TORONTO — A hot start to the Blue Jays season could have been a remedy to the feeling of malaise and restlessness that infiltrated the fan base after an uninspired offseason.
Instead, the Blue Jays went 4-6 on their 10-game, season-opening road trip. Their schedule was tough, as they matched up with the Tampa Bay Rays, Houston Astros and the New York Yankees. But more concerning than their record, perhaps, was an inconsistent offence that looked far too similar to the one that dragged them down last season.
A return home to a new-and-improved Rogers Centre to play in front of their fans for the first time in six months — since they bowed out of the playoffs in a sweep by the Minnesota Twins — was a welcome change. And while the Blue Jays were indeed looking forward to playing in front of a supportive crowd after a long road trip that felt like “two months,” according to left fielder Davis Schneider, the team’s confidence remained untarnished from their lacklustre start.
“We’re just looking to be better every day,” shortstop Bo Bichette said. “And, I think if we’re worried about the start of the season after 10 games, then we lack an incredible amount of confidence. And I don’t think that’s the case. So just looking forward to better things.”
Better things came on Monday, as the Blue Jays beat the Seattle Mariners 5-2 behind an impressive six innings from starter José Berríos and some clutch hitting from the lineup in front of a sellout crowd of 40,069 at the freshly revamped Rogers Centre.
“It starts on the mound — José was awesome. We were really short in the ‘pen tonight and he stepped up,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider, who was greeted with scattered boos when he removed Berríos after 6 2/3 innings. “Huge at-bats from (Alejandro) Kirk, Schneider, (Isiah Kiner-Falefa) and then tacking on runs there at the end is a big thing. Bo and Vlad doing their thing, getting another run in there, just everyone doing what they’re supposed to do tonight. Great defence, as well. That was a complete ballgame.”
If you’re curious if the Blue Jays were getting homesick, well, by now, the team is accustomed to starting seasons on the road. The two-phase Rogers Centre renovations totalling $400 million that began after the 2022 season have led the team to start with three-city road trips in back-to-back seasons. Before that, the Blue Jays began their 2021 and 2020 seasons away from Toronto due to pandemic restrictions.
There’s no place like home 🇨🇦 #TOTHECORE pic.twitter.com/EhieRuzzjW
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) April 8, 2024
As Bichette said, “We’ve started the season on the road for an extended period of time for pretty much my whole career.”
For the Blue Jays, however, the wait proved worth it. First, when they returned, the team was met with extensive renovations to their clubhouse and player facilities, with many players saying their home digs are now the best in baseball. The manager called their amenities “first-class.”
“It looks like a frickin’ spa down there in the training room, to the kitchen to the cages to here to the coaches (room), to the clubhouse, they didn’t miss anything,” Schneider said.
Fans experienced a fresh look, too. The reworked lower bowl introduced new seats angled toward home plate, which are roomier and include much-requested cup holders. With changes made to the upper bowl and outfield sections last year, the Blue Jays have transformed their multi-purpose stadium into a bonafide ballpark.
“We haven’t been back since September, so it’s been a long time,” Davis Schneider said. “The fans were great today and the additions they made to the stadium and to the whole building are pretty sick.”
But most importantly, on the field, the Blue Jays offence had a fresher look compared to what they showed throughout parts of their first 10 games.
Before Monday, the Blue Jays averaged 3.60 runs per game — the eighth-lowest mark in the majors. (For comparison, Seattle has been even worse, averaging 3.10 runs per game.) So far, the Blue Jays have scored at least eight runs in a game three times, but they’ve also been no-hit and one-hit in a pair of shutouts in Houston.
Despite the mixed performance, the Blue Jays front office remained confident that the process behind the scenes would soon lead to more consistent results.
“A little up and down,” Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said of the offence thus far. “We had some highlights and we had some lowlights. It’s a little bit early for us to lean into either of those. We feel really good about the prep, the work and the interactions that were occurring and most importantly the mindset of our players.
“We’re exceptionally confident that this group is going to score plenty of runs and looking forward to the days ahead.”
The Blue Jays’ offence looked sharper against the Mariners and starter Luis Castillo, who came into the game with a career 3.27 ERA against the Blue Jays.
Designated hitter Justin Turner, who currently leads the Blue Jays with a .958 OPS, told his teammates before the game to be patient with Castillo and wait for their pitch. He hit a leadoff double to open the second inning and Kirk drove him in two batters later with a two-out, RBI single to put the Blue Jays up 1-0.
Toronto padded that lead in the third. With the bases loaded, Davis Schneider drove in two runs with a bloop single. The Blue Jays manager called Davis Schneider’s at-bat the “turning point.”
DAVIS SCHNEIDER IS HOME! 🙌@BlueJays | #TOTHECORE pic.twitter.com/qEQR8J6p9d
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 9, 2024
“That at-bat kind of swung momentum in our favour,” the manager said.
“I was expecting the two-seam inside and (he) kind of just stayed on that slider a little bit away,” Davis Schneider said of his at-bat against Castillo. “I got lucky with it — just poked it out there. It wasn’t the best swing, but good things happen when you put a ball in play.”
The Blue Jays tacked on some add-on runs when Guerrero drove in one in the fourth with a double. After Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford homered in the top of the eighth, Kiner-Falefa kicked in a RBI single in the bottom half to make it 5-1. Chad Green allowed a Cal Raleigh before securing the win.
Berríos continued the exceptional start to his season with six shutout innings, holding the Mariners to just four hits and a walk with six strikeouts. The effort lowered his ERA to 1.45 and was his third consecutive start of at least six innings allowing two runs or fewer. Berríos leads the majors with 18 2/3 innings pitched.
“Baseball is a game we have to make adjustments day by day, so I did it for this one. I know we have to work for the next one. So that’s why I never take anything for granted,” Berríos said. “I want to keep working, keep learning and trying to put myself in a better position.”
On his mentality this season, Berríos said he’s gone out to the mound trying to operate like a “big dawg.”
“I have to still enjoy the game and respect my teammate and the other guys, but I want to have that in my mind — I want to give my 100 percent pitch by pitch.”
With Berríos shoving and the offence firing, it was a well-rounded win — and one that the Blue Jays hope is more representative of their abilities as opposed to what they showed in their first 10 games.
“We have a really good ball club, we won four games (on the road) and we didn’t really hit that well. And that’s a testament to our pitching and a testament to how good of a hitting staff that we have just because we’re not really producing the way we should,” Davis Schneider said. “But today showed differently. This is I feel like the team that we can have every single night.
“It’s a long season, it’s 162 games. If you get complacent to where it’s the end of the world after one game, then bad things are going to happen the next day. We’re just that type of team to where, we know we have the talent, it’s just a matter of being consistent with our work. It’s not going to be every game where we’re going to go out there and get 10 hits and score eight or so runs, but just make sure we’re putting in the work each day to make sure that the next day it’s going to pay off.”
(Photo of Berríos: Cole Burston / Getty Images)
