Despite What You May Have Assumed..

 

By all accounts, the Blue Jays 2024 season seemed to indicate a downturn in the 2019-era rebuild. What had worked before wasn't working anymore. Gausman was struggling, Bichette was a shell of himself, Biggio got tossed, Vlad was adequate, Springer got moved out of the leadoff position. It felt like they were all trying to reset, and even when they did that, like bringing up Orelvis Martinez or Will Wagner, it backfired almost immediately. Even the first couple months of 2025 for the Jays were fraught with struggle, to the point where when Vlad Jr. got extended it felt like a complete contradiction of everything the team had been saying on the field.

But in all actuality...the Blue Jays knew what they were doing all along. They built a team around Guerrero, Bichette, Gausman, Berrios, Springer, Kirk and Bassitt. If they were all gonna struggle in 2024, there was still a chance that they'd be over whatever it was that kept them down by the following year. And that's exactly what happened. They're not dead yet, and what was built to succeed is gonna keep succeeding, even if there's a blip in the middle.

Kevin Gausman has been one of the most consistent pitchers of the decade so far, and while he struggled last year he seems to be back now, with a 3.75 ERA, 157 Ks and a 1.052 WHIP. Even before he was lights-out yet still had easy puncture points, and now he seems to have solved a lot of his issues. Chris Bassitt's in the same field, his workhorse decade continues with a 11-7, 4.10 ERA year where even if he does get lit up he still eats innings and keeps at it. It's an older rotation for sure, especially with Max Scherzer bringing up the rear, and without Manoah and Francis it does seem like a now or never tactic, but it's working. Like Springer and Bichette and Guerrero, don't think about the fact that it wasn't working before and it might not be working next year, it's working now.

A lot like the 2015-16 team, sustainability isn't the point. There's a chance that Ernie Clement, Myles Straw and Addison Barger could continue to be big pieces of this team beyond the 2025 season, and there's a chance that Shane Bieber could remain a part of the Jays going forward, but I think it's more about everything lining up to make something happen now while they still have a chance. And the big wins, and the 1 seed they're looking at, are the result at firing everything at the wall with full strength. It's possible that nobody on this team makes 15 wins. Only one guy has a sure shot at 100 RBIs. Only one guy has a sure chance at 30 homers [though Vlad is always a factor]. Everything this team is doing is just putting the right people in place to succeed no matter the outcome. Does the bullpen scare me? Of course it does. But this team is winning so much that I don't even know if that'll be able to stop them.

The Jays want it bad, and that might be the deciding factor over teams who want it but could also take it next year. The Jays are in full 'this is our year' mode, and it'll be interesting to see how far that takes them.

Coming Tonight: I just thought he'd be a solid little late-rotation fireballer for a competitor. I didn't know he'd be starting a TREND...