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Despite this season’s failures, Blue Jays are ‘having fun’ again as surge toward .500 continues
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Photo credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
Thomas Hall
Aug 27, 2024, 15:30 EDTUpdated: Aug 27, 2024, 15:35 EDT
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There may not be much to play for these days, but the Toronto Blue Jays are certainly making the most of their remaining schedule, arguably playing their best brand of baseball all season.
Following Monday’s unconventional double-header, this team has won a season-high five straight games, six if you include the suspended contest that originally began on June 26. As such, they enter Tuesday’s matchup against the Boston Red Sox three games below .500 at 65-68, presenting their best opportunity to reach that mark in months.
And the more success they enjoy, the more fun this young, retooling Blue Jays squad has.
Toronto is having its best month of 2024, carrying a 14-9 record into Tuesday’s affair. With five more games on the schedule before August concludes, including three against Boston and two versus the Minnesota Twins, there’s a chance the club adds to a win total that has already set a season-high for the most recorded in any month.
It almost certainly won’t be enough to push them back into contention, especially with only 29 games left to play this season. Still, it makes you wonder what could’ve been if they enjoyed a run like this earlier in the year. Instead, their playoff hopes evaporated by late June, leading to a modest sell-off at last month’s trade deadline.
“We’re kind of doing what we expected to do early in the year,” George Springer told reporters at Fenway Park on Monday, including Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith. “Obviously now it’s a little bit of a different time, but guys are playing the game, playing the game the right way, and we’re having fun.”
By turning over the roster, the Blue Jays have seen an explosion of youth added to the roster this month, creating opportunities for rookies like Addison Barger, Leo Jiménez, Joey Loperfido and Will Wagner. Those departures have also opened up additional playing time for older, albeit inexperienced pieces such as Ernie Clement and Spencer Horwitz.
That has left Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Alejandro Kirk, Daulton Varhso and Springer as the veterans on this team, a group with two 25 year olds in Guerrero and Kirk and a 28-year-old in Varsho. They’re hardly the age demographics you envision when described as experienced clubhouse leaders. And yet, it’s worked thus far.
There’s been an offensive explosion over the last few weeks, with the offence homering in 15 consecutive games while placing sixth across the majors in wRC+ (116) this month. They also sit among the top 10 in home runs (32, tied for 10th) and slugging percentage (.442, tied for ninth).
But Toronto’s pitching has also been much improved. Bowden Francis, who nearly completed the second no-hitter in franchise history last Saturday against the Los Angeles Angels, has been on a sensational run since rejoining the starting rotation. José Berríos has enjoyed quite the stretch, too, completing at least seven innings in five of his last six starts.
“There’s nothing better than winning,” Berrios said. “We’re playing really well offensively, and our pitchers have been throwing the ball really well.”
The 30-year-old righty turned in another solid performance Monday in Boston, delivering a season-high 7.2 innings while allowing just two earned runs, saving the Blue Jays’ bullpen during the nightcap after they used six relievers in Game 1 of the unofficial double-header.
“We’ve got a city on the front of our chests. We’ve got to be proud of that,” he added.
Winning can make up for many flaws. Like, for example, sitting last in the AL East. But this current group is doing its best to look at the road ahead rather than the one behind them. They have made coming to the ballpark enjoyable again, which hasn’t always been the case this season.
Not only that, but there’s the makings of a new culture starting to form around this team.
“I really can’t say enough about how they went about it,” John Schneider said. “The older guys are really setting the tone and it’s fun to watch the younger guys.”

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