 6 in that situation). Vladdy doesn’t like to waste his time at the plate, notching a hit on the first pitch he’s seen 227 times - including the milestone hit. On six occasions he’s taken an at bat to the ninth pitch before getting a hit. Guerrero’s hits have come against 497 different pitchers, with his 12 hits against Gerrit Cole topping the list. Dean Kremer and Brayan Bello have each given up 11 and Nathan Eovaldi is responsible for 10 making them the only pitchers in double-digits. Vladdy’s two hits against CC Sabathia are his only hits against someone already in the Hall of Fame. Guerrero also has hits against current teammates Chris Bassitt (1), Chad Green (1) and Max Scherzer (2). The two against Scherzer both went yard, one a solo shot and the other a grand slam - I wonder if that ever comes up in the clubhouse (overall he’s 2 for 8 with one K against Scherzer). He’s 0 for 3 against José Berríos and 0 for 1 facing Jeff Hoffman. Somewhat surprisingly, he’s never faced Kevin Gausman - Gausman’s five and a half years in Baltimore came before Vladdy’s debut and then Gausy spent four seasons in the NL before coming to Toronto. Guerrero’s longest hit streak is 22 games - a feat he has managed twice in his career. One of those streaks accounted for 40 total hits, the other 34. Vladdy has eight 4-hit games in his career and 274 multi-hit games total. His longest hitless streak has only been four games (he’s done that 3 times), so when the bat goes quiet, it doesn’t stay quiet for long. Guerrero also has used three of his 1000 hits to walk-off a Jays win (all in 2022) and has 10 hits in extra innings. <blockquote class="bluesky-embed" data-bluesky-uri="at://did:plc:ev63j3cc3lou65xc3zocetgo/app.bsky.feed.post/3ltqouz3qvc24" data-bluesky-cid="bafyreick6nbsbe7fmlewb7ni46pyxghh2pfufdi6hochpetsyfxov6izzm" data-bluesky-embed-color-mode="system"><p lang="en">John Schneider said his favourite Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit so far was hit No. 1 back in 2019 Guerrero Jr. said his favourite was hit No. 1000, tonight. Guerrero Jr. said he ideally wants to match his father (2,590) and reach 3,000 hits. As with his run-scoring milestone and given the contract extension I’m hoping to see you all back here in 2032 to celebrate Vladdy’s next 1000! In post-game comments Guerrero Jr. made it clear that he is intending to at least match Guerrero Sr. (2,590 hits) and ideally reach 3,000. It was noted during the broadcast that the last player to reach 3,000 was Miguel Cabrera and that Vladdy is only slightly behind his pace. Cabrera got his 1000th hit in his 862 game, while Guerrero did it in 911. Cabrera also has a 174 hit cushion over 3000, so if Vladdy can stay healthy and continue to hit like he does there's no reason to think he won't get there. View full article