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Blue Jays Happy Hour
2025 In Review!
Ep. 209
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** FOR AN AD-FREE VERSION OF THIS—AND EVERY—EPISODE, PLUS WEEKLY BONUS SHOWS, FIND US AT patreon.com/BJHH **
What a difference a year makes. It was only just 365 days ago that Jays fans were despairing, wondering why Ross Atkins still had a job after a nine year tenure that had culminated in a dreadful 2024, still smarting from Juan Soto's decision to sign with the Mets, trying to understand the Andrés Giménez acquisition, questioning whether Vladimir Guerrero Jr. could be signed to a contract extension, and feeling nothing but dread about the future, the state of the club's house of cards, and the wisdom of those in charge.
Today they're viewed by players, fans, and the industry as a whole as one of the truly exemplary organizations in the sport, and potentially on the verge of ascending to marquee franchise status, having put together a brilliant, compelling, gritty, drama-filled, fun-as-hell campaign that took them to within mere milimetres of an unprobable World Series victory.
It's been a hell of a trip around the sun, hasn't it?
And this week we're looking back on all of it—from the low expectations, through the ugly start, to the coalescing of an elite team, to one of the all-time great—and all-time heartbreaking—seasons in the history of Canadian sports. Or maybe anybody's sports anywhere.
Have a listen...
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PREVIEW - 220b. Pumping the Brakes on ABS?
04:58|** THIS IS A SHORT, FREE PREVIEW OF THIS WEEK'S PATREON-EXCLUSIVE BONUS EPISODE. TO HEAR THE EPISODE IN FULL, VISIT US AT PATREON.COM/BJHH **We're in the early stages of MLB's newest rule change, and while we've seen the ABS challenge system in the minors for a while now, it's a different thing when it's on the big league stage. So, in this week's Patreon exclusive bonus episode, we're discussing what we've seen so far, and what we think of it.220. Rating the Superhunks
46:34||Ep. 220The 2026 Toronto Blue Jays season has begun, and though the team has already had its share of setbacks—the Cody Ponce injury, all the returning guys expected to carry the load offensively coming out flat, Brendon Little—they've played well on the whole, and were just one hit from several huge opportunities against Colorado away from starting the season 5-1. So, with not all that much to nitpick, this week we spend a lot of our time discussing first impressions. We've finally got our first (official) looks at Kaz Okamoto, Dylan Cease, Tyler Rogers, and Jesús Sánchez. And we also check in on the early results from the groups of Jays we each chose in our WAR Projection Over/Under Draft back in February.UNLOCKED: First Impressions of New Ballpark Eats!
33:27|The Jays have added several new items to the menu at Rogers Centre for 2026, and this week in our Patreon-exclusive bonus episode—which we've unlocked for all listeners—we went through each and every one of them to answer the question: Would we actually eat this?Be sure to check us out at Patreon.com/BJHH for more exclusive content, including Stoeten's instant reaction to the Jays' Opening Day win over the A's, a recent appreciation of Vladdy on the occasion of his 27th birthday, thoughts on how we might change the World Baseball Classic, and more! There's a bonus show every week. And don't forget that Patreon membership gives you access to a feed of our shows that you can listen to completely ad-free, and without ever having to see the occasional "preview" episodes we sometimes drop.219. Extension Reaction Reactions
53:15||Ep. 219Blue Jays manager John Schneider and GM Ross Atkins were both heading into the final year of their contracts, and so before the 2026 season kicked off, the team did the only thing they possibly could, extending both of them for multiple additional seasons. Some of the reactions to this were oddly negative, and this week we discussed it—along with all the latest news on the club's roster decisions heading into Opening Day. ** FOR AN AD-FREE VERSION OF THIS—AND EVERY—EPISODE, PLUS WEEKLY BONUS SHOWS, FIND US AT patreon.com/BJHH **218. Stress Fracture
47:00||Ep. 218This week, in yet another pitching-heavy show, we react to the news that José Berríos has a stress fracture in his pitching elbow and will miss the start of the season, though he aims to pitch through it. Plus! The knock-on effects on the rest of the rotation, the announcement of Kevin Gausman as the club's Opening Day starter, Dylan Cease's importance to the rotation, Daulton Varsho's fascinating spring, and more!** FOR AN AD-FREE VERSION OF THIS—AND EVERY—EPISODE, PLUS WEEKLY BONUS SHOWS, FIND US AT patreon.com/BJHH **217. Ramping Up Slowly
43:23||Ep. 217We recorded this one before news broke that José Berríos will be seeing Dr. Keith Meister—the Keith-meister!—for a second opinion on his inflammed right elbow, but I don't think that changes a whole lot about the episode, or our concerns over the Jays' slow-building pitching depth. So have a listen as we discuss Berríos's flagged MRI, Trey Yesavage's deliberate ramp-up, the progression of Shane Bieber and Yimi García, Scherzer the potential saviour—and the dangers of believing in anyone's age-41 season—plus Vladdy continuing his October momentum at the WBC, an odd IKF-related announcement from MLB, and a whole lot more!** FOR AN AD-FREE VERSION OF THIS—AND EVERY—EPISODE, PLUS WEEKLY BONUS SHOWS, FIND US AT patreon.com/BJHH **PREVIEW - 216b. - Spring Storylines Revisited
04:59|** THIS IS A SHORT, FREE PREVIEW OF THIS WEEK'S PATREON-EXCLUSIVE BONUS EPISODE. TO HEAR THE EPISODE IN FULL, VISIT US AT PATREON.COM/BJHH **Exactly a year ago we discussed some notable performances coming out of Dunedin in the early-ish days of camp, and each of us gave a rating from 1-10 based on the degree to which we thought what we were seeing at the time mattered, or would be reflective of what we were to see once the season started for real. In this week's bonus episode, we revisited those stories and ratings, both to see how well we gauged them at the time, and to try to assess just how much or little the information we're getting at this time of year is actually meaningful.216. The Ghost of Elvis (Luciano)
52:55||Ep. 216This week, in a heavily pitching-focussed episode, we talk "phantom IL" stints, keeping eight starting pitchers happy, Max Scherzer's intangibles, early Cody Ponce impressions, Trey Yesavage's innings, European prospects, Joe Mantiply, Nate Garkow, and more!** FOR AN AD-FREE VERSION OF THIS—AND EVERY—EPISODE, PLUS WEEKLY BONUS SHOWS, FIND US AT patreon.com/BJHH **215. Spring to the Max?
41:45||Ep. 215Could Max Scherzer actually rejoin the Jays? Are we ready to talk about Eloy Jiménez? Do we still like the Jésus Sánchez trade? How do we feel about the bullpen in light of Yimi García's injury? Will Ricky Tiedemann ever get built up as a starter after yet another setback?It's still early enough in the spring that there are some pretty fascinating questions still up in the air down in Dunedin, where the Jays continue to ready themselves for the beginning of the 2026 season a month from now.