A month into the MLB season and it has been a glass half full, glass half empty season. The Blue Jays are sitting 2nd in the AL East primarily because the pitching has been solid and the Blue Jays have been producing enough runs most nights through small ball. They got a major distraction off their backs by inking Vladimir Guerrero Jr, to a lifetime deal. Injury wise, Max Scherzer is the biggest concern with the most impact, more on that later. Power, or lack thereof, is a major issue. They continue to struggle with runners in scoring position. We'll address all of the above and more. Here are 10 random thoughts from around the MLB from month one of the season.
1. As always, we start things off with the injuries and their impact on the team. The first significant injury that came to light actually emerged in spring training with 5th starter Max Scherzer. The forty year old righty was signed to a one year deal just before the season began to add a veteran presence to the rotation. The big risk in signing an aging pitcher is the likelihood of an injury occurring. Unfortunately for Scherzer and the Blue Jays, that injury happened in his first start of the season. Scherzer was hoping to throw around 80 pitches in the game, but he only made it through Innings and about 50 pitches. Throughout spring training and dating back to the 2023 season, Scherzer have been dealing with a thumb injury that had been ampering him and leading to other parts of the body being impacted. The thumb issue limited Scherzer to just 9 starts last season. He had a cortisone shot in his thumb near the knuckle. While it is encouraging that shcherzer was able to throw on l consecutive days in Houston this week, the blue jays will exercise caution with the rehab process for him. They are going to have to deal with figuring out the 5th starter for the next few weeks. Lefty Easton Lucas was tapped to replace Scherzer in the rotation. He did very well in his first two stars, but the last two starts have not gone well at all, to the point where the Blue Jays skipped the 5th starter this last turn, but they can not do that every time. Payton Schultz came in and pitched well after Lucas's last poor start. Alek Manoah and Rickey Tiederman, both recovering from Tommy John surgery, will not be ready to pitch until after the all star game.
Reliever Eric Swanson, who is recovering from ulnar nerve impingement in his pitching arm is nearing a formal rehab assignment. He threw a bullpen this week. His return will make the Blue Jays stronger at the back end of the bullpen. Righty Ryan Burr, who injured his shoulder in the spring training, is getting close to facing live hitters, which puts him a bit behind swanson in a potential return Burr was transferred to the 60 day IL on Sunday so he'll miss at least another month. Reliever Nick Sandlin, who has been dealing with a right lat strain, has not started throwing yet.
Finally, The blue jays are set to welcome back Daulton Varsho, who is set to make his season debut when the Blue Jays start their homestand tomorrow against the Red Sox. Varsho missed the first month of the season as he continued to rehab from off-season shoulder surgery. Varsho got into some spring training games as DH, but the Blue Jays did not want to risk him getting injured liding into a base.m. Also, Varsha wasn't ready to play in the field when he Blue Jays broke camp to start the regular season. Last season, Varsho batted .214 with 14 home runs and 58 RBI over 136 games. Varsho is a terrific defender so he will strengthen the Blue Bays outfield defense. The Blue Jays are going to have a tough decision to make as to who is demoted to AAA-ball. It will likely be between Nathan Lukes and Addison Barger. The Blue Jays may opt to stick with Lukes to give them an extra left-handed bat off the bench
2. GM Ross Atkins deserves credit for managing to complete the complete the lifetime contract to star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. It didn't look like the deal would happen until the end of the season, if at all. Guerrero Jr. made it very clear that he would not negotiate once spring training opened. The self-imposed deadline came and went with no contract signed. The two sides must have been close to a deal because negotiations continued once the regular.season began. It's also possible that Guerrero Jr's slow start to the season prompted Vlad to accept what the Blue Jays, were offering for fear of not getting as much on the open market. Also, until the deal was reached, the contract status was going to continue to be a big distraction that the team did not need. The fact that the Blue Jays were able to retain one of their own drafted selections will likely help them attract better free agents. Did the Blue Jays overpay? They didn't really have much choice. Ticket sales were down and management needed to do something to entice fans to come to the ballpark. In order to live up to this massive deal, Guerrero Jr. is going to have to have the season he had in 2021, when he hit a career high 48 HR and 111RBI, albeit playing in minor league ball parks for a good chunk of the home schedule due to covid-19 restrictions in Toronto. Two home runs in a month into the season isn't going to cut it.
3. Now that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Alejandro Kirk are both locked up long term, the next major player the Blue jays need to focus on signing is SS Bo Bichette, who is having a comeback season after a rough 2024 season that saw him miss half the season with a naked calf injury. He also had career laws in most statistical categories. Prior to last season, Bichette was the Blue Jays most consistent batter, Including leading the AL in hits in both twenty twenty one and twenty twenty two. Bichette hit over .300 in 3 of his first five seasons. Defensively, he can be prone to throwing errors, but that is getting better with experience. If Guerrero Jr. is worth #500 million, Bichette should command at least that amount. It's crazy to me that the blue Jays have apparently put little effort into extending Bichette. The blue jays will also have to make decisions about their starting rotation with chris bassett's contract being up at the end of the season and kevin Gausman's expiring a year later. Bassitt has been solid this season and Gausman has also had a bounce back year. However, both pitchers are in their 30s. If Rickey Tiederman and Alek Manoah both recover from their Tommy John surgeries and pitch well in the latter part of the season, one or both may be considered for the rotation next year. Certainly where the Blue Jays are in the standings in a few months will dictate what happens at the trade deadline.
4. Stop me if you've heard this one before. The blue jays are struggling to drive runners in scoring position. This unfortunate trend is rearing its ugly head again. The blue jays came into the season hopeful that the addition of anthony santander would some pop to the lineup. They were also hoping as change in scenery might help Andre Gimenez. Is acquired in an off season trade, Gimenez Started at the season with a hot bat, hitting three home runs in the month of march. He has yet to hit one in april. Santander Hit his third home run of the season on Sunday, one of the few highlights from an ugly double header sweep at the hands of the Yankees. The expectations for Guerrero Jr are going to be sky high.Know that he signed that mammoth contract to make him third highest player in the major leagues. Regardless, his output isn't good enough. He should have more than two home runs a month into the season. One thing Vlad has always done consistently is hit the ball hard. The trouble is more often than not, it results in an out. This week, Astros and Yankees combined to outscore the Blue Jays 33-8. The Blue Jays were a combined 4-34 with runners in scoring position. On Tuesday, they didn't even get a single runner into scoring position. They need to be better with hitting in the clutch and hit for power. Small ball can be effective but only to a point
5. Three Blue Jays who have impressed
- Tyler Heineman - the Blue Jays backup catcher is having a solid start to the season, albeit with a smaller sample size since he is playing once or twice a week, batting. 500 with 1HR and 5RBI. he has also done a solid job handling the pitchers.
- Jeff Hoffman - originally drafted by the Blue Jays in the 2014 MLB draft, Jeff Hoffman inked a three year deal with the Blue Jays after the team opted to non-tender Jordan Romano, citing concerns about the health of his pitching elbow. Hoffman has been excellent with a 2-0 record, 6 saves and a 1.35ERA.
- George Springer - talk about turning back the clock. Veteran George Springer is playing like he's 25 and entering his prime. Before Sunday's double header, Springer was batting .329 with 2HR and 12 RBI. He is no longer batting leadoff, but he has been one of the Blue Jays most reliable hitters and is still solid in the outfield. With Daulton Varsho set to return, Springer can now play in RF full time, which is what the team prefers to keep his body healthy and fresh.
6. three blue jays who have disappointed.
- Davis Schneider - The Blue Jays outfielder, who rode a hot streak and became infamous for his trademark mustache, may have seen his 15 minutes of fame come to an end. It's rare for players drafted as late as Schneider was (28th round) to play even one game in the majors. Schneider got a full season's worth of games over parts of three seasons. He only managed a single hit in 21 AB this season and his success against lefties eroded. He was demoted to AAA-ball on April 17.
- Richard Loveday - This was the biggest mistake the Blue Jays made for the opening day roster. The soft-throwing southpaw made two relief appearances, lost one of those games and had a brutal 21.60ERA when he was DFA'd.. if you're going to have a lower velocity, you better be able to locate your pitches, which is something Loveday could not do.
- Anthony Santander - the Blue Jays big off-season signing, Santander was expected to be a big power bat in the blue jays lineup. So far, he has just 3 home runs on the season and is hitting a mere .176 with 9RBI. quite frankly, he should swap places with Springer in the lineup because he is not producing enough to be the 3rd hitter in the batting order.
7. GM Ross Atkins didn't have a great off- season, missing out on the big prize Juan Soto. He did land Santander, who certainly did his fair share of damage against the Blue Jays in Baltimore. Andres Gimenez gives the Blue Jays a solid infield defense, but he isn't expected to be a big contributer offensively. The big litmus test will be how the massive contract to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ages. The renovations to the stadium may have backfired in that it has led to fewer home runs. The outfield dimensions changed and now players have to hit it very well to get it over the higher wall in left-center. The Blue jays are definitely going through a tough stretch coming off a 1-5 road trip. At this point, they aren't going to give up on the new hitting coach, Davidp Popkins yet. I do like that the Blue jays are utilizing the sac bunt more often, but they need to take advantage when a pitcher is struggling. Case in point, the Blue Jays loaded the bases in the 1st inning of yesterday's double header and could not add to the run that already scored. If the Blue Jays have another rough week or two, I can see manager John Schneider being the fall guy. Likely they would bring in an interim manager and let the remainder of the season be a probationary period.
8. The Blue Jays head to the West Coast and Seattle in a week and a half. If the Blue Jays fans in the crowd are noticeably diminished, it will be due to Donald Trump and his tariff/51st state threats and not how the Blue Jays are playing.
9. Let's end things off for this random thoughts post by looking at how some of the ex- blue jays are playing. Down in sunny LA, Teoscar Hernandez is off to a solid start with a .277 average, 8HR and 25RBI. He would be leading the Blue Jays in HR and RBI. Yusei Kikuchi is off to a rough start with an 0-4 record and a 4.31ERA. The Blue jays are set to face Kikuchi and the Angels in LA next week. Former Blue Jays catcher Danny Jansen is batting .140 with no home runs and 5RBI. Rays pitchers have had varying degrees of success as they get used to a new starting catcher calling the game. Former closer Jordan Romano is 0-1 with an ugly 13.50ERA and 1 save this season. Is he playing hurt?
10. Blue Jay of the month: Bo Bichette. The Blue Jays leadoff hitter is batting a solid .292 and leads the team with 13RBI. He makes things happen. Leading of the double header yesterday, Bichette forced a bad throw on an infield single, advanced to 3rd base on a wild pitch and scored on a sac fly.
