GDB 37.0: Toronto Blue Jays hold closed-door team meeting ahead of game against Phillies

It’s “team meeting behind closed doors” season in Toronto.

After a horrid start to the 2024 season that’s seen the Blue Jays sputter to a 16-20 record with one of the worst offences in baseball, the doors have officially closed for a meeting, manager John Schneider said Wednesday morning. The meeting comes a day after the Jays were pummelled by the Phillies 10-1.

What was discussed will remain behind those doors, Schneider told Sportsnet’s Hazel Mae, but it doesn’t take much to guess what could be spoken about.

“Play better” might be the best place to start, as the Jays are having one of the worst starts to their season in franchise history, even if things could still be worse. For the 15th time in the Jays’ 48-year history, the club has started with a .444 or worse winning percentage through its first 36 games of the season.

In 13 of those prior years, the Jays missed the playoffs, managing to play post-season ball just once. That came in 1989, when they started the year 12-24 and finished the season as the AL East champions with an 89-73 record. From games 37 through the seasons end, those Jays went 77-49.

If Toronto has any hopes of playing post-season ball, they’ll need a similar resurgence in their season, as in 2023, their 89-73 record was enough to get into the Wild Card picture.

1:05 p.m. EST. TV & Radio: Sportsnet.

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Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.