ANAHEIM, Calif. — This sweep of the Los Angeles Angels is a blueprint of what the Toronto Blue Jays’ season was supposed to look like. Suffocating starting pitching. Timely power swings. Tight defence. Lockdown relief work. Casting forward to next year, the three games under gorgeous SoCal skies capped by Wednesday’s 9-2 victory, was a glimpse of why the front office believes that with tweaks, the club can return to post-season contention next year.
Jose Berrios, shaking off a third-inning Michael Stefanic comebacker that struck the outside of his right heel, pinned the finale down with seven innings of dominance. But it was two key swings early – a two-run homer by Ernie Clement in the second and Daulton Varsho’s three-run drive in the fifth – that ensured the ace righty’s work didn’t go to waste, and the rarity of such impact is a key issue the Blue Jays must address.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. added a two-run shot in the ninth in what was only their 28th multi-homer game in 121 outings this season. Underlining the game-changing nature of power is that they’re 17-11 in those games.
“Obviously that’s very important,” Guerrero said through interpreter Hector Lebron. “That’s one of the reasons we’ve started winning some games. But definitely the key is having good at-bats, key at-bats. Once you start having key at-bats, things like that will happen.”
Still, problematic is that the Blue Jays have only 113 home runs so far – the league average is 135 – and at a rate of 0.93 per game, they’re on pace for 151 in 2024. Not counting the 60-game pandemic year, that would be their lowest total since hitting only 126 in 2008, when they led the majors in ERA but didn’t score enough to capitalize.
And it’s not just home runs – their .384 slugging percentage is also well off the league average of .401. Only 10 times in the team’s 48 seasons have the Blue Jays finished with a sub-.400 slug and they’re in danger of making it 11.
At least they’re on a better trajectory now on that front, slugging .405 since the all-star break compared to .377 before it, a byproduct of shifting points of emphasis in developing approaches, targeted pre-game work and swings with more intent in the batter’s box.
“Yeah, no doubt,” said manager John Schneider. “The balls they’re fouling off right now before they get a mistake, we were putting in play earlier in the year. Vlad in particular, he did that twice this series. You can just change the momentum of a game. It’s 3-0 and next thing you know it’s 6-0 and that allows you to take a deep breath with Varsh’s home run. We need more of that going forward. But it definitely impacts the game.”
While Bo Bichette’s struggles and subsequent calf injury are another contributing factor to the offence’s lack of pop, there are currently only four Blue Jays with homer totals in double-digits – Guerrero at 25, Varsho at 15, George Springer at 14 and the slumping Davis Schneider at 10.
Full seasons for Spencer Horwitz and perhaps Joey Loperfido, Will Wagner and once he arrives here, Jonatan Clase, may add more potential for damage, but more certainty is needed for them to legitimately hang in the power-laden AL East.
“That’s across baseball, really,” said Schneider. “Not having guys try to do too much and understanding that they have power, especially guys like Vlad, Varsh, Georgie, that’s a big part of the game. If anything, this year they’ve kind of learned how important it is to be 0-1 as opposed to 0-for-1, like we’ve talked about all year. Taking good swings on pitches you should hit. Going forward, it’s how a lot of teams are built. It’s not necessarily how you have to be built, but you have to take advantage of opportunities.”
That’s what Varsho saw Wednesday night, which is why he feels pointing to power alone is oversimplifying what needs to happen.
As critical as the home run is the quality of the at-bats “leading up to it,” he explained. “You saw Spence took a great walk, worked an at-bat and Ernie got his pitch first pitch and was able to do damage. George and Leo had good at-bats before me and then I was able to hit the homer. I got a single before Vladdy and Vladdy does what he’s doing really well right now. It parlays having good at-bats up and down through the lineup. So it’s about wearing the pitcher down and being able to make him leave it over the middle part of the plate and us not missing it.”
Added Guerrero: “What we’ve all been doing is executing our plan. If they’ve got to be aggressive early in the count, they do it. If they have to take a pitch, they’ll do it. It’s executing the plan.”
Doing that more routinely will help leverage a rotation anchored by Berrios, who allowed just a run on two hits and a walk with five strikeouts, Kevin Gausman and Chris Bassitt.
That trio gives the Blue Jays a strong foundation for a starting staff, complemented by elite outfield defence and competent infield glovework.
“Obviously hitting homers is difficult, but you know we got some guys that can do it. It’s fun too, I know they enjoy it, we enjoy it like a team,” said Berrios. “But when we play good overall, good offence, good pitching and defence, we can win a lot of ballgames. Right now, we are playing better baseball, and that’s why we are getting better series.”
The bullpen needs to be rebuilt and relievers like Brendon Little, who pitched the eighth, and Tommy Nance, who handled the ninth, have the rest of the season to try to work themselves into the 2025 mix.
But difference-making thump – the kind that pushed the Blue Jays to such a decisive win in Wednesday’s sweep-capping finale – is a crucial commodity that they’re going to have to find a lot more of before opening day 2025.