Thursday, November 12

KANSAS CITY -- It’s all sitting right in front of the Blue Jays now.

This season has been wildly imperfect, filled with more frustrating days than fun ones, but none of that matters now. The Blue Jays are back to .500 at 72-72, just one game out of the final AL Wild Card spot, and they hold the tiebreaker over the team they’re chasing, the Guardians.

This team is still scrambling, but so is everyone else. Spencer Arrighetti was hit hard in Sunday’s finale in Kansas City, and at this point, the Blue Jays only have three starters pitching well in Dylan Cease, José Soriano and Max Scherzer.

They’ve been finding ways to make it work, though, at least relative to the rest of the AL Wild Card race. These aren’t powerhouse teams, but someone needs to claim that third spot, and the Blue Jays still feel like a team with momentum.

“We’re just playing good ball. Everybody’s got a hand in this,” Scherzer said over the weekend. “Starters, relievers, hitters, defense, you name it. The catchers are doing great. It takes a team effort to get wins in the big leagues and that’s what we’re doing. You’re seeing guys up and down the roster contribute here, and across the organization, too. Pitchers are coming up and down, we’re dealing with pitching injuries left and right, but guys have come in and plugged a hole. When you get that as an organization, you asked why we’re winning? That’s why we’re winning.”

At this point, the Blue Jays have nothing to lose. If they take big risks and whiff, then so be it. There seems to be a freedom with this club now, particularly after the Trade Deadline shook up a group that had grown stagnant.

“It just feels like we're going out there and playing,” All-Star second baseman Ernie Clement said. “Nobody's stressed out. Nobody's worried about their own personal stats. Everybody's just going out there and playing and trying to win, and that's when we're at our best. We're worried about one thing and one thing only, and that's winning.”

Remaining schedules:

Blue Jays: at A’s, vs. Tigers, vs. Orioles, at Rangers, at Orioles, vs. Reds

Guardians: at Orioles, at Twins, vs. White Sox, vs. A’s, at Red Sox, at Royals

The Rangers are still a factor, too, just a game behind the Blue Jays and already holding the tiebreaker, so that series later in the month is crucial. Even if the Orioles fade, they also have six games left against the Blue Jays to shake things up. There won’t be anything simple about this.

These don’t feel like the Blue Jays of June and July, though.

They have Brett Bateman batting leadoff with a .347 average, delivering value on that Kevin Gausman trade well ahead of schedule. Charles McAdoo has a legitimate role now, and the veterans have picked up, including streaks from Alejandro Kirk and George Springer. If Vladimir Guerrero Jr. can turn his recent momentum into something bigger, that changes everything.

“It’s totally different,” John Schneider said. “Different music, different people, different feel. It’s always fun to come to the ballpark with this group, but it’s nice to win, it’s nice to get on a bit of a roll. … Right now, we come to the park expecting to win and we’re not really budging from that.”

Everyone’s been feeling this and talking about it, from the loudest voices on the team right down to the strong, silent types.

“We’ve been winning, so the vibes are good,” Kazuma Okamoto said through interpreter Yusuke Oshima. “Even when we’re losing, I think we’re doing a good job of just flipping the page and making sure that on the next day, it’s a new game and a new day. We’re just bringing a positive mindset and that has been helping.”

It also feels like there’s finally been a shift away from grasping at 2025 and that identity, which may have been an external narrative more than anything the Blue Jays, themselves, actually believed in. These aren’t the ‘25 Blue Jays, but this isn’t the ‘25 postseason race.

Sneaking in with the third Wild Card spot would likely line the Blue Jays up against either the Astros or the White Sox. Both are solid enough teams, but there are no giants waiting for the Blue Jays. This team doesn’t just have a shot to slip in, they have a shot to go on a run, and it’s all up to them in these final 18 games.

Coming up later in the month, the Blue Jays are holding a Carlos Delgado Short-Sleeved Retro Windbreaker Giveaway for the first 15,000 fans through the gates. If you grew up watching Delgado on those teams of the late 1990s and early 2000s, you’ll know the look.

Tickets are available here for that game on Sept. 25, and you can check out which other promotions the organization has coming up right here.

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