NEW YORK -- When the Blue Jays were shuffling their way through August, bats barely awake, they looked like a team running out of gas. The energy wasn¡¯t there many nights and Rogers Centre wasn't exactly rocking, but the Blue Jays have suddenly topped up their tank again.
Opening September with six straight wins and nine wins in 10 games, the Blue Jays are playing their best baseball of the season at the best possible time. What you¡¯re seeing are home runs, timely hits and steady pitching, but it all starts well before the players take the field each night.
¡°Everybody is taking care of themselves. Staying healthy is key,¡± Marcus Semien said recently. ¡°It¡¯s a long season. I¡¯ve said it before, but for a lot of these guys it¡¯s their first full season in the big leagues. Everybody is working hard in the weight room, taking care of their bodies and eating right. That¡¯s what we¡¯re going to need.¡±
One of the most difficult challenges a young player faces in the Major Leagues is learning how to play their best when they¡¯re not at their best. By the time the schedule reaches September, nobody is at 100 percent and many aren¡¯t close, so players need to learn how to put their bodies in the best position to succeed every night.
Some days, that means scaling back and getting some extra rest. For young players who want to look like they're giving their all, all the time, it¡¯s not easy.
¡°You have to learn on your own,¡± said manager Charlie Montoyo. ¡°Everybody is different. That¡¯s what people forget, is that these guys are in their first full year of having that many at-bats. Everybody is different, so everybody has to learn on their own how to hit less, take fewer ground balls, whatever it is. If you go by Semien, you¡¯ll do it every day because he¡¯s steady, he takes ground balls and hits every day, but not everybody is Marcus Semien. Everybody has to learn on their own how to handle that.¡±
This is what ¡°process¡± means. It¡¯s a vague word thrown around by teams and players more each season, but the best example of ¡°process¡± on the Blue Jays is Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
When Guerrero was baseball¡¯s No. 1 prospect and pushing for his MLB debut, the Blue Jays continued to say that they wanted Guerrero to improve his process and routines. For fans watching grainy videos of him making Double-A and Triple-A look like a video game, that wasn¡¯t exactly satisfying, but the past two years have added some context.
Guerrero fatigued down the stretch in 2019 and showed up for Summer Camp in 2020 out of shape, which he later admitted. The 22-year-old dropped 45 pounds between then and Spring Training 2021, though, which was a start. Sustaining that from year to year, though, is where it moves from being a one-time thing to a cemented process.
¡°It¡¯s after the game, the recovery,¡± Guerrero explained through a translator. ¡°Back in ¡¯19, I did a couple of things, but not what I was supposed to do to maintain myself. Now, after the game I go in there in the cold tub, stay with the trainers and do whatever I have to do to be ready for the next day. That¡¯s the difference.¡±
This goes for pitchers, too. Jordan Romano¡¯s job as a closer calls on him to pitch in the biggest moments of games at the highest adrenaline, but it¡¯s how he manages his time and body in between that sets him up for success. Romano says it can be hard not to overdo it as a young player who doesn¡¯t want to ¡°look lazy¡±, but he also sees the benefits of being early to arrive and late to leave when you¡¯re trying to soak up what the veterans around you have to offer.
¡°You definitely do have to prep and make sure your body¡¯s ready to go every day, but it¡¯s knowing that if you go 120 percent one day, it¡¯s going to affect you for that next series and that next week,¡± Romano said. ¡°It¡¯s doing a lot to get your body prepped, but not overdoing it because we have a long season.¡±
This is where the consistency of many veterans comes from. Montoyo loves to use Semien as the gold standard for daily work, but his routine won¡¯t work for everyone.
The timing of all of this matters, too. The Blue Jays seem to have gotten their energy back at the right time, launching them into September as one of the hottest teams in the league. Two weeks from now would have been too late, but now they¡¯re in the sweet spot, playing meaningful baseball in September where every game is the biggest of the year.