Friday, August 01

TORONTO -- George Springer is living his life in extremes.

He has the highest strikeout rate of his career … but is hitting .329 with a .933 OPS and looks completely reborn, shining bright in an otherwise dull Blue Jays lineup. Prior to Friday’s opener, manager John Schneider lit up the moment he heard about Springer’s strikeouts.

“ -- Which is good,” Schneider said, cutting in. 

The conversation around the Blue Jays’ offense has grown too complicated. Process, philosophy and swing decisions have clouded what is a fairly simple problem. The Blue Jays need to hit for more power, and if that means taking some big hacks that go nowhere, they’d prefer to live with those two extremes than the soft middle.

“We spent so much time with George talking about that. We’d rather you be 0-and-1 than 0-for-1,” Schneider said. “You can say that about anyone, really. Some of our at-bats in Houston were a little quick, but when everyone’s going good, that’s what they’re doing. They’re not missing pitches to hit or they’re swinging and missing or fouling it off, not putting it in play. George has been good all year.”

The approach we’ve seen from the Blue Jays in 2024 and ‘23, leaning heavily on contact and balls put in play, produced plenty of unthreatening baseball. This year, Schneider, along with David Popkins and the revamped hitting staff, want to chase higher-end outcomes. If you swing through a curveball first, that’s better than rolling a grounder to the shortstop. 

“I don’t want anyone to hit a three-run homer to lead off the game,” Schneider said. “You’ve got to get a good pitch to hit and you’ve got to take a good swing, that’s it. These little stretches happen at times.”

Suddenly, Springer is the model. Springer deserves a great deal of credit for this turnaround after a difficult 2024 season and a Spring Training that only multiplied those worries. You never know where a season is going to take you, though, and already Springer has been the pleasant surprise this organization desperately needs.

The Blue Jays need their approach to actually happen, though. While the idea makes sense, nothing matters until they’re winning a few games 9-1 and stringing homers together, not singles. 

They’re still looking for those trademark wins, or better yet, a trademark series. Friday’s 4-2 win over the Yankees in New York was a step in that direction and snapped their five-game losing streak, but it was teetering on the edge of another ugly one until Yankees closer Devin Williams strolled in and earned himself another chorus of boos. 

Schneider, as he has for the past few seasons, is preaching patience. The Blue Jays entered the weekend tied for 25th in baseball with 92 runs and ranking 29th with just 14 home runs, more than only the Royals (12). 

“Home runs are going to come,” Schneider said. “I don’t think we’re built like a team that’s just waiting for a three-run homer, and we know that. We know the home runs will come. In the meantime, you have to have productive at-bats. You have to make yourself useful. If you’re hitting at the bottom of the order, you have to understand that we want the lineup to turn over to the top. If there’s a guy at third, you have to get him in. That’s just baseball.”

Across the diamond this weekend in the Bronx, Yankees manager Aaron Boone sees some of the same in the Blue Jays. 

“They haven't been scoring a lot of runs and haven't really been hitting the ball out of the ballpark a lot, but you scratch the surface a little bit, and it probably looks like they've actually swung the bats better than their run production would say,” Boone said.

It’s all about Vladdy, of course -- and always will be now -- but Bo Bichette is still without a home run this season. Just about every hitter in this lineup is underperforming … except for Springer. He’s the model now, and the sooner everyone else starts approaching their at-bats like the veteran, the sooner this lineup will climb out of the basement.

Trey Yesavage might be too good for Single-A. 

The Blue Jays’ No. 2 prospect carved up another lineup Friday, striking out 10 batters over 4 2/3 innings of two-run ball. The big right-hander lost the zone a bit in the fifth inning, but prior to that, he was absolutely overwhelming hitters and now has 28 strikeouts in 17 1/3 innings. 

Surely, Yesavage won’t spend much longer with Single-A Dunedin and will soon be headed north to join the High-A Vancouver Canadians. When that time comes, he and No. 1 prospect Arjun Nimmala will make the Canadians a must-watch affiliate in the system. 

Clase, the young outfielder acquired last July from the Mariners for Yimi García, is forcing the Blue Jays to have a conversation. With Daulton Varsho already about to return, though, where does he really fit? 

Clase entered the weekend batting .364 with 12 stolen bases, and there’s some real pop in there to pair with his incredible speed. This still might be a situation where Clase needs another injury in front of him to open up more regular playing time at the big league level, but he’s doing everything possible to make his case. 

Given that García signed back with the Blue Jays in the offseason, that deal from last year’s Trade Deadline looks like some of this front office’s finest work.

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