TORONTO -- It feels like the Blue Jays¡¯ lineup finally fits together.
For years, they¡¯ve had pieces, but those pieces didn¡¯t always feel like they came from the same set. Even when you find the right ones, they need to be put together with precision and aggression.
This is where something has shifted. Toronto manager John Schneider wants to land the first punch this year. Forget all of the reading, reacting and landing a counter, the Blue Jays want to make the first move and leave the other guy nervous about what¡¯s going to come next.
Tuesday¡¯s 5-3 win over the Nationals got the Blue Jays out to a 4-2 start, which should lower their shoulders and allow everyone to breathe -- but there¡¯s already a surprising sense of momentum around this lineup and what it could be.
Breaking the lineup into three sets helps to show why this is working ¡ and why it can keep working:
Set 1: The big boys - Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Anthony Santander
Schneider doesn¡¯t just think Bichette is bouncing back, he sees a young star chasing his peak again -- a leadoff man trying to ¡°go from great to elite.¡± He flashed that again Tuesday, sneaking a go-ahead two-run single down the first-base line in the eighth inning.
Pair that with Guerrero -- and the shared motivation of looming free agency -- and the Blue Jays should have no trouble with early offense. When Santander finally turns the corner, that¡¯s when this group will really take off, but a slow start is nothing new to Toronto's newest slugger. Santander owns a career OPS of .655 in March and April, which shoots up to .825 in May.
¡°He¡¯s just a click off on pitches he¡¯s going to hammer eventually,¡± Schneider said. ¡°Baltimore pitched him inside -- big time. He¡¯s just a click off with everything -- and a notorious slow starter, too -- but it¡¯s a normal at-bat, which is what I¡¯m looking at because I know it¡¯s going to sync up here pretty soon.¡±
Schneider¡¯s mind jumps to the Dodgers. Their top three or four stay locked in, Schneider says, then the Dodgers find every edge they can the rest of the way. That¡¯s where the fun part begins for a coaching staff.
Set 2: The pleasant surprises - Andrés Giménez, Alejandro Kirk, George Springer
Gim¨¦nez leads the team with three home runs and Springer is tearing the cover off the ball. Just like everyone predicted, right?
Schneider laughed and called it, ¡°The Pop Effect¡± -- a reference to hitting coach David Popkins, who has become Toronto¡¯s favorite coach overnight as Gim¨¦nez suddenly looks reborn as a hitter.
¡°Even in talking to [Guardians manager] Stephen Vogt at the Winter Meetings when we acquired Gim¨¦nez, that¡¯s one of the things that he mentioned about Andr¨¦s,¡± Schneider said. ¡°He sometimes played it safe and would be geared toward left field or left-center, and wasn¡¯t taking chances. [Vogt] relayed the same thing we saw, which is that there¡¯s more in there.¡±
How this group works together is important, though. Kirk¡¯s excellent contact skills fit well behind the speedy Gim¨¦nez, while Springer, who is swinging harder and driving the ball with far more consistency already, rounds out this wave of secondary offense. With Gim¨¦nez and Springer, in particular, we¡¯re seeing players who have been challenged with new roles and answered immediately.
Set 3: The fun part - Will Wagner, Ernie Clement, Alan Roden (featuring Davis Schneider, Nathan Lukes)
This is where John Schneider, Popkins and the staff can chase matchups, even if that means flipping multiple lineup spots late in the game.
We saw this in Game 2 of the season, when the Blue Jays went lefty-lefty-lefty in the bottom-third of the order. When the Orioles brought in a lefty to face that group, John Schneider pivoted to Clement and Davis Schneider, who doubled and walked, respectively.
¡°Setting the precedent early is important, too, to let other teams know we will do it,¡± Schneider said. ¡°It affects their deployment and planning, too. We talked about it in the offseason -- us as a group, with the coaching staff and front office -- to try being more aggressive. Again, the decisions are what they are. It looks great when Ernie doubles and looks [bad] when they strike out, but doing that over the course of time consistently has some real value to it. It¡¯s fun.¡±
The individual skills work together. Clement is a contact machine, Schneider can hit lefties, Wagner and Roden come with excellent approaches and a little pop.
Last year, Toronto¡¯s 7-8-9 hitters combined for a .665 OPS. If this staff can put the pieces together better in 2025 and drag that number closer to .700, there¡¯s a win or two waiting to be stolen along the way.