Leo Morgenstern

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. exited early on Monday after injuring his left hamstring on a play at first base. He went for testing last night (per MLB.com's Keegan Matheson), but the Blue Jays are hopeful that both his exit and his MRI were only precautionary. You can watch the offending play below: Needless to say, losing Guerrero for any amount of time would be a massive blow for this team. Their offense has carried them to the top of the AL East, and Guerrero has been the most important piece of the puzzle. Hopefully, the Blue Jays will provide an update shortly. Even if it's good news, it wouldn't be surprising to see Guerrero sitting tonight against the Pirates. Featured image courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images.

Editor's Note: I wrote this article before Guerrero exited early on Monday with left hamstring tightness. Let's hope we don't have to find out just how important he is to this team by watching them play without him. Old friend Matthew Boyd was brilliant last Thursday afternoon. It’s been a decade since the Blue Jays dealt him to the Tigers in the David Price trade. He’s faced his fair share of ups and downs in that time, but the southpaw has finally blossomed into an ace in his mid-thirties. That was easy to see as he dominated his former team last week at the Rogers Centre. Boyd faced the minimum through six, with the only hit he allowed – a single to Tyler Heineman – erased on a double play two pitches later. He entered the seventh with a pitch count under 60 and a chance to pick up a much-needed win. The last time the Cubs won one of Boyd’s starts, they were still in first place in the NL Central. They had since fallen 7.5 games back. They would drop another half game back of the Brewers that afternoon. Boyd only slipped up once all game, in the seventh inning. Luckily for the Blue Jays, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was at the plate when he did. No one punishes slip-ups like Vladdy. Ahead 0-2, Boyd tried to make Guerrero chase a curveball in the dirt. It didn’t work. The Cubs’ ace missed his spot, and the Blue Jays’ three-hole hitter took advantage, crushing the ball to the seats in centre field. Boyd’s 77.2-mph curve was the slowest pitch (by a real pitcher, not a position player) that Guerrero has ever hit more than 400 feet. There’s no doubt the pitch was a mistake. Boyd admitted as much after the game. At the same time, it's not like it was a jumbo meatball. Right-handed hitters have a .216 wOBA and .052 ISO against curveballs over the lower outside corner of the plate this year. As for Boyd, he’s only given up 11 home runs on his curveball in his career. Before Guerrero’s home run, Boyd had thrown 323 curveballs (between the regular season and the playoffs) without letting one leave the yard. So yes, Boyd made a mistake. But it was the kind of mistake he could usually get away with. Not against Vlad. Guerrero’s home run scored Davis Schneider, who walked two batters earlier, and gave Toronto a 2-1 lead. The Jays would hold on to win the game by the same score. Their offense couldn’t muster much against Boyd and the Cubs, but that day, Guerrero was all they needed. When no one else could quite get it done, Guerrero stepped up. He's been doing that a lot lately. As I watched Guerrero round the bases to collect the home run jacket he’s worn more often than any other Blue Jays hitter, I thought to myself, “Wow, it’s nice to have a superstar.” Then I thought that would make for a pretty great title for an article. It’s not that Guerrero was ever slumping this year, at least not for a prolonged period of time. Yet, since the All-Star break, he’s turned the dial up to 11. The Blue Jays' superstar is reminding us why he deserves that label – and the $500 million mega-deal that came with it. In 29 games since the break, Guerrero is batting .368/.442/.702 with nine home runs and a 215 wRC+. He’s been the best hitter in baseball outside of Sacramento, and no one, not even the Athletics’ Nick Kurtz or Shea Langeliers, has a higher Win Probability Added (WPA). Mason Fluharty ranks second on the Blue Jays with a 0.83 WPA in the second half. Davis Schneider is second among position players at 0.61. Guerrero's WPA is 1.91. That's more than half of the entire team's total. Similarly, since the All-Star break, Guerrero has produced 17.4 weighted runs above average (wRAA) according to FanGraphs. The rest of Toronto's hitters have a combined 41.7 wRAA. Excluding the Rockies series, however, Guerrero still has a 13.6 wRAA, but the rest of the lineup has combined for just a 15.1 mark. Outside of that series, he's been almost as productive as all the rest of his teammates put together. The Blue Jays are good. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is really good. This team isn't leading the AL East because of any one player alone. George Springer, Alejandro Kirk, and Bo Bichette have played huge roles this year, as have less expected contributors like Addison Barger, Tyler Heineman, and Ernie Clement. The starting rotation is loaded with proven, reliable arms, while the bullpen has no shortage of stuff or talent. You might not have believed this four months ago, but the Toronto Blue Jays are one of the more complete clubs in the American League. Even so, one player on this team stands above the rest. As nice as it is to root for a team of underdogs, comeback kids, and breakout stories, and as nice as it is to root for a team where all the little guys do their part, it's just as nice to have a true superstar to rally around. If anyone needed a reminder that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is the Blue Jays' very own superstar, he's offering one up on a silver platter right now. And this article is your reminder to enjoy it for as long as it lasts. Stats updated prior to games on Monday, August 18.

Francys Romero of Beisbol FR and KBO Insider Daniel Kim have both reported that the Blue Jays are "expected" to sign international free agent Seo-jun Moon to a contract with a signing bonus of more than $1 million. The right-handed pitcher is considered one of the top high school prospects in Korea. This is a noteworthy signing, not only because of the lucrative bonus but also because it is unusual to see a Korean prospect opt to sign with an MLB organization rather than enter the KBO draft. The Jays seem to be taking advantage of their particularly deep pockets this year; the $2 million they added to their international bonus pool in the Myles Straw trade gave them the largest bonus pool for the current signing period of all 30 teams. What do Jays fans think of this report? Join the conversation in the comments below. Featured image courtesy of Andrew West, The USA Today Network via Imagn Content Services, LLC.

George Springer played in a rehab game on Thursday. It doesn't look like he'll need many more. Starting at DH for the Buffalo Bisons, he went 1-for-2 with a double, a walk, and two runs scored. According to John Schneider, he could rejoin the Blue Jays as soon as tonight. There's no doubt the Jays want Springer back ASAP. It's not that they haven't survived in his absence (they've gone 8-7 since he hit the IL), but surviving isn't the goal. This team is fighting to secure a first-round bye in the playoffs. Springer and his 18 home runs, .291 batting average, .889 OPS, and 148 wRC+ can play a big part in that fight down the stretch. However, Springer's return will prompt a difficult decision. One man in means one man out. I don't think it's hard to guess who the roster casualty will be – his name rhymes with Schmoperfido – but it will be hard to see him go. Five position players on the Blue Jays' roster have minor league options: Alejandro Kirk, Addison Barger, Nathan Lukes, Davis Schneider, and Joey Loperfido. I don't have to tell you that Kirk won't be going down. Neither will Barger. He's been the team's most productive lefty bat on the season, and he's needed at third base. That leaves Lukes, Schneider, and Loperfido. Alternatively, the Jays could choose to DFA a veteran instead – namely, Myles Straw or Ty France – but that seems far less likely. France has been terrific since he came over at the trade deadline. Straw has his niche on the roster as an elite baserunner and center fielder. The Jays won't want to risk losing either of them (while still paying their salaries), especially not with active rosters set to expand from 26 to 28 in just over two weeks. So, that brings us back to Lukes, Schneider, and Loperfido. All three have played well this season. Loperfido has the best offensive numbers (.919 OPS, 161 wRC+) while Lukes has the worst (.755 OPS, 111 wRC+). Yet, Lukes is the only one who has been with the big league club all year. He has more than twice as many plate appearances as Schneider and more than three times as many as Loperfido. And while Lukes hasn't been playing his best baseball as of late, he has continued to receive more playing time than either of those other two, often as Toronto's leadoff man. I don't think he's going anywhere. As for Schneider vs. Loperfido? The strongest argument in Loperfido's favor is that he bats left-handed, as opposed to the righty-batting Springer. Keeping him around would maintain the current lefty-righty balance. Meanwhile, optioning him would prevent John Schneider from running out the leftiest lineup possible: Loperfido, Lukes, and Daulton Varsho in the outfield, with Barger at third base and Andrés Giménez at second. Conversely, however, optioning Schneider would limit the skipper's right-handed hitting choices. The versatile Schneider can sub in for Giménez at second while Clement plays third, giving the Jays an all-righty infield. He can also play left field, allowing him to form an all-righty outfield with Springer and Straw. With (Davis) Schneider around, (John) Schneider can choose which one of his lefties – Varsho, Lukes, Giménez, or Barger – he wants to play against each right-handed starter the Jays face. Without (Davis) Schneider, (John) Schneider would have to play at least two of his lefty bats every day – one in the infield and one in the outfield – limiting his ability to play the matchups. On top of all that, Schneider has simply been the better hitter lately. Loperfido was red-hot when he first came up in July. Yet, since the All-Star break, he and Schneider have similar numbers, and Schneider has been the vastly superior hitter since the trade deadline. That could have something to do with the right knee contusion Loperfido suffered on a hit-by-pitch earlier this month, but if that is indeed the reason for his recent slump, it's all the more reason he could use some time at Triple-A. Schneider has also demonstrated much better plate discipline, and, relatedly, he's been making higher-quality contact. Both his walk rate and barrel rate are more than three times higher than Loperfido's. Add that to the fact that Schneider has far more big league experience, and I trust his success a lot more. Joey Loperfido has been nothing short of tremendous for the Blue Jays in 2025. He looks like a whole new hitter compared to the overmatched rookie we first saw in 2024. Unfortunately, sometimes good isn't just good enough, and as good as he's been, Loperfido is likely headed back to Buffalo sometime this weekend. On the bright side, he doesn't have to be gone for long. If he hits well at Triple-A, the Blue Jays can call him back up on September 1 when they have an extra two roster spots to work with. Hopefully, the lessons he learned over the past six weeks stay with him. If they do, he'll be a nice left-handed spark for Toronto as the regular season winds down.

The Blue Jays aren’t afraid to swing, but they hate to swing and miss. They lead the league in contact rate inside and outside the strike zone. Their hitters only whiff on one out of every five swings. The league average is one in four. That might not sound like a big difference, but it adds up quickly. The Blue Jays will swing more than 11,000 times this year. They’ll make contact hundreds more times than the average team. Thanks to their excellent contact skills, the Jays have the lowest strikeout rate in the majors. In fact, they have the lowest strikeout rate of any team in a single season since 2016. Moreover, strikeouts are more plentiful now than they were nine years ago. Compared to league average, the 2025 Blue Jays have the lowest strikeout rate since the 1986 Boston Red Sox, who struck out 11.3% of the time. Funnily enough, the Blue Jays ranked second that year with a 13.4% rate. Next to those low numbers, Toronto’s 17.3% strikeout rate this year doesn’t really seem all that impressive. I assure you it is. Avoiding strikeouts is a huge reason why the Blue Jays lead the majors in batting average and on-base percentage. It’s a huge reason why they sit at the AL standings with less than seven weeks to play. But if you only tuned in for the Dodgers series over the weekend, you’d have no idea what I’m talking about. In game one last Friday, the Blue Jays struck out seven times in 35 trips to the plate. That’s a little high by their own exceptional standards, but nothing to stop the presses for. Then came game two. Blake Snell took the bump for the Dodgers. The two-time Cy Young winner was making just his second start since April and his fourth of the year. By the end of the night, he had turned in the best outing of his brief Dodgers career, striking out 10 of the 21 Blue Jays he faced over five scoreless innings. The southpaw became the first pitcher to strike out double-digit Blue Jays in a single game at any point this season. Snell, it should be said, is one of the best pitchers in the game. He’s a dominant strikeout artist. But it wasn’t just Snell. After he exited, Toronto’s hitters struck out another four times over the final four innings. The Blue Jays have a 17.9% strikeout rate against relievers in 2025, slightly higher than their 16.9% rate against starting pitchers. The Dodgers’ relievers struck them out 25% of the Jays they faced on both Friday and Saturday. And it wasn’t over. Game three saw Tyler Glasnow take the mound for L.A. He might not have Snell’s resume, but if Snell is a strikeout artist, then Glasnow is a strikeout Michelangelo. Lo and behold, he struck out eight Blue Jays in his 5.2 frames of work. Even more impressive, however, was the bullpen that struck out six Toronto hitters over the final 3.1 innings of the game. Unlike Snell and Glasnow, it’s not as if the Dodgers' bullpen is known as a strikeout factory. Their 23.5% strikeout rate ranks ninth in MLB. The eight relievers they deployed against Toronto have a 24.7% strikeout rate on the year. That’s good, but not exactly terrifying, least of all for the lineup with the best contact skills in the league. Yet, by the end of the game, the Blue Jays had struck out 14 times for the second day in a row. Those two contests in L.A. represent their two worst performances by strikeout rate all season. Their overall 31.8% strikeout rate in the series was easily their worst in any series all year. Including those final two games against the Dodgers, the Blue Jays have only played six individual games all year in which they had a higher strikeout rate than they did in that three-game set. Don’t worry, though. There’s good news. The Blue Jays aren’t broken. After escaping Chavez Ravine, they struck out only twice in Tuesday’s 5-1 victory over the Cubs. It was the ninth time this year they’ve struck out no more than twice in a game. The rest of the league combined has a total of 43 such games. No one else has more than five, and nine teams have none at all. We also can’t forget the three games that preceded the Dodgers series. In a dominant showing against the Rockies, the Blue Jays struck out just 15 times in more than 150 chances. In other words, I’m not concerned that the Blue Jays have suddenly lost the magic. Their extraordinary contact skills haven’t disappeared. The Dodgers just got to them, plain and simple. They came up with a strategy (or, more likely, strategies) to neutralize Toronto’s greatest strength. They took advantage, and they took the series. So no, I’m not worried about the Blue Jays suddenly losing their way at the plate. But I will say this: If the Toronto and L.A. end up facing off again this season, it will be in a much more important series. And the Blue Jays can’t let what happened over the weekend happen again. Stats updated prior to games on August 13.

Sportsnet's Arden Zwelling reports that the Blue Jays will activate second basemen Andrés Giménez ahead of tonight's game against the Cubs. He'll get the start at second base, batting ninth in the order. In a corresponding move to make room for Giménez on the active roster, the Jays are designating Buddy Kennedy for assignment. Giménez has been on the injured list with a sprained ankle since early July. He also spent time on the IL with a quad strain earlier in the season. Between those IL stints, the three-time Gold Glove winner appeared in 61 games. While his defense was excellent as usual, he struggled to make an impact at the plate. In Giménez's place, the Jays have relied on Ernie Clement at the keystone, as well as Davis Schneider and Leo Jiménez. It will be worth watching to see how manager John Schneider finds playing time for Clement and Schneider now that Giménez will presumably return to regular stolen base duties. As for Kennedy, he was called up last week and appeared in two games with Toronto, going 1-for-5 with a double, a walk, and a run scored. Featured image courtesy of Nick Turchiaro, Imagn Images.

The Athletic’s Mitch Bannon reports that the Blue Jays were “open to discussing their best prospects” as trade chips ahead of the July 31 MLB trade deadline. The Jays ultimately acquired Shane Bieber, Louis Varland, Ty France, Seranthony Domínguez, and Brandon Valenzuela without giving up either shortstop Arjun Nimmala or right-hander Trey Yesavage, widely considered their top two minor leaguers. Bannon mentions left-hander Johnny King as another high-ranked prospect the club held onto. However, Ross Atkins and Co did trade several promising youngsters, including pitching prospects Khal Stephen, Juaron Watts-Brown, and Kendry Rojas, as well as major league position players Alan Roden and Will Wagner. Jays Centre's Bryan Jaeger recently wrote about what the team gave up in Stephen, while Simon Li did the same for Rojas and Roden. What do you make of the report that the Blue Jays were open to trading their top-ranked prospects? Do you wish Atkins was more aggressive at the deadline, or are you glad he kept the likes of Nimmala, Yesavage, and King in the organization? Share your thoughts in the comments below. Featured image courtesy of the Vancouver Canadians.

According to a report from MLB.com's Keegan Matheson, the Blue Jays are promoting Trey Yesavage to Triple-A Buffalo. The 22-year-old right-hander is Jays Centre's no. 2 prospect in the organization. Yesavage was Toronto's first-round pick in the 2024 draft. He began his professional career earlier this year at Single-A Dunedin, and after stops at High-A Vancouver and Double-A New Hampshire, he has received his third promotion of the year. While it's unusual to see a player rise up the minor league ranks so quickly, it's hardly surprising considering how well Yesavage has performed at every step along the way. In 19 games (18 starts) across three levels, he has a 3.01 ERA, a 2.50 FIP, and an utterly ridiculous 42.3% strikeout rate. While his ERA was a little higher with New Hampshire, he continued missing bats and limiting hard contact. Earlier this month, manager John Schneider named Yesavage as a possible candidate to offer some right-handed depth for the major league club (per The Athletic's Mitch Bannon). He is now one step closer to reaching the show. Featured image courtesy of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.

When the Blue Jays designated Ali Sánchez for assignment on Tuesday, they were surely hoping he'd pass through waivers and eventually make his way back to their minor league system. Unfortunately, their division rivals in Boston put in a claim. Sánchez signed a minor league deal with Toronto in December. Over 54 games at Triple-A Buffalo, he hit .279 with a .766 OPS and 107 wRC+, perfectly acceptable numbers for a glove-first catcher. He also earned two call-ups to the big league squad, one in May and the other just last week. Out of options, Sánchez had to be DFA'd for the Blue Jays to remove him from their active roster. The first time they did so, he passed through waivers unclaimed, and after rejecting an outright assignment, he re-signed on a new minor league contract days later. This time, however, the Blue Jays weren't so lucky. Toronto has one of the best catching tandems in the game in All-Star Alejandro Kirk and shockingly productive backup Tyler Heineman. Still, the team clearly valued Sánchez as a depth piece, as demonstrated by the fact that they briefly kept him around as a third catcher on their 26-man roster when they were worried Heineman might have suffered a concussion. Now, the Jays no longer have Sánchez as an option should Kirk or Heineman miss time. Instead, veteran Christian Bethancourt or prospect Brandon Valenzuela is likely the next man up. Bethancourt, 33, has played in parts of eight big league seasons, while Valenzuela, acquired from the Padres at the trade deadline, has yet to make his MLB debut. The Jays have a little less depth without Sánchez, but they will hope not to need any catchers other than Kirk and Heineman down the stretch. If they do, it could be our first chance to see what Valenzuela can do in Blue Jays blue. Featured image courtesy of Kevin Jairaj, Imagn Images.

It doesn't matter that Coors Field is a hitter's paradise. It doesn't matter that the Rockies are the worst team in baseball. What the Blue Jays' lineup accomplished over the past three days was nothing short of historic. The Blue Jays hit .453 with 13 home runs, a 1.346 OPS, and 3.8 FanGraphs WAR in 153 trips to the plate. Each of their 13 hitters who stepped up to bat scored a run. All but one finished the series batting at least .400 with an OPS north of .900. The results? A 15-1 win on Monday. A 10-4 victory on Tuesday. A 20-1 gut punch on Wednesday to secure the sweep. When all was said and done, Toronto had outscored Colorado 45-6. If that sounds unusual, unprecedented, or simply unbelievable, that's because it is. The Blue Jays have never scored so much in a three-game series. They've never outscored their opponents by so many runs in a three-game span. Indeed, Toronto's 39-run margin of victory in this series was the largest by any team in a three-game series since the Brooklyn Superbas outscored the Cincinnati Reds by 40 runs in September of 1901. September of 1901. September of 1901. So, as you surely will have guessed, this series was chock-full of Blue Jays franchise records and fascinating trivia. I know you want the fun facts, and I know I want to give them to you, so let's dive right in. Run Differential Yesterday’s 20-1 victory marked just the third time in Blue Jays history that they’ve won a game by a margin of 19 runs or more. Funnily enough, all three such games have come within the past four seasons. The Jays beat the Rays by an identical score of 20-1 in May 2023, while they trounced the Red Sox 28-5 in July 2022. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette are the only players who appeared in all three games. Unfortunately for Toronto fans, all three of those victories came on the road. The team’s most resounding pounding at the Rogers Centre was a 17-1 win over Cleveland in July 2016. Russell Martin went 3-for-4 that day with a home run and five RBI, while J.A. Happ twirled an 11-strikeout gem. As for the Blue Jays’ most embarrassing loss? That would be a 24-2 thrashing at the hands of the California Angels in August 1979. The Blue Jays have now won a game by at least 15 runs in each of the past five seasons. No other team has done so. In fact, nine teams have not won so much as a single game by 15 runs in the past five years: the White Sox, Guardians, Rockies, Tigers, Royals, Marlins, Twins, Mets, and Mariners. The Blue Jays are also one of only seven teams that have not lost a game by 15 or more runs in the past five years. The others are the Braves, Tigers, Angels, Padres, Royals, and Rangers. Toronto has now won four games by 10 or more runs this season. The franchise record for most double-digit victories in a season is nine, a record set in 1987. Needless to say, the Jays aren't likely to break that record this year. However, their victory on Wednesday was their third win by at least 14 runs this season, tying a franchise record set in 2021. This week marked the first time the Blue Jays have ever won multiple games by 10 or more runs in the same series. Runs Scored The Blue Jays are the only team to have scored at least 10 runs in three straight games this year. They had other such three-game streaks in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2013, and 2021. They’ve never scored 10 runs in more than three consecutive games in a season. The last team to score at least 10 runs in four straight games was the Cubs in 2018, while the last team to do so in five straight games was the Braves in 2006. The all-time MLB record is six straight games, shared by the 1929 Giants and 1901 Pirates. The Blue Jays are the first team since the 2019 Cubs to score at least 45 runs in a three-game span. It is a feat that has only been accomplished seven times in the 21st century and 36 times in major league history. The record for most runs scored in a three-game span is 56, set by the 1950 Red Sox. As previously mentioned, 45 runs in a three-game span is a new franchise record for the Blue Jays. However, it is only one run more than the club's previous high of 44 set in September 2021. Hits, Extra-Base Hits, and Total Bases With 63 hits in this series, the Blue Jays annihilated their franchise record for most hits in a three-game span. Their previous high was 52, set in 1999. Since then, they have only topped 50 hits in a three-game span one other time (July 2022). The all-time MLB record for hits in a three-game span is 68, set by the Pirates in August 1922. The Blue Jays’ 63 is the most by any team since the 1933 Giants and the most by any American League team in recorded history. Previously, the Red Sox had held the AL record for more than 75 years; they had 62 hits in a three-game span in June 1950. Toronto’s 28 extra-base hits in the Rockies series also set a new franchise record for a three-game span. The all-time MLB record is 33, shared by the 1950 Red Sox and 2019 Red Sox. After everything you've read, you won’t be surprised to learn that Toronto’s 119 total bases in the Rockies series also set a franchise record for a three-game span. The previous franchise record was 101, set in September 1987. The 2025 Blue Jays now rank second all-time in total bases in a three-game span, trailing only the Red Sox, who recorded 124 total bases in June 1950. A huge thank you to Stathead baseball, without which I couldn't have found any of the fun facts in this article.

No matter which of the 30 teams you root for, tomorrow night’s contest between the Blue Jays and Dodgers will be the must-watch matchup of the day. For one thing, it could be an early World Series preview. According to FanGraphs, Toronto and L.A. have the highest odds of representing the AL and NL, respectively, in this year’s Fall Classic. The Dodgers have been the NL favorites all season, while the Blue Jays just climbed into the AL lead. Yet, that storyline is only the second most compelling reason to tune in on Friday night. The number one reason? The starting pitchers. Barring a last-minute schedule change, the Blue Jays will send three-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer to the hill. The Dodgers will counter with a three-time Cy Young winner of their own, Clayton Kershaw. It could very well be the fifth and final time the two superstars go head-to-head. The first time Scherzer and Kershaw faced one another was September 9, 2008. George W. Bush was the President of the United States. Instagram didn’t exist. Vernon Wells hit cleanup for the Blue Jays that day, and B.J. Ryan picked up the save. Eli Willits, this year’s first overall draft pick, was nine months old. No one else on the Jays’ or Dodgers’ current rosters had appeared in the big leagues. In fact, no one else on the Blue Jays was even playing in the minors at that point, and only two Dodgers, Freddie Freeman and Miguel Rojas, had begun their professional careers. To make the matchup that day all the more interesting, neither Kershaw nor Scherzer was originally scheduled to pitch. At one point, the Dodgers had intended to send Greg Maddux to the mound, while the Diamondbacks planned to start Randy Johnson. Fans with tickets to the game were surely disappointed by the change; little did they know they were still going to see two future Hall of Famers duke it out. Scherzer was the better of the two rookies that day, striking out 11 and walking only one in five innings of work. Nevertheless, it was Kershaw’s Dodgers that came out on top. The two have since faced one another twice more in the regular season and once in the playoffs. They also appeared in the same game (but not at the same time) on two other occasions. Kershaw came on in relief for the Dodgers in a 2016 NLDS game that Scherzer started for the Nationals. Three years later, it was Scherzer who threw an inning of relief for the Nationals in an NLDS game Kershaw had started for the Dodgers. All told, Kershaw’s Dodgers have won four of the six games in which both have pitched. However, Scherzer has outpitched Kershaw, with a 3.00 ERA and 40 strikeouts to Kershaw’s 4.08 ERA and 26 K’s. Moreover, if we include All-Star Games, Scherzer ties things up. His AL All-Stars beat Kershaw’s NL squad in both the 2013 and ‘14 Midsummer Classics. Turning to the other side of the ball, Scherzer also has the statistical edge with the stick. In six plate appearances against Scherzer (regular season and playoffs), Kershaw is 0-for-4 with two sacrifice bunts. Meanwhile, Scherzer is 1-for-8 with a single against Kershaw. Each has struck the other out three times. Max Scherzer knocks a bloop single off of Clayton Kershaw. April 20, 2018. Of course, Scherzer and Kershaw haven’t always been adversaries. From August to October of 2021, they were teammates in L.A. Kershaw was injured for much of that stretch, but the two started back-to-back games twice, including September 18 and 19, when they picked up consecutive wins against the Reds. In addition, they were both NL All-Stars from 2015-17 and again in 2019. However, Scherzer did not play in the 2015 and ‘19 games, while Kershaw sat out in ‘16 and ‘17. Funnily enough, Kershaw only made the team in 2015 as a replacement for Scherzer. Thus, the two have never played for the same team in the same game. Over the past few years, both pitchers have seen their careers wind down at a similar pace. Neither is the overpowering ace he once was, but each remains a capable big league starter as he chases down milestones to pad his Hall of Fame case. Kershaw is one quality start away from 300 for his career. Scherzer is nearing 10th place on the all-time strikeouts leaderboard. On Friday, we’ll watch them face off, perhaps for the very last time. Or, as True Blue LA’s Eric Stephen joked on Bluesky, perhaps the Blue Jays and Dodgers will scratch the future Hall of Famers and start a couple of rookies instead, starting the cycle all over again.

When the Blue Jays designated catcher Ali Sánchez for assignment yesterday, it was a bad day for Sánchez but great news for the fanbase. One might have expected the Jays to DFA Sánchez two days earlier, when their All-Star backstop Alejandro Kirk returned from the injured list. However, the club was concerned about backup Tyler Heineman, who took a foul tip off the mask on Saturday and had to be evaluated for concussion symptoms. Fans held their breath as the Blue Jays kept all three of Kirk, Heineman, and Sánchez on the active roster for more than 48 hours; the longer Sánchez stuck around, the more it seemed like something must be wrong with Heineman. So, with no disrespect toward Sánchez, Blue Jays fans let out a collective sigh of relief on Tuesday afternoon when the team tweeted out the words "ROSTER MOVES" in all caps, followed by "C Ali Sánchez designated for assignment." Heineman's surprising success is a big reason why the Blue Jays find themselves sitting atop the AL East 115 games into the year. He's been nothing short of exceptional. After slashing .212/.298/.273 (65 wRC+) in 112 games over his first five big league seasons, the 34-year-old has a .330/.397/.500 slash line (151 wRC+) across 45 games in 2025. Despite his limited playing time, he also ranks among the league's top 10 catchers in Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) and Fielding Run Value (FRV). Of course, the Blue Jays already knew Heineman was a great defender. His glove is the reason they've acquired him three separate times and given him MLB playing time in each of the past four seasons. His offensive production, on the other hand, has been a delightful surprise. By the calculations at FanGraphs, he has been Toronto's fifth-most productive offensive player, behind only George Springer, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, and Addison Barger. Heineman doesn't just stand out among his teammates. His 2.2 FanGraphs WAR ranks him just outside of the top 10 among all primary catchers. In other words, as far as fWAR is concerned, 20 teams – that's two-thirds of the league – have received less from their starting catcher than the Blue Jays have gotten out of their backup. Indeed, 20 teams have received less production from all their catchers combined than the Blue Jays have been gifted by Heineman alone. Is Heineman likely to keep this up? No. Everything we know about small samples, past performance, and the aging curve tells us otherwise. He's outhitting his expected wOBA by 100 points, and his .395 BABIP is wholly unsustainable. Still, his phenomenal season has gone on long enough that we simply cannot continue to write it off as a quirky statistical oddity. It's time to start talking about the fact that Heineman is enjoying one of the best seasons by a backup catcher that many of us have ever seen. Here's a fun way to contextualize how well Heineman has played. With 2.2 fWAR in 45 games, he's playing at a 7.8-fWAR full-season pace. In the last decade, only 19 position players have produced at least 7.8 WAR in a single season. Nine of them won an MVP (including Josh Donaldson in 2015), while another six finished as the runner-up. All 19 earned MVP votes. Needless to say, Heineman isn't going to play 162 games this season. Not only is that impossible (he's already sat out 70 games), but no primary catcher has ever played 162 games in a season. But that's not the point. The reason I'm writing about Heineman is that he's a backup. At his current pace, he'll finish the season with 63 games played and 175 trips to the plate. Entering play on August 6, Heineman's 2.2 fWAR this year ranks 11th all-time among catchers with fewer than 200 PA in a season. And he still has almost 30% of the schedule left to play! The table below lists (almost) every catcher who has finished a season with more than 2.0 fWAR in fewer than 200 PA. In an effort to limit the results to true backups, I only included players from the NL and AL, and I excluded shortened seasons. Otherwise, Josh Gibson would dominate the rankings, and Salvador Perez's strong 2020 campaign would also sneak onto the list. Heineman is featured twice. The row highlighted in yellow shows his current 2025 numbers, while the row highlighted in green shows what those numbers will look like at the end of the year if he keeps up this pace: Catcher Season Team G PA WAR Tyler Heineman 2025 TOR 63 175 3.2 José Molina 2010 TOR 57 183 3.1 David Ross 2009 ATL 54 151 3.1 Jay Clarke 1906 CLE 57 195 2.8 David Ross 2012 ATL 62 196 2.7 Chris Stewart 2011 SFG 67 183 2.6 José Molina 2011 TOR 55 191 2.4 Jack Lapp 1911 PHA 68 196 2.4 David Ross 2008 CIN/BOS 60 182 2.4 David Ross 2011 ATL 52 171 2.2 David Ross 2010 ATL 59 145 2.2 Tyler Heineman 2025 TOR 44 123 2.2 Gene Tenace 1982 STL 66 165 2.1 Erik Kratz 2012 PHI 50 157 2.1 Data via FanGraphs. AL and NL only. Partial seasons excluded. You might notice that 10 of the 13 seasons on that list came after 2008. That's because catcher fWAR did not take pitch framing into account until the 2008 campaign. So, perhaps it's only fair to compare Heineman's season to those from the past 18 years. Even so, it's impressive that he's already the first catcher since 2012 to surpass 2.0 fWAR in a season with fewer than 200 PA, and it's beyond impressive that he's on pace to unseat José Molina at the top of the list. (On a side note, it's fun to remember how successful Molina was in his two-year stint with Toronto as a backup to John Buck and J.P. Arencibia. In both seasons, one could argue he was far more successful than the starter he was backing up. Anyway, back to Heineman.) Switching over to look at Baseball Reference WAR, Heineman currently ranks 15th all-time among catchers with fewer than 200 PA in a season: Catcher Season Team G PA WAR Jay Clarke 1906 CLE 57 199 3.2 Tyler Heineman 2025 TOR 44 123 2.4 Gene Tenace 1982 STL 66 165 2.2 Carlos Santana 2010 CLE 46 192 2.0 David Ross 2009 ATL 54 151 2.0 Bill Salkeld 1946 PIT 69 200 2.0 Eddie Pérez 1998 ATL 61 167 1.9 Rick Dempsey 1988 LAD 77 198 1.9 Jake Gibbs 1970 NYY 49 163 1.9 Frank Fernández 1968 NYY 51 171 1.9 Alva Williams 1912 WSH 60 172 1.9 Mike Zunino 2016 SEA 55 192 1.8 Ron Karkovice 1991 CHW 75 193 1.8 Gene Tenace 1970 OAK 38 128 1.8 Jack Lapp 1911 PHA 68 199 1.8 Tyler Heineman 2025 TOR 44 123 1.7 Data via Stathead Baseball. AL and NL only. Partial seasons excluded. On FanGraphs, I simply selected "catcher" from the "primary position" drop-down menu on their website. I had to be a little more specific on Baseball Reference. For the list above, I defined a "catcher" as anyone who played at least 75% of his games behind the plate that season. If I set the minimum at 90% instead, Heineman would move up to 12th place. Baseball Reference WAR has never included framing, so it's better for comparing catchers of all eras. At the same time, it fails to capture one of the most important aspects of Heineman's game. Nevertheless, if he keeps up his current pace, he'll move up to second place on the list above by the end of the season. The backup catcher history books don't get checked out of the library all that often. After all, it's rather oxymoronic to talk about the best backups at any position. Yet, what Tyler Heineman is doing for the Blue Jays this year is truly unusual. He's demanding our attention from a role that's often entirely overlooked. Stats updated prior to games on August 6.