TORONTO — The All-Star break is over and the start of the second half has greeted the Toronto Blue Jays with their grim reality.
Unless they pull off a sudden, significant — and frankly unexpected — winning streak to close the gap on the 10 games that separates them from a wild-card spot, the club is staring down two months with little to play for — at least, if we’re framing the season’s ultimate objective as making the postseason, which it was back in March.
After the 5-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Friday at the Rogers Centre, only 65 games remain, and there is no hiding behind phrases like “it’s early” or “there a lot of baseball left to be played.” Their playoff odds are 1.3 percent and even the most optimistic fans will acknowledge a club below .500 since the end of April is unlikely to drastically change in the second half.
More than half the season is over. The Blue Jays’ offence and bullpen have been severe disappointments, while plenty else has gone wrong, too, including injuries. As a result, in about a week and a half the Blue Jays will be unlikely sellers at the July 30 trade deadline. They will try to move their rental players, including Yusei Kikuchi, who makes what could be one of his last starts for the club on Saturday, and reliever Yimi García, who returned from the injured list on Friday.
The countdown to the trade deadline will bring intrigue, as will finding out which players they get in return for selling their soon-to-be free agents. But beyond that, what else is there to look forward to?
Speaking in his office on Friday, Blue Jays manager John Schneider was asked about his team’s goals in the back half. Understandably, he held out hope for a second-half surge from his club. “I’m not gonna give up hope,” he said, before acknowledging the first step is at least trying to climb back to .500, something the Blue Jays haven’t been since April 29.
“You want to get to that point and then continue to go from there,” the manager said. “It’s going to take everyone performing up to their level of expectation and ours and that includes guys in the bullpen, starters, hitters. You got to get to something before you really start to tackle something else.”
In terms of guys performing to their level, there have been several Blue Jays who have played below their career norms, but no one more noticeable than Bo Bichette, who was back in the starting lineup on Friday after missing four games before the break with a right calf injury.
Bo Bichette’s career batting average is .290. (John E. Sokolowski / USA Today)
Bichette has slumped to a slash line of .223/.276/.321 in 79 games this season and if there was something for him to play for in the second half, it was trying to salvage his season and put up numbers that more resemble his track record. It’s not unprecedented for Bichette to have a hot back half, either. In 2022, he hit .257/.302/.418 before the All-Star break before slashing .337/.378/.543 after, with a 164 wRC+.
“I don’t think anyone in this room would think that Bo would be as up and down as he has been this year offensively,” Schneider said. “I think the time to rest and reset a little bit mentally is big for him. I’ve said this a million times, but he can be the hottest hitter in baseball. We’ve seen him do that. Hopefully, that starts tonight.”
Unfortunately, Bichette’s second half got off to an inauspicious start, after the shortstop was removed mid-game because he re-aggravated his calf strain. The shortstop pulled up running to first base after lining out in the sixth inning and was replaced by Leo Jiménez to begin the seventh.
After the game, Schneider said Bichette would go for an MRI on Saturday, but didn’t have much more information beyond that.
“He was uncomfortable. Thought it was a cramp at first, but we’ll see how he is tomorrow and go from there,” the Blue Jays manager said. “I feel bad for him. It sucks for him and for us.”
What else could the second half bring? If the Blue Jays move on from veterans on their roster at the deadline, it could open up opportunities for some of their young players — Spencer Horwitz, Davis Schneider, Jiménez — to play more often.
Looking at the Triple-A roster, there are a few more young players who could warrant opportunity, including Addison Barger and Bowden Francis, who the Blue Jays are stretching out again, likely in anticipation of trading at least one starter at the deadline.
But it’s not a young player that had fans looking ahead to a Triple-A call-up.
After a lengthy rehab for right ankle and lower back injuries, the 40-year-old Joey Votto was assigned to the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons and had been scheduled to start on Friday, but shortly before the first pitch, he was scratched from the lineup after tweaking that same ankle during his pregame work, according to the team. The Blue Jays said Votto would be re-evaluated on Saturday.
Votto tweaked his right ankle during pregame work and will be re-evaluated tomorrow to determine his activity level and a plan #Bisons https://t.co/hxwUVBMRXd
— Pat Malacaro (@PatWGR) July 19, 2024
Votto, who signed to a minor-league deal back in March, rolled his ankle in his first spring training game and recovered at a methodical pace. After a handful of outings with Toronto’s Florida-based minor-league teams in June and July, Votto’s assignment to Triple A looked like serious progress and put him only one step removed from the majors.
Votto, who is from Toronto, wearing a Blue Jays jersey this season has become a potential silver lining for fans desperate for something to look forward to after the team has continued to disappoint. Now, Votto’s latest setback poses a threat to that satisfying storyline playing out, presenting an even bleaker picture of what could be coming in the final two months.
Not since 2019 have the Blue Jays played largely meaningless baseball down the stretch. But as the second half opens with a loss and another injury to a key player, suddenly the second half is looking even grimmer.
(Photo of Steward Berrora: John E. Sokolowski / USA Today)
