Toronto – It looks like the year to aim a little more.
This version of Blue Jays, directed by Vladimir Guerrero Jr.,, Bichette Bo And the veterans that the front office continues to build around them, have gone three times in the playoffs (2020, ’22, ’23). These tickets were all Wild Card tickets, and the three trips ended with a quick and particularly painful scanning of two games.
Blue Jays are not yet a big team, but the American league does not have much size at the moment. The tigers seem ready to run away with the victories of the Central and Chase 100, but in the east, the Yankees and the Rays are both well at hand, the Orioles were one of the biggest disappointments in baseball and the Red Sox, while playing a better baseball lately, just exchanged Rafael to the Giants.
The division is wide open for Blue Jays, who have not taken first place since 2015, the season that brought back baseball to Canada.
“There is so much season left, but yes, you look up and you want to see where you imagined,” said manager John Schneider. “There are a lot of discussions on the Joker, and it’s great that there is that, but the goal each year is to try to win the division.”
The timing is just as. In addition, it is the Canadian market. The Maple Leafs fell on the NHL qualifying series a month ago and the Edmonton Oilers had just lost during the Stanley Cup final against the Florida panthers, so that all the attention of the sports enthusiasts in a country is finally based on Blue Jays. It is their chance to grasp one of the largest and wider baseball markets by the necklace, to excite people, to demand their attention.
The Blue Jays did not just play baseball, they played a more entertaining brand filled with chaotic return victories. June and July can either put a team to sleep to sleep or launch them forward. When the energy goes to Rogers Center at the right time, as we saw in 2015 to 2016, there is nothing like it.
“I said that we wanted to put our best foot forward before going in July, the Dog Days and the deadline for trade,” said Schneider. “It’s good that we did that. He keeps the carrot at the end of the stick. That’s right. “
If this will happen, the push until July and in the section must be fueled by the stars of Blue Jays. Guerrero’s season reflected the team as a whole, good but not yet great. He alone holds the power to catapult the Blue Jays from Wild Card to the Al East conversation. Guerrero alone can steal matches along the way, this is how 89 victories become 90, how 91 become 92. As we learned in 2021, this painfully painful on the Last day of the seasonEach victory counts.
The good news? Guerrero comes to life. He doubled at home on a race on Thursday, launched a Home Run one day three strokes on Tuesday and reached the base five times in Wednesday’s victory. Finally, in his comfort zone, striking third behind a longtime friend Bichette and Breakout ADDison Barger, it seems that the Blue Jays have a 1-2-3 that will last.
“I always try to do everything that guys do in front of me. If they are hot, I must be hot,” said Guerrero via a club interpreter. “If they get basic tubes, I try to get basic tubes. If they walk, I try to walk. This is something that I definitely use. It is motivation.”
Motivation is a contagious thing. A large series of four games against the Yankees ends on June 30, and from there, each conversation we have will be linked to the deadline for trade. There is momentum waiting for the Blue Jays to take this and run, but the crown of Al East is the goal here, not just a ticket for dance.