<p>Facing the ever-surging Baltimore Orioles was never going to be a cakewalk. That much was clear from the start, and the Toronto Blue Jays proved that point through their arduous and agonizing attempt to make a dent in their playoff-hopeful contender over the past four days.</p>
<p>For Toronto, the goal was always to rehabilitate its contention status and become a feared team once again. To fulfill that mission, the team needed to come away with at least a split against Baltimore, no matter what. That didn&#8217;t seem like a possibility after an Opening Day drubbing, but thankfully for the Blue Jays, they did what they needed to do to survive their first home series. Given the strength of the Orioles’ roster and the hurdles the Jays had to overcome early, a split wasn&#8217;t the worst outcome for the Blue Jays this weekend.</p>
<p>The odd part of the Blue Jays&#8217; roster is that they seem fine on paper. Although it is not as stacked as it was in 2015 and 2016, most of the lineups in this four-game series did whatever they could to secure a split against the Orioles. The starting rotation of Chris Bassitt, José Berríos, Kevin Gausman, and Max Scherzer found ways to stay afloat, while Toronto’s offense, featuring Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., managed to score the runs they desperately needed one way or another. Contributions also came up and down the lineup from various sources, a positive note for a club looking to find postseason contention.</p>
<h2>The Orioles expose some early cracks in the Blue Jays</h2>
<p>The trouble lies beneath the surface, even with a split against a tough rival.</p>
<p>Opening Day signaled a potential return of the 2022 version of Berríos, who can&#8217;t seem to find success when starting the season at home, while Scherzer landed on the 15-day injured list after throwing just three innings on March 29. The Blue Jays’ depth was tested early, especially on Saturday, when the team had to deploy as many competent relievers as possible to fill in for Scherzer’s absence. However, all they could offer was Richard Lovelady and Jacob Barnes, who ultimately failed to prevent runs against the Orioles’s explosive bats. Maybe they were being sacrificed to the baseball gods so other arms could be made available on other days, but the fact that Lovelady and Barnes were options is a questionable move in its own right.</p>
<p>The Orioles outscored the Blue Jays by 10 runs on Thursday (12-2) and four runs on Saturday (9-5) – a testament to how pesky and persistent Baltimore was at getting on base and creating damage on the basepaths. To be fair, Toronto also managed to get on base enough to win on Friday (8-2), when they outscored Baltimore by six runs, and on Sunday (3-1), when they won by two runs, but Baltimore seemed to have the upper hand for a good part of the games early.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tyler Heineman, we were unfamiliar with your game 🥶 <a href="https://t.co/Wn6DQ81j0Y">pic.twitter.com/Wn6DQ81j0Y</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) <a href="https://twitter.com/BlueJays/status/1906433461172281812?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 30, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>The truth is that the team with the deepest roster is always in the best position to win the World Series down the road. That was the key to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ championship last season. Either that or finding ways to make every part of the roster click at the right time. Even for things to fall into place, there needs to be a strong component of the roster capable of carrying the team throughout the regular season. Right now, the Blue Jays lack that spark out of the gate as they scramble to find depth in both pitching and offense.</p>
<p>Much of this ordeal mirrors last season when things started to unravel early. Once again, they are being tested with injuries and must find sustainable long-term solutions to compete in a highly competitive league with multiple playoff hopefuls. The problem is that the Blue Jays do not have the best depth at the moment, with their farm system ranked 24th, according to <a href="https://www.si.com/onsi/minor-league-baseball/news/toronto-blue-jays-farm-system-given-troubling-assessment-in-latest-ranking-from-keith-law-of-the-athletic#:~:text=For%20instance%2C%20Keith%20Law%20of,after%20the%20season%2C%20that's%20problematic.">The Athletic’s Keith Law</a>.</p>
<p>Toronto also has one of the older starting rotations, as Gausman and Bassitt showed some regression last season, and Scherzer has already landed on the injured list. Gold Glove-winning outfielder Daulton Varsho is still absent from the lineup, and neither Nathan Lukes nor Myles Straw are particularly promising replacements to fill the gap. That said, it is entirely possible that some of the most unexpected players could step up and help Toronto win more games, but banking on that is unwise, given the team’s past struggles with depth.</p>
<p>The fortunate part of this whole scenario is that this is the first series in a very long season, so there is always room for improvement (as well as failure).</p>
<h2>Looking ahead to the next series</h2>
<p>On paper, the Washington Nationals should be one of the easier opponents on the Blue Jays’ schedule, primarily because they are not as competitive as their division rivals—the Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, or Philadelphia Phillies. However, the Nationals are a scrappy team with several impressive young players looking to impress.</p>
<p>Case in point: Washington gave Philadelphia a tough challenge in securing a series win. An impressive outing from Mackenzie Gore did not go unnoticed.</p>
<p>Even with a thinner roster, winning a series against Washington is a must for Toronto, as the strength of schedule only intensifies from here, with the New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, and Orioles awaiting them on the road. The Blue Jays must find ways to punish their opponents and overcome adversity—that is what good teams do. Fortunately for them, this is only the beginning, and there is still lots of baseball between now and when tough decisions need to be made. Toronto holds its destiny in its hands, and they need to win early and often against tough opponents if they want to remain in contention for October baseball.</p>
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Facing the ever-surging Baltimore Orioles was never going to be a cakewalk. That much was clear from the start, and the Toronto Blue Jays proved that point through their arduous and agonizing attempt to make a dent in their playoff-hopeful contender over the past four days.

For Toronto, the goal was always to rehabilitate its contention status and become a feared team once again. To fulfill that mission, the team needed to come away with at least a split against Baltimore, no matter what. That didn't seem like a possibility after an Opening Day drubbing, but thankfully for the Blue Jays, they did what they needed to do to survive their first home series. Given the strength of the Orioles’ roster and the hurdles the Jays had to overcome early, a split wasn't the worst outcome for the Blue Jays this weekend.

The odd part of the Blue Jays' roster is that they seem fine on paper. Although it is not as stacked as it was in 2015 and 2016, most of the lineups in this four-game series did whatever they could to secure a split against the Orioles. The starting rotation of Chris Bassitt, José Berríos, Kevin Gausman, and Max Scherzer found ways to stay afloat, while Toronto’s offense, featuring Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., managed to score the runs they desperately needed one way or another. Contributions also came up and down the lineup from various sources, a positive note for a club looking to find postseason contention.
<h2>The Orioles expose some early cracks in the Blue Jays</h2>
The trouble lies beneath the surface, even with a split against a tough rival.

Opening Day signaled a potential return of the 2022 version of Berríos, who can't seem to find success when starting the season at home, while Scherzer landed on the 15-day injured list after throwing just three innings on March 29. The Blue Jays’ depth was tested early, especially on Saturday, when the team had to deploy as many competent relievers as possible to fill in for Scherzer’s absence. However, all they could offer was Richard Lovelady and Jacob Barnes, who ultimately failed to prevent runs against the Orioles’s explosive bats. Maybe they were being sacrificed to the baseball gods so other arms could be made available on other days, but the fact that Lovelady and Barnes were options is a questionable move in its own right.

The Orioles outscored the Blue Jays by 10 runs on Thursday (12-2) and four runs on Saturday (9-5) – a testament to how pesky and persistent Baltimore was at getting on base and creating damage on the basepaths. To be fair, Toronto also managed to get on base enough to win on Friday (8-2), when they outscored Baltimore by six runs, and on Sunday (3-1), when they won by two runs, but Baltimore seemed to have the upper hand for a good part of the games early.

https://twitter.com/BlueJays/status/1906433461172281812

The truth is that the team with the deepest roster is always in the best position to win the World Series down the road. That was the key to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ championship last season. Either that or finding ways to make every part of the roster click at the right time. Even for things to fall into place, there needs to be a strong component of the roster capable of carrying the team throughout the regular season. Right now, the Blue Jays lack that spark out of the gate as they scramble to find depth in both pitching and offense.

Much of this ordeal mirrors last season when things started to unravel early. Once again, they are being tested with injuries and must find sustainable long-term solutions to compete in a highly competitive league with multiple playoff hopefuls. The problem is that the Blue Jays do not have the best depth at the moment, with their farm system ranked 24th, according to <a href="https://www.si.com/onsi/minor-league-baseball/news/toronto-blue-jays-farm-system-given-troubling-assessment-in-latest-ranking-from-keith-law-of-the-athletic#:~:text=For%20instance%2C%20Keith%20Law%20of,after%20the%20season%2C%20that's%20problematic.">The Athletic’s Keith Law</a>.

Toronto also has one of the older starting rotations, as Gausman and Bassitt showed some regression last season, and Scherzer has already landed on the injured list. Gold Glove-winning outfielder Daulton Varsho is still absent from the lineup, and neither Nathan Lukes nor Myles Straw are particularly promising replacements to fill the gap. That said, it is entirely possible that some of the most unexpected players could step up and help Toronto win more games, but banking on that is unwise, given the team’s past struggles with depth.

The fortunate part of this whole scenario is that this is the first series in a very long season, so there is always room for improvement (as well as failure).
<h2>Looking ahead to the next series</h2>
On paper, the Washington Nationals should be one of the easier opponents on the Blue Jays’ schedule, primarily because they are not as competitive as their division rivals—the Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, or Philadelphia Phillies. However, the Nationals are a scrappy team with several impressive young players looking to impress.

Case in point: Washington gave Philadelphia a tough challenge in securing a series win. An impressive outing from Mackenzie Gore did not go unnoticed.

Even with a thinner roster, winning a series against Washington is a must for Toronto, as the strength of schedule only intensifies from here, with the New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, and Orioles awaiting them on the road. The Blue Jays must find ways to punish their opponents and overcome adversity—that is what good teams do. Fortunately for them, this is only the beginning, and there is still lots of baseball between now and when tough decisions need to be made. Toronto holds its destiny in its hands, and they need to win early and often against tough opponents if they want to remain in contention for October baseball.

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