Jays Sweep the Giants

 Happy Monday, we're back at it! The Jays had such a hot stretch coming into the all star break, to the point where I was just coming up with as much Jays content as I could out of pure excitement. Then they lost series against the terrible White Sox and As and I thought they were coming back down to earth again. Turns out the Jays only like to show up against good teams. Coming out of the break the Jays decisively swept the Giants at home to move only 1.5 games out of the best record in baseball. Out of pure excitement for the team again I'm going to just go over some random thoughts about the great weekend they just had. 

Everyone Contributes

This Jays team is really fun to watch because they're getting contributions up and down the order. The last few years the Jays would have a solid top 4 hitters, but then after that the lineup would drop off and you'd be lucky if they did anything to keep the offense going. This year there's no inning that you can turn off, everyone on the team can hit and nobody really strikes out a ton. Game 1 was a great example of this, after Verlander got out of the first inning unscathed, the Jays started the second with their #5 hitter Addison Barger. He gets on with an infield single. Then Kirk comes up and slaps a single to left field, Loperfido who was just recently called up smashes a double to score Barger, Wagner who's been up and down clears the bases with a double then Lukes who's been another surprise knocks in Wagner with a single. Aside from Kirk, none of these guys are the big names we expected to be driving the offense coming into the season, unless you were a diehard Jays fan you probably wouldn't have even heard of any of these guys before this year. But that's the beauty of this team, they just have a bunch of guys who put the ball in play and a lot of the time it results in innings like this that are frustrating for the opposing pitcher. 

Game 2 was another one with the surprise contribution coming from the starting pitcher. Eric Lauer has had an up and down AAAA type of career to this point, he was brought in as starting pitching depth and not expected to be a big part of the big league team. He's been nothing short of awesome this season and last game he did it again. Lauer took a no-hitter into the 5th inning before allowing a solo homerun to Willy Adames. The Jays to this point hadn't managed to do anything on offense against a really good pitcher for SF in Webb. The Giants scratched across one more run in the top of the 6th to make it 2-0, but this Jays team doesn't give up. In a classic 2025 Jays rally they put up a big bottom of the 6th off mostly singles. Bichette lead off with a single, Barger got him to 3rd with a double, Loperfido pops out but Clement scores Bo with a single, Wagner doubles to clear the bases then Heineman doubles to score Wagner and make it a 4-2 game. Heineman would contribute again with an insurance homer in the 8th to make it 6-3 and put the game away. Another game with dudes contributing that nobody would've ever thought at the beginning of the year. I'm pretty sure I bashed Heineman as one of the worst backup catcher situations in baseball starting the season and every time he's played he's been awesome. Fun fact, in 83 games of Alejandro Kirk's all star season, he's amassed a 1.5 WAR. In 35 games as Kirk's backup Heineman has a 1.5 WAR as well. Incredible stuff. 

Then game 3 came and it was a thriller that really showed the resolve of this Jays team. The game started off in disastrous fashion when Davis Schneider lost a flyball in the sun resulting in a double that should've been an early out. The next hitter poked a slow dribbler into left field that was enough to score a run and make it 1-0 quickly. Luckily in this one the big boys finally came to play. Vlad Guerrero Jr. smashed a solo shot to straightaway centerfield to tie the game up. With Robbie Ray having command issues all game for the Giants, the Jays kept working him for walks but only managed to score 3 runs by the 5th and it was 3-2. Then the Jays blow it wide open. Springer leads off the inning with a solo home run, Bo doubles, Kirk scores him with a single. Barger smashes a no doubter home run to right field to make it 7-2. With the game looking pretty much over, Berrios went back out for the 6th and gave up a Matt Chapman 2 run shot to make it 7-4, uh oh. Brayden Fisher came in and gave up a double, a single and a walk, they pull him when it's 7-5. Justin Bruihl comes in and gives up a single that scores a run, but the hitter was gunned down trying to stretch it into a double which luckily prevented any further damage that inning. With the Jays now on the ropes again they needed their big bats to come through and add some insurance, and that they did. Springer hits a 2 out double and then Vlad knocks him in with a single to make it 8-6, then the bullpen takes care of the rest and the Jays have a sweep. What a weekend!

Untapped Potential

Like I said in the intro, the Jays are 1.5 games back of the best record in all of baseball this year, and I don't even think they've reached their full potential yet. The offense has been a nice surprise mostly due to contributions from a handful of guys nobody expected to be this good. Addison Barger has been a revelation who adds another power bat to the lineup without taking anything away on defense. Nathan Lukes has made himself into a really good leadoff hitter, George Springer is having a resurgence and whoever they call up seems to just immediately rake no questions asked. Even with all of that, I still think the Jays offense can get even better with all that's being left on the table from the big names. Anthony Santander has been terrible when he played and he hasn't played often. He's a guy that can slot into DH and potentially have a big second half of the season like he's been able to do his whole career. Bo Bichette has been OK at the plate with an OPS of .767, but in his best years with the Jays he was a guy with an OPS >.810, he definitely can get it going and go on a hot streak here. The most obvious and important piece of untapped potential on this team is the $500m Vlad Guerrero Jr. Don't get me wrong, Vlad's numbers are pretty good. He's slashing .278/.385/.439 and he leads the team with a 2.8 WAR. But we all know that those are $200m numbers not $500m numbers. Vlad at his best is a guy who can threaten the triple crown. While he's producing decently now, I fully expect there to be a month or two long stretch where he's the legitimate best hitter in baseball, because he's talented enough to be that. If and when that happens, even if the random other guys drop off a little, this Jays offense will continue to be scary. It's almost as if they have a trade deadline acquisition built in just because Vlad hasn't gotten red hot yet. The league isn't ready for this team in August. 

That's that for now! Probably should save some of my Jays thoughts given how the summer is long and they're all I have to talk about. I'm going on Tuesday, should be sold out with awesome weather and an open roof against a division rival, I can't wait!