Blue Jays mid-season report card
Published
Report cards are always difficult to do because there are so many factors that go into team and individual player success. Some of it is in their control, some of it is not.
These grades are not an indication a degree of effort or caring. Every one of the Blue Jays players and coaches are working their hardest to improve. There has been no indication of quitting or loafing. Sure, there are occasions where frustration get the best of them, but this team cares.
With that being said, here are the grades from the first half of the season.
Infield/C/DH: B-
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Toronto Blue Jays
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has performed close to expectations, minus the power numbers. Isiah Kiner-Falefa has been a pleasant surprise offensively, but even those numbers are short of what an everyday third baseman should produce. Spencer Horwitz has propped up the overall infield production since his call-up, which has been needed considering the lack of production from Bo Bichette. Danny Jansen missed some time and Alejando Kirk doesn’t drive the ball anymore. Justin Turner, who was brought in as a veteran bat, has struggled mightily at the plate.
The Jays offensive rankings by OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) are as follows: First Base .821 (fourth); Second Base .795 (fourth); Shortstop .629 (23rd); Third Base .698 (17th); Catcher .671 (12th); Designated Hitter .653 (25th).
Outfield: D+
Kevin Kiermaier Toronto Blue Jays
Daulton Varsho was the Jays best hitter for a bit this season, but he has cooled off. Kevin Kiermaier is nowhere close to the player he was last year and was placed on outright waivers in the hopes that the team could dump his salary. George Springer lost his job as a leadoff hitter only to get put back in his natural spot in the lineup a couple of weeks later. He has gotten hot over the past several weeks, but his overall performance doesn’t come close to matching his paycheque. Davis Schneider isn’t nearly the hitter he was last season.
The OPS rankings in the outfield are dismal, just like the left side of the infield: Left field .681 (T17th); centre field .572 (28th); right field .662 (25th).
Starting Pitching: C+
Yusei Kikuchi Toronto Blue Jays
In a season where, offensive numbers are down and pitching is dominating, the Jays staff has gone the other direction. In 2023, the Jays had the fourth best overall ERA (3.78) led by the third best starting rotation (3.85 ERA). This season, the Jays are ranked 24th overall with a 4.45 ERA. The starters have regressed this season, holding a 4.41 ERA (15th) at the break.
Kevin Gausman, Yusei Kikuchi and Jose Berrios have all taken a step back, while Chris Basset has been about the same as a year ago. Alek Manoah has been lost for the year to an elbow injury and Bowden Francis has gotten knocked around pretty good. Yariel Rodriguez looks like he can be a serviceable backend of the rotation starter when healthy.
The starters have been affected by the lack of run production as they feel like they need to be perfect, which has led to less than perfect results. I still feel the three starters at the front of the rotation (Gausman, Berrios and Bassett) are a solid core moving forward.
Bullpen: D-
Jordan Romano Toronto Blue Jays
The bullpen was a strength for the Jays a year ago, led by Jordan Romano, Erik Swanson, Tim Mayza, Trevor Richards and Yimi Garcia. They had the sixth best ERA (3.68) overall. This season, the Jays have the second worst bullpen ERA (4.91). That’s right, they are ranked 29th.
Romano is on the injured list after surgery, Swanson is in Triple-A, Mayza was designated for assignment, and Richards isn’t striking out nearly as many as he did a year ago. Garcia has tried with all of his might to carry the bullpen this season, and Chad Green looks like he is returning to his pre-Tommy John surgery self. But the bullpen, as a group, has failed miserably this season.
Coaching Staff: C-
John Schneider Toronto Blue Jays
When a team is struggling to the degree that the numbers clearly indicate, it is hard to think the coaching has done a good job. Every component of the game has gone backwards. Of course, it is not the coaches’ sole fault by any means.
Regression in the rotation was expected – not to this degree, but expected. It’s the nature of the game. The bullpen collapse was not predictable to this level. This has been a catastrophe, but the staff hasn’t been able to stop the bleeding at all. The Jays were banking on internal improvements in the offence. We were told, over and over again, that they had a plan for each player. Not only has there not been any real improvements from the returning players, some of the returnees have also taken a step back.
This is a results-based industry. If the players don’t produce, a general manager can’t just swap out these 26 players for 26 different guys. It’s the goal of the manager and coaches to get the most out of the talent they are given. If that doesn’t happen, the front office looks for an explanation. Sometimes the players are aging and just declining; sometimes they underperform because of bad thinking or poor mechanics; sometimes injuries hamper individual and overall team performance. Every team has some players who fall into these categories. The challenge is how to get them to make adjustments to play better.
From the manager on down, the staff has not been able to produce the changes needed to turn things around. But the team keeps showing up and pulling for each other. There is no finger pointing or quitting. They just can’t get on track.
Front Office: D
Ross Atkins Mark Shapiro Toronto Blue Jays
Clearly, this season has not gone anywhere near the way Ross Atkins or Mark Shapiro expected. They clearly wanted to improve the team from last season with outside upgrades. They tried for Shohei Ohtani, Cody Bellinger, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. They considered bringing Matt Chapman back. None of those players are wearing Jays uniforms this season.
Toronto settled for less at every turn. When you keep settling for less, it ends up not being enough. So, once the upgrade plan failed, the “internal improvement plan” was hatched.
In reality, the internal improvements were going to be necessary even if the upgrade plan had been successful. Hoping and working for upgrades is always a good plan, but it doesn’t take into account the possible and likely regression in other areas of the team. Performances ebb and flow from year to year and never remain the same.
Baseball doesn’t give mulligans. There is no turning the clock back. All the Jays can do is learn from the mistakes and move forward. I believe this front office should be given a chance to retool for next year. They are the same decision makers who built playoff teams in 2020, 2022 and 2023. In 2021, the club won 91 games and came up short. That’s a very good run of success.
This is where the 2025 season begins. Atkins needs to trade away the players on expiring contracts to add to the farm system, but he then needs to trade some of the farm system to acquire controllable players for next season and beyond. The Jays need to sell and buy.
There is no time to feel badly for themselves. It’s time to get to work on next season.