First of all. The question on everyone's minds. HOW HAS DYLAN CEASE NEVER MADE AN ALL-STAR GAME BEFORE THIS?? He was good enough in 2022. He was good enough in 2024. He's hit 200 strikeouts in every season since the pandemic! I understand this has been a terrific season from him thus far but we didn't need to wait til now to get him to the ASG. At the same time, the Jays paid a bit too much for him, but so far he's been worth every penny. Phenomenal. Yes, he missed a few starts, but the quality wasn't sacrificed. Look at how far he went yesterday against the Giants. Incredible.
Okay. Onto our regularly scheduled Jays post. The Blue Jays massive really turned out at the ballot box earlier this month....I assume because Canadians are used to elections actually accomplishing something. People like Kazuma Okamoto, George Springer, Alejandro Kirk, Daulton Varsho, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Andres Gimenez and Jesus Sanchez made the final 2 for voting, which begs the question...what did they have against Nathan Lukes? Ernie Clement was the one the rest of the country agreed with, as he won the top voting share and waltzed to the first team. He deserves it. I also think Okamoto maaaaybe deserved it the way he's been playing recently. But no, everybody else missed out. A little 'serves them right', but generally the reserves pick more from the also-rans than this. And remember, John Schneider is MANAGING THIS TEAM. He could have done what Joe Torre did in like 2002 and elect everybody to the team anyway, but he decided, no, a lot of them don't really deserve it, let's just get the best guys. And yeah, that works too.
It points to the fact that this Jays team may not be as great as the fans want it to be. The 2025 team, as fun as it was, was extremely flukey, similar to the 2015-2016 runs. It hinged on finding momentum at the exact right time and not letting go. The Jays this year haven't really found much momentum at all, because they don't have the team to hang onto it. Vladdie's not at 100% this year, the team has a .686 OPS cumulatively, there's an injury-plagued gaping hole in left that Jonatan Clase is now trying to fill, and only one guy has over 10 homers or 40 RBIs...that being the newcomer Okamoto. This isn't a particularly well-hitting team, which is such a shame after last year, the land of the .300 hitters and all. Aside from Clement and Okamoto, what's really going on here at all? Even Lukes and Varsho are slumping.
Which is making this a waste of a similarly well-pitched year, after 2025. Cease and Gausman are very strong at the front, and Trey Yesavage is settling into a pretty breezy full season campaign, with a 3.13 ERA, 68 Ks and a 1.077 WHIP. Yesavage was very quickly-lauded in Toronto last year, and for a reason; he's young, he's likable, he's not flashy, and he gets the job done. His work in the postseason may have been the best pitching stats from a Toronto pitcher in over 30 years. I hope the Jays can reap the benefits of Yesavage for a while. I do, alternatively, worry about Shane Bieber, as he's looked pretty cooked in 3 starts back. I'd hate to think he was down for the count, especially after how good HE was last postseason. Without Berrios or Bowden Francis, the back half's failings are even more noticeable. But at least Louis Varland also exists, that helps.
I don't know what place there even is for the Jays this year, or what role they can fill. They could truly catch fire in the next month or so, but I don't know if that's enough in a sure-to-be contentious AL wild card picture.
Coming Tonight: Hurt for a while, cold for a while...back to hitting dingers like he never left.
