What Went Wrong: Jays Grounded in Wild Card Series

We have another sequel, baseball fans.

The Toronto Blue Jays entered this season coming off a disappointing end to their 2022 campaign. We know the story. Shut down in Game One, but Game Two saw the Jays up 8-1, but they ended up losing that game 10-9. When a team suffers a devastating and, at times, embarrassing playoff defeat, it is used as inspiration for a better season. However, the Blue Jays did struggle for a good bit, but they managed to get back on track by August, though the final two weeks of September left many wondering if they would miss out on the postseason party.

The Blue Jays did survive and make it to the postseason for the second straight year, and the third time in the last four seasons, and they would face off against the Minnesota Twins in the Wild Card Series. The Twins won a terrible American League Central this year, and with that, it seemed like the Jays would have a good chance.

The good news: the Jays didn't blow a big lead in one of the games this year.

The bad news: It's easy not to blow a lead when you never had one in the first place.

Sadly, the Jays decided that they saw what the Rays did against Texas, so they copied the playbook. One run scored all series--in Game One. They were shut out in Game Two. That's all. The Blue Jays were eliminated by a team who hadn't won a postseason game and a postseason series since Canada had two MLB franchises. And what went wrong is simple: the offense just simply disappeared, just like last year.

Regarding the numbers, Bo Bichette had four hits in eight at-bats, leading the team with a .500 average. Kevin Kiermaier went 2-for-5 with a walk and two strikeouts, but he drove in the Jays' only run in the entire series. Alejandro Kirk went 2-for-6, and Matt Chapman went 2-for-9, but that ends the list of Jays who had multiple hits. That list does not include the team's top star, Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. For the second straight postseason, Guerrero only had one hit total, going 1-for-7. In his last two postseasons, Guerrero went 2-for-15, with a hit each. That's not good. Despite this, I still say that Guerrero isn't getting much help around him during the season.

The American League half of the Division Series is set. The Minnesota Twins will face the Houston Astros in the ALDS, pitting Carlos Correa against his former longtime team. Game One snapped a long losing streak; they had lost 18 consecutive postseason games, with their last win taking place in Game One of the ALDS in 2004 against the Yankees at the old Yankee Stadium. Their series win is their first since the 2002 ALDS against the Oakland A's.

As for the Blue Jays, well, this just adds to the woes for Toronto sports, though the Maple Leafs did win a series in 2023, and against the Tampa Bay Lightning, no less! I seriously do not know what the Jays need to do to right the ship. I've said all year that this team is basically Vlad carrying everything on his back, but even so, the potential is withing a vast number of his teammates: Chapman, Springer, Kirk, Kiermaier, Whit Merrifield, and especially Bo Bichette. We will see what 2024 brings for the Jays.

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