Leo Morgenstern

According to a report from The Athletic's Brittany Ghiroli, Toronto Blue Jays executive James Click was one of "at least three candidates" the Colorado Rockies interviewed to be their newest "head of baseball operations." Click was the Houston Astros' general manager from 2020-22. Houston made the playoffs in all three seasons of his front office tenure and won the World Series in his final year with the club. Following his surprising departure from the Astros, he accepted a job as the Blue Jays' vice president of baseball strategy, a role he has held for the past three seasons. There was a time not so long ago when Click was a popular choice among fans to succeed Ross Atkins as Toronto's GM. However, considering the team's success this season, it's hard to imagine Atkins is going anywhere any time soon. Featured image courtesy of Lucas Peltier, Imagn Images. View full rumor

Nathan Lukes almost didn't play on Monday. Of course, it wouldn't have made much of a difference, as the Blue Jays flopped their way to a 10-3 loss. But yesterday's pounding would have only been even harder to watch without Lukes in the lineup. The outfielder exited early in Game 1 of the ALCS against the Mariners. He fouled a 96-mph fastball off his knee in his first at-bat against Bryce Miller and left in the fourth after briefly trying to play through the pain. Although he avoided significant injury, it would have been more than reasonable to expect John Schneider to give him the day off to rest and recover. Yet, the skipper made it clear that Lukes would play as long as the training staff gave him the a-okay, and indeed, Lukes was there when Schneider released his starting lineup, batting second and playing right field. As it turns out? Thank goodness. Lukes recorded three hits in Game 2, as many as all of his teammates combined. His performance moved him into first place on the team in Win Probability Added this postseason, and his FanGraphs Clutch score ranks second in the entire playoff field. He is 7-for-17 (.412) with a .974 OPS in October, and he's been even better in the biggest moments. On Monday, Lukes directly contributed to all three runs the Blue Jays scored, with a run, an RBI, and, well... whatever you want to call this: Ignoring context, this might be my favorite play of the postseason so far. The fact that it almost didn't happen at all makes it all the more amusing. Let's start at the very beginning. Gilbert delivers the pitch. Lukes sends it straight into the dirt, but hard enough that it takes a high bounce toward first base. You can see the disappointment on his face as he drops his bat, puts his head down, and starts running to first. Little does he know... Gilbert's initial reaction is more entertaining, even though you can't see his face. Due to his long limbs and atypical motion, he's already one of the game's more interesting pitchers to watch. On this play, however, you can see the moment he realizes he has to snap out of his extended follow-through and run to cover first base. Here it is in GIF form: And here's a screenshot of the moment I think he realized he needed to drop that leg and start running: Finally, here it is side-by-side with the previous pitch in the at-bat: That brief moment of panic you can see on the right perfectly foreshadows what's to come. The ball was closer to first base than second, but not by a ton, and second baseman Jorge Polanco was playing well over to the right side. In other words, he could have easily fielded the ball and thrown to Josh Naylor at first. Except Naylor wasn't at first. He was barrelling toward the baseball himself. I've never been inches away from a charging Josh Naylor, but I can't blame Polanco for backing off and avoiding a collision. With the ball in his glove, it was time for Naylor's second questionable decision (perhaps he was trying too hard to impress his fellow Canadians in the stands?). Lukes was still seven long strides away from first, but instead of pausing for even a moment to steady himself, Naylor kept on running and delivered a back-handed flip in the vague direction of Gilbert, who was still scrambling to the bag. The result was a throw that even Gilbert's elite extending arm could not reach: But wait, because that angle doesn't do justice to Gilbert's flailing attempt to reel the ball in. He sticks his arm back as far as it can go, but at the same time, his forward momentum carries him into the air. With his arms outstretched, he looks like a bird taking flight: Meanwhile, all Polanco can do is watch. The footage is blurry, but this is an "oh sh*t" face if I've ever seen one: As for Lukes, he narrowly avoids getting hit by Naylor's throw and even more narrowly avoids a collision with Gilbert. Yet, after he watches the ball sail into foul territory and decides to make a break for second, he has no more patience for anything in his way, namely, first base umpire Alfonso Márquez: The last thing I really enjoyed about this play, aside from the obvious – George Springer scored, and Lukes replaced him in scoring position – was the very end. After Springer crossed the plate and Lukes jogged into second, the camera turned to Naylor retrieving the ball. I couldn't help but conjure up the sad mental image of a kid without a dog to play fetch with, who has to throw a ball and then go pick it up himself. Except, of course, this was a grown man on a baseball field, and considering how badly he punished the Blue Jays throughout the rest of the game, I feel no remorse laughing at his misfortune. The first two games of the ALCS didn't go the way the Blue Jays hoped they would. That's just a fact. Thankfully, even at the most disheartening of times, baseball has a way of making us smile. Nathan Lukes turned an injury scare into a huge game, and the cherry on top was a truly entertaining "RBI" reach-on-error. The Blue Jays may have disappointed on Monday, but at least Lukes made it worth tuning in. View full article

John McDonald is going all the way!

Nathan Lukes initially stayed in Sunday night's ALCS Game 1 after fouling a ball off his right knee, but the Blue Jays later removed him from the contest and sent him for testing. After the game, manager John Schneider told reporters that Lukes went for X-rays and a CT scan, which both came back negative for a fracture. While this is certainly good news for the club, Lukes is still dealing with pain, so it's not yet clear if he'll be able to play in Monday's Game 2. However, Schneider suggested the outfielder will be in the lineup as long as he is medically cleared. The lefty-batting Lukes is 4-for-13 with two doubles and five RBI through five games this October. Featured image courtesy of Nick Turchiaro, Imagn Images. View full rumor

Thank you! I guess unfortunately, it's a lot harder for a starting pitcher to have a Joe Carter-type moment. But if they win it all and Gausman is the MVP, he's definitely got a shot at it someday!

When Roy Halladay passed away in 2017, a 26-year-old Kevin Gausman expressed regret that he never got to know the pitcher he grew up idolizing. “One of my biggest regrets looking back is I didn't reach out to him and get his number,” Gausman told MLB.com’s Brittany Ghiroli. But Gausman did get Halladay’s number, albeit in a different way. After wearing numbers 37 and 39 on the back of his jersey through his first five seasons with the Baltimore Orioles, he made the switch to 34 in 2018. Blue Jays fans will always remember Halladay as number 32. That's the only retired number on the Rogers Centre’s Level of Excellence. But Halladay switched to 34 when he came to Philadelphia, where 32 was already retired in honor of Steve Carlton. Now, of course, the Phillies have retired number 34 as well. In hindsight, the Gausman-Halladay connection is clear as day. The Blue Jays have had some terrific individual pitching seasons since Halladay left in 2010. There was Alek Manoah in 2022. Robbie Ray in 2021. Hyun Jin Ryu in 2020. Three years, three different Blue Jays finishing top three for the AL Cy Young. Yet, according to FanGraphs' version of Wins Above Replacement, no pitcher has had a better season for the Blue Jays since the days of Halladay than Kevin Gausman. His 5.5 fWAR in 2022 ranks first. His 5.3 fWAR in 2023 ranks second. His 4.1 fWAR in 2025 ranks third. But none of that has anything to do with Gausman taking Halladay's number. Gausman changed his number long before he could have known he'd one day become the Blue Jays' best pitcher since Halladay. It was four years before he signed his nine-figure deal with Toronto. His journey still had to take him through another half-season with the Orioles and brief stints with the Braves, Reds, and Giants before the Blue Jays came calling. To find Gausman’s first connection to Halladay, you'd have to drive about 2,500 kilometers southwest from the GTA. It didn't have anything to do with where either of them made their names. It was about where they each got their start: Colorado. “Guys from Colorado have to go through a lot just to get to professional baseball, let alone the major leagues,” Gausman told Ghiroli. “He grew up 30 minutes from where I grew up and [was] one of the best pitchers, not just from Colorado or his team, but in our generation…He really put us on the map.” According to Baseball Reference, 108 MLB players have been born in Colorado. Only 66 of them debuted before Halladay in 1998. It should be no surprise that Halladay is the most accomplished major leaguer from the Centennial State. Aside from Halladay, however, no Colorado native has faced more batters (slash taken more trips to the plate) than Gausman. And aside from Halladay, no Colorado native has compiled more FanGraphs WAR. I like to think Gausman has had the kind of career his fellow Coloradan would admire. Dating back to his first proper season in 2014, only two pitchers have started more games than Gausman. Only one has thrown more innings. None has him beat in both categories. The definition of "durable" today isn't the same as it was at Halladay's peak. Yet, if there were a picture next to the "durability" entry in the mid-2000s baseball dictionary, it would have been Halladay's headshot. Two decades later, it would be Gausman's bearded mug. Halladay's age-34 season, with number 34 on his back, was arguably the best of his career. Gausman can't say the same. But he did make the best start of his career in September, a dominant shutout evoking memories of the many such starts Halladay made from the very same mound. It has also been the most prolific season of Gausman's big league tenure, and in that way, the most Halladay-esque. He set a new career-high in innings pitched on the final day of the regular season. Tonight, he'll almost certainly set a new career-high in postseason innings, too. And 34 isn't just Gausman's age and Gausman's number. It's also the highest number of starts he's made in a single year. He started 34 regular season games for the Orioles in 2017. He started 33 in the regular season and one in the playoffs for the Giants in 2021. Tonight will mark his 34th start of 2025. If he leads the Blue Jays to victory, he can all but guarantee he'll get to make a 35th as well. It's remarkably impressive. We're already talking about the most durable pitcher of the past decade, and, three months away from his 35th birthday, he looks more indestructible than ever. Of course, Halladay, too, looked indestructible until he didn't. Gausman's durability is cause for celebration. But all that wear and tear is also cause for concern. Yet, aside from his age – which, I'll remind you, is still within Statistics Canada's "young adult" range – Gausman has given us absolutely no reason to worry. So, I'm hoping that here is where the Halladay parallels end. Halladay was 34 when he suffered a heartbreaking postseason loss. It was the beginning of the end of his career. Gausman, however, still has a chance to do what his Colorado idol never could: hoist a World Series trophy. And the way he pitches tonight in start number 34 will go a long way toward helping him reach that goal. View full article

The Blue Jays are going back to the ALCS. And now, finally, we know who will be standing between them and their first trip to the World Series since 1993. The Mariners beat the Tigers 3-2 on Friday night in a 15-inning marathon, despite the very best efforts of Tarik Skubal and Detroit's bullpen. After seven consecutive scoreless innings, J.P. Crawford singled in the bottom of the 15th. He moved up to second on a Randy Arozarena hit-by-pitch and tagged up to third on a Cal Raleigh fly out. With first base open, the Tigers put Julio Rodríguez on first, and Jorge Polanco stepped to the plate. Three balls and two strikes later, the count was full, and Tommy Kahnle delivered the pitch. Polanco sent it sharply into right, and the Mariners mobbed the field. Now, however, a tougher challenge awaits them in their first ALCS since 2001: your Toronto Blue Jays. Schedule of Games Game 1 – Sunday, Oct. 12 @ 8:03 pm (Rogers Centre) Game 2 – Monday, Oct. 13 @ 4:38 or 5:03 pm (Rogers Centre) Game 3 – Wednesday, Oct. 15 @ TBD (T-Mobile Park) Game 4 – Thursday, Oct. 16 @ TBD (T-Mobile Park) Game 5* – Friday, Oct. 17 @ TBD (T-Mobile Park) Game 6* – Sunday, Oct. 19 @ TBD (Rogers Centre) Game 7* – Monday, Oct. 20 @ TBD (Rogers Centre) *If necessary How Will the Blue Jays Set Up Their Rotation? I’m not going to play the guessing game again. I goofed last time, miscounted the days, and guessed all the wrong matchups in my ALDS preview. This series is only going to be more complicated, considering George Kirby started for the Mariners on Friday and Luis Castillo and Logan Gilbert ultimately had to come in to pitch the final innings in relief. So instead, I'm just going to talk through Toronto’s options to start in the ALCS. Kevin Gausman will take Game 1. That much is guaranteed. Then it’s Trey Yesavage and Shane Bieber, presumably for Games 2 and 3, and presumably in that order. Game 4 is where things get complicated. A bullpen game proved to be the right decision for the ALDS. But calling on the arm barn to do it again would be a big ask, and it could prove disastrous if John Schneider needs bulk from his bullpen earlier in the series. So, what are the other options? Max Scherzer should be available, but it’s not clear if the Blue Jays trust him. Schneider said Scherzer probably would have made the ALDS roster if the Red Sox had advanced instead of the Yankees; the Jays didn’t like how he matched up with New York. I’m not 100% convinced that wasn’t just a white lie out of respect for the veteran, but even if it wasn’t, we can only wonder what the Jays think about how he matches up with Seattle. Then there’s Chris Bassitt, who missed the final week of the regular season with low back inflammation. He pitched in the bye week intrasquad game but did not make the ALDS roster either, with Schneider claiming he wasn’t yet stretched out enough. Before Bassitt’s injury, I wrote about why I would pick him over Scherzer for a postseason start. I still stand by what I wrote. Specific matchups and health aside, I have more faith in Bassitt than Scherzer, given the way they both pitched down the stretch. But is it safe to presume Bassitt is back to full strength after another week to ramp up? Another point in Bassitt’s favour is that he might be better suited to pitch out of the bullpen if the Blue Jays decide mid-way through the series that they’d rather use a bullpen game instead of a more traditional fourth starter after all. One more wrinkle to consider comes from MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson. He suggests that if the Blue Jays are going to try another bullpen game, they might prefer to do so in Games 3 or 5 instead of 4. That way, they’d have an off day either right before or right after. I see where Matheson is coming from, and I trust his insight into the team, but in this case, I’m not sure I agree. If Gausman, Yesavage, and Bieber start the first three games of the series, they can also start Games 5 through 7. On the flip side, if the Blue Jays plan a bullpen game for Game 3, they would still need a fourth starter for a potential Game 7. If they plan a bullpen game for Game 5, they would still need a fourth starter for Game 4. Simply put, I don’t see the point of a bullpen game if it isn’t instead of a fourth starter. The Bo Bichette of It All Maybe I buried the lede here. The starting pitching question is interesting, but what everyone is really wondering is whether or not Bo Bichette will play in the ALCS. By all accounts, Bichette is making good progress recovering from his knee sprain. He says he’s optimistic. But he needs to be able to run the bases safely (and effectively) if he’s going to make the roster. We just don’t know if he’s there yet. A fully healthy Bichette most likely takes Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s spot on the roster. But if Bichette can only DH, I wonder if he should really take Anthony Santander’s place instead. Santander is 3-for-22 (.150/.227/.150) in September and October, and I don’t see how he’d have much more of a role than "late-inning pinch-hitter" if Bichette is DHing and George Springer has to play the outfield. Meanwhile, without IKF, the Blue Jays would be pretty hampered in the infield if either Andrés Giménez or Ernie Clement were to suffer a mid-game injury, or if John Schneider wants to lift either of them for a pinch-hitter. So, it becomes a question of pinch-hitting upside versus defensive versatility. Let me be clear: This is my line of thought. It doesn’t seem like the Blue Jays are considering leaving Santander off the roster. Still, I think it’s an option worth keeping in mind. Check back tomorrow for our full breakdown of how the Blue Jays match up with the Mariners on both sides of the ball. View full article

Is this the beginning of baseball’s next cheating scandal? The New York Yankees lobbed some serious accusations at the Toronto Blue Jays over the weekend, claiming their ALDS opponents are taking advantage of a deeper, more talented lineup to score runs more frequently. After outscoring the Yankees 70-59 during the regular season and taking the season series eight games to five, the Blue Jays pummelled their AL East rivals in the first two games of the ALDS, winning 10-1 and 13-7. Blue Jays pitchers have limited the opposition to a .232/.289/.333 slash line in the series, with 21 strikeouts and one lone home run. Meanwhile, Toronto’s hitters are slashing .392/.420/.797. They have homered eight times and struck out only seven. Yankees pitchers own a 12.94 ERA thus far, with 23 runs allowed over 16 innings; the Blue Jays mercifully let them skip the ninth in both games. So, with their season on the line, it’s no wonder the Yankees are getting suspicious. “Max Fried is one of the best pitchers in baseball. He faced 18 Blue Jays batters on Sunday afternoon. More than half of them reached base. Only one of them struck out. That can only mean one thing,” explained Yankees manager Aaron Boone. “The Blue Jays are exploiting their unparalleled contact skills to rack up hits. Even more egregious, they’re turning those hits into runs. It’s unconscionable.” With the ALDS set to resume tonight at Yankee Stadium, the commissioner’s office will be keeping a close eye on the Blue Jays for more signs of foul play, including, but not limited to: historic grand slams, iconic bat flips, perfect splitters to strike out Aaron Judge, games with more home runs than strikeouts, rookie pitchers throwing 5.1 hitless innings, and record-breaking offensive performances. View full article

I love it too. I feel like his overall numbers don't do his season justice. But when you look at his performance as a starter and a reliever separately, it's clear how valuable he's been.

Come along and count with me: Zero: The number of home runs Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit over the final two weeks of the regular season. One: The digit each of his triple slash stats started with in that time (.164/.193/.182). Two: His wRC+. Three: That's how many double plays he grounded into, tied for the most in the league. Four: And that's how many times he came around to score in 57 trips to the plate. ... ... Nine hundred forty-two: The number of players with a higher FanGraphs WAR than Guerrero over those two weeks. Vladdy was hotter than hot when September kicked off. From the All-Star break through Saturday, September 13, his 1.040 OPS, 188 wRC+, and .420 xwOBA all ranked third among qualified AL hitters. Even a brief injury scare in mid-August couldn't slow him down. Then, from September 14 through the end of the regular season, the Blue Jays' superstar all of a sudden went ice cold. Ups and downs are typical for any player, and Guerrero is no exception. But this was no ordinary down. Over his final 14 games, Guerrero produced a 2 wRC+. That means his production was 98% worse than that of a league-average hitter. The following graph shows his wRC+ in every 14-game stretch of his career. You'll see plenty of high points and plenty of low points. You'll also see he's never had a low point quite this low: The second-lowest point you'll see on that graph is an 8 wRC+ from April 26 to May 10. That's only an 11-game stretch, because Guerrero had only played 11 career games to that point. He had just turned 20 years old. So, his second-lowest wRC+ in an actual 14-game stretch was 30. Thirty. His wRC+ in his last 14 games is 2. Two. That's a 28-point difference, the same as the difference between Ernie Clement (98 wRC+, .711 OPS) and Andrés Giménez (70 wRC+, .598 OPS). Think about that: The gap in production between Guerrero's last 14 games and his previous worst 14-game stretch is the same as the gap in production between 2025 Clement and 2025 Giménez. That's huge. Vladdy also ranked last among all players (pitchers and hitters) in FanGraphs WAR from Sept. 14-28, and his -0.6 fWAR in that time was also his lowest in any 14-game span of his career. It's not hyperbole to say we've never seen him look worse. The good news is that none of this ended up hurting the Blue Jays. They still went 8-6 (.571) in their final 14 games, right in line with their 86-62 (.581) performance over their first 148. More to the point, they still won the AL East, securing a first-round bye and home field advantage through at least the ALCS. Sure, a little more production from Guerrero might have saved the fanbase a whole lot of nail-biting over the final days of the season. But knowing how everything worked out, would you really have wanted it any other way? If you're the pessimistic sort, I suppose you might be worried about Guerrero's struggles carrying over into October. The Jays survived his slump in September, but now the stakes are higher, and the competition will be harder. Yet, as an optimist, I implore you to put more stock in Guerrero's full-season 137 wRC+ (and his matching career 137 wRC+) than his disappointing numbers from the very end of the season. I encourage you to remember that even during his slump, his strong contract skills and elite bat speed remained unchanged. Two weeks – any two weeks – make for a tiny sample, and stats from tiny samples aren't to be trusted, no matter how recent or dramatic they might be. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is entering the postseason coming off the worst two weeks of his career. That's a true story, and it's one worth telling. It's not, however, any reason to worry about his performance going forward. View full article

A second opinion has confirmed that right-hander José Berríos does not have structural damage in his elbow (per Sportnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith). However, he has begun throwing again and will not be available to join Toronto in the upcoming ALDS. If the Blue Jays advance in the postseason, it remains a possibility that he could rejoin the team for a later round, presumably in a bullpen role. Thankfully, Nicholson-Smith notes that right-hander Chris Bassitt is still on track to return for the ALDS. The veteran hit the IL with low back inflammation in mid-September. The Blue Jays have not yet confirmed whether or not Bassitt would get a start in the series, but he is a strong contender to take the ball for Game 3 or a potential Game 4. Finally, Bo Bichette continues to make progress, but general manager Ross Atkins told reporters (including MLB.com's Keegan Matheson) that the Jays "don’t have a date" for his return. Atkins added that "every day has gotten better for him," but he is still "day to day." In additional Blue Jays news, Sportsnet's Arden Zwelling reports the potential start times for Toronto's first two games in the ALDS. If the Jays are playing the Yankees, Game 1 on October 4 will begin at 4:08 pm, while if they are playing the Red Sox, the contest will start three hours earlier at 1:08 pm. Game 2 on October 5 will start at 4:08 pm regardless of Toronto's opponent. Featured image courtesy of Dan Hamilton, Imagn Images. View full rumor

The Blue Jays’ most valuable players this season were the guys that everyone already knew. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Bo Bichette. Alejandro Kirk. Kevin Gausman. George Springer. (Sure, no one was expecting Springer to turn back the clock like he did. But even the most casual of baseball fans was already familiar with the four-time All-Star and 2017 World Series MVP. We knew he could hit like this – we just hadn’t seen it in a while.) Still, no team wins a division title on star power alone. The Blue Jays were great in 2025 because Springer, Guerrero, Bichette, Kirk, and Gausman led the way. But they were also great because of how many other players chipped in. Today, I’m here to shine a light on Toronto’s most unexpected contributors. These players made names for themselves as they helped their club climb from the basement to the top floor of the AL East. These were the breakout Blue Jays of 2025. Honourable Mentions Ernie Clement – 157 G, 588 PA, .277/.313/.398, 98 wRC+, 22 DRS, 13 FRV, 3.2 fWAR You could make a pretty convincing argument that Ernie Clement had a stronger season than any of the other breakout players I've ranked ahead of him. However, I hemmed and hawed over whether or not this was really a breakout season for him at all. On the one hand, he cemented himself as an everyday player, qualifying for the batting title for the first time after five big league seasons. Yet, Clement was a Gold Glove finalist last year, and he actually performed better in several categories in 2024 than in 2025, including home runs, RBI, stolen bases, and strikeout rate. Maybe the best way to put it is that Clement broke out in 2024, and in 2025, he proved his breakout was real and continued to build upon his success. Tyler Heineman – 64 G, 174 PA, .289/.361/.416, 120 wRC+, 10 DRS, 7 FRV, 2.1 fWAR No one on this team’s success was more surprising than Tyler Heineman’s. Over the first five seasons of his big league career, Heineman played 112 games and racked up 1.4 FanGraph WAR. His defense was always excellent, but his feeble bat prevented him from earning consistent playing time. Then came 2025. This past season, Heineman led AL catchers (min. 150 PA) in batting average. He ranked second in OBP and fourth in OPS and wRC+. With his Gold Glove-caliber defense, the Blue Jays only needed his bat to be good enough. But it was more than that. It was good, period. Now, of course, if the Jays really believed in Heineman’s bat, they’d have given him more playing time down the stretch. Yet, underlying his .344 wOBA is a .277 xwOBA, and an unsustainable .342 BABIP goes a long way toward explaining his AL catcher-leading batting average. So no, Heineman hasn’t really turned into an offensive stud at 34. But he’s proven he’s more than capable of holding down the backup catching role on a contending team, and solid backup catchers are harder to come by than you might think. Brendon Little – 79 G, 68.1 IP, 3.03 ERA, 3.26 xERA, 91 K, 30 Holds, 1.3 fWAR The Blue Jays picked Brendon Little up off the trash heap after the 2023 campaign. A former first-round pick, he had failed to live up to those expectations over his first five professional seasons. The lefty was serviceable for Toronto in 2024, pitching 45.2 lower-leverage innings with a 3.74 ERA. He leaned on his sinker to induce groundballs at a 70.9% clip – no pitcher threw as many innings with a higher groundball rate – but he didn’t miss many bats, and he benefited greatly from a low BABIP and a high strand rate. In 2025, Little decided to lean on his knuckle curve more often, and the results have been spectacular. His whiff rate shot up from 29.7% to 43.5%, third-best among qualified relievers. Accordingly, he upped his strikeout rate from 18.7%, well below league average, to 30.8%, well above. He finished the regular season as one of the most effective relievers in the American League. As a side effect of trying to miss more bats, Little allowed fewer groundballs and more hard contact, but his 59.9% groundball rate was still elite, and he only gave up two home runs all season. He also saw his walk rate increase, as he issued free passes at a higher rate than any other qualified reliever, but control was never his strong suit anyway. More to the point, a high walk rate isn’t going to kill you as long as you can keep the ball in the yard and strike your way out of jams. And that's exactly what Little did. Toronto Blue Jays Breakout Player of the Year Addison Barger – 135 G, 502 PA, .243/.301/.454, 107 wRC+, 21 HR, 74 RBI, 2.2 fWAR Addison Barger struggled to make an impact in his first big league season. Over 69 games in 2024, he hit .197 with a 69 wRC+. The pop was there, at least at times, but not nearly often enough to make up for his poor plate discipline and mediocre contact skills. Barger followed up his poor debut with a monster spring. Even so, the Blue Jays left him off their Opening Day roster. When he earned the call back up a few weeks later, he spent the first three weeks of his season looking even more lost than he had the year before. In May, however, Barger finally started to show off the full extent of his raw power. And while he had his ups and downs throughout the ensuing months, it was impossible to forget how dangerous he looked at his best. He was one of just 23 major leaguers to hit a ball at 116 mph or harder all season, and his average bat speed ranked top 10 in the Junior Circuit. All told, Barger finished his first full year with 32 doubles and 21 home runs. His 107 wRC+ might not look all that impressive, but his xwOBA was better, ranking in the 65th percentile. On top of that, Barger showed off his super-human strength on the other side of the ball, too. His cannon of an arm came in handy in right field and at third base. Overall, his defense wasn’t particularly strong at either position, but his ability to play both was hugely valuable. Barger's final numbers aren't going to turn many heads. But when it came to individual moments this past season, few players made me turn my head more. He proved he could hold his own as a multi-positional everyday player and flashed the potential to be so much more. So, if we’re talking about Blue Jays who proved in 2025 that they will be key contributors to this team for years to come, no one fits the bill better than Barger. He's Jays Centre's Breakout Player of the Year. View full article

Sweeping their final series of the season will guarantee the Blue Jays an AL East title and a first-round bye. They should be grateful, then, that they're facing the sub-.500 Tampa Bay Rays, right? Well... maybe. But maybe not. The Rays might be 77-82, but they're 7-3 against the Blue Jays this year. They went 9-4 against Toronto last year, and 7-6 the year before that. In 2022, the Rays outplayed the Blue Jays 10 games to nine. In 2021, it was 11-8. 2020? 6-4. The 2018 and '19 seasons were particularly brutal for Toronto, with Tampa Bay taking the season series 13-6 both years. The last time the Blue Jays won their season series with the Rays was all the way back in 2017. In the eight years since, the Blue Jays are 30 games below .500 against their Floridian division rivals, sitting at 46-76. That's a .377 winning percentage, or a 61-win full-season pace. Dating back to the Rays' inaugural season in 1998, the Blue Jays have a .449 regular season winning percentage against Tampa Bay, with another two losses in the playoffs. In that same span, Toronto has a .512 winning percentage against all other teams. Things have been especially bad since 2008. The Blue Jays only lost their season series against the Rays (then the Devil Rays) once in Tampa Bay's first 10 seasons as a franchise – a period in which the Rays were famously dreadful, averaging 65 wins per year. Then, the Devil Rays rebranded as the Rays, and everything changed. In 2008, they finished with their first-ever winning record, won the AL East, and made it all the way to the World Series. And from that year on, those new-look Rays have a 186-121 (.606) record against their rivals north of the border. That means the Blue Jays have played at a 64-win pace (.394) against the Rays over the past 18 years. Against all other opponents, they've played at an 84-win pace (.520). Meanwhile, the Rays have played at a 98-win pace against the Blue Jays, compared to an 87-win pace against the rest of their competition. Excluding their head-to-head matchups, the Rays and Blue Jays have seen similar results since 2008. But when they face each other, Tampa Bay grows into a behemoth, while Toronto shrivels into a doormat. The Rays have beaten the Blue Jays more often than any other opponent. The Blue Jays have lost to the Rays more than anyone else. In either case, it's not particularly close. So, as the Blue Jays stare down the barrel of a three-game series against the Rays, they aren't just staring at Tampa Bay's sub-.500 record. They're staring at 18 years of tough luck, 18 years of frustration, 18 years of losing games they should have been able to win. That's the real enemy that stands between the Blue Jays and their first division title in a decade. Even if the Blue Jays sweep the Rays this weekend, they'll still have lost the season series for an eighth year in a row. Yet, if they vanquish their toughest foe to collect their hard-earned crown, I'm hoping it will signal a new chapter in the Blue Jays-Rays rivalry. I'm hoping it will finally get the monkey that is Rays off the Blue Jays' back. View full article

On July 3, a surging Blue Jays ballclub completed a four-game sweep of the Yankees, officially taking over sole possession of first place in the AL East. Fans knew it might not last long. The Yankees won the division and the AL pennant last year, while the Blue Jays finished in the basement. The Yankees entered that series with the highest run differential in the sport, while the Blue Jays' run differential suggested they were lucky to be above .500. The Yankees were Goliath, and the Blue Jays weren't sure if they were David or just one of the many, many opponents Goliath defeated before David took him down. But the Blue Jays held on. They held on for months. For 83 days in a row, the Blue Jays owned the highest win total in the AL East. For a solid chunk of that time, they owned the best record in the entire American League. Somewhere along the way, they started to convince us they were serious World Series contenders. On Sunday, they clinched the playoff berth to prove it. Yet, aside from Sunday's oh-so-satisfying victory, the past seven games have been a reminder of the tough road that's still ahead. The Blue Jays lost four in a row to the Rays and Royals last week. Then, after a quick break to clinch a playoff spot, they returned to their losing ways, dropping a pair against the Red Sox on Tuesday and Wednesday. Nine days ago, the Blue Jays held a four-game lead over the Tigers for the AL's best record. They led the Yankees by five games in the AL East. Last night, with an 8-1 victory over the White Sox, the Yankees closed that gap, settling into a tie with the Blue Jays for the first time in 12 weeks. With four games left to play in the regular season, the AL East race has become a nail-biter. Anxiety is high within the Blue Jays fanbase right now. I have to imagine it's even higher within the clubhouse. Thankfully, the Blue Jays still hold their fate in their own hands. They won the season series against New York eight games to five, which means that even though the two rivals have identical 90-68 records, Toronto effectively holds a one-game lead. If the Blue Jays can win their final four games over the next four days, they will win the AL East (and a first-round bye) no matter what the Yankees do. The Blue Jays' situation is making me think of my days as a little league pitcher. Perhaps the most common piece of advice I heard from coaches was to always focus on the batter with two outs, even with a runner in scoring position. Right now, the Blue Jays have the luxury of only needing to worry about what they can control: winning ballgames. They can ignore the Yankees taking a big lead off of second base. As long as they handle the task that's right in front of them, the Yankees don't matter. Of course, winning four in a row won't be easy. So, it's also comforting to remember that, with so few games left to play, owning the tiebreaker is a substantial advantage. Think of it this way. Toronto's four remaining games could go one of 16 ways. They could win all four (W-W-W-W), they could win the first one and lose the next three (W-L-L-L), they could lose the first three and win the last one (L-L-L-W), etc. The same is true for the Yankees. Multiply 16 by 16, and you get the total number of possible Blue Jays-Yankees win-loss combinations: 256. In 93 of those scenarios, the Blue Jays finish with a better record than the Yankees. In another 93, the Yankees finish with a better record than the Blue Jays. But that only accounts for 73% of all the possible combinations. In the remaining 70 potential scenarios, the Blue Jays and Yankees finish tied. So, in 163 out of 256 scenarios — almost two-thirds! — the Blue Jays win the AL East. All of this math is based on the presumption that any individual outcome is just as likely as any other. Obviously, that isn't really true. Far more factors affect the outcome of a baseball game than a coin flip. Still, I found it therapeutic to lay it out this way. The next few days will be tense, but don't forget that the Blue Jays are still in the driver's seat, and they still control their own destiny. View full article