Blue Jays Nation Radio

Talk about a rollercoaster ride. The Toronto Blue Jays were dropped in their series opener against the Minnesota Twins on Friday, they responded with a wild come-from-behind victory on Saturday, and then fell right back into their typical woes with a listless loss on Sunday. We talked about the team wasting another excellent start from Yusei Kikuchi, the Twins having their way with Kevin Gausman, and Alek Manoah putting together his best outing in over a year. We also discussed the decision to put George Springer back into the leadoff spot after the team scored ten runs in the previous game. Finally, we looked at a report from Bob Nightengale about a potential trade suitor for closer Jordan Romano and ahead to this week's series against the high-flying Baltimore Orioles. 

The streak of consecutive series losses has been snapped at four. The Toronto Blue Jays earned a split in their two-game set with the red-hot Philadelphia Phillies. They got pumped 10-1 in the opener on Tuesday, held a closed-door team meeting afterward, and returned with a 5-3 victory on Wednesday. We talked about José Berríos's first rough outing of the season, Chris Bassitt's clutch start, Jordan Romano's first save since April, and where Vladimir Guerrero Jr. might thrive in the lineup. After that, we looked around the AL East and ahead to this weekend's series with the Minnesota Twins. 

That's four series losses in a row for the Toronto Blue Jays, who dropped two of three games in a sloppy series against the Washington Nationals. We talked about how the bats came through with more offence than usual but the team's bullpen faltered in both of their losses. We also talked about Alek Manoah making his first start with the Blue Jays since last August and what's next for the former ace. After that, we looked at the three new arms the Blue Jays have added to Triple-A Buffalo, including the return of Aaron Sanchez. Finally, we looked ahead to this week's two-game set against the Philadelphia Phillies, the hottest team in baseball.

That's three consecutive series losses now for the Toronto Blue Jays, as the Kansas City Royals rolled into town and picked up wins in two of three games. We talked about how the Blue Jays busted their streak of 20 games without scoring more than five runs on Monday and then proceeded to score just one run in back-to-back games on Tuesday and Wednesday. We also talked about how much heavy lifting the pitching staff has had to do thus far. After that, we discussed the comments that MLB insider Ken Rosenthal made about the Blue Jays and their long-term outlook. Finally, we looked ahead to this weekend's series against the Washington Nationals, which could see the return of Alek Manoah to the big-league rotation. 

After four consecutive series wins, the Blue Jays were knocked off course in Kansas City. We discussed the offence going completely limp against the Royals, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s error at first base, and the pressure on the team's pitching staff. We also questioned the decision to award Kansas City a 2-1 win after just five innings of rain-soaked baseball in the series finale. After that, we looked ahead to this weekend's series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, which will feature Shohei Ohtani's first appearance in Toronto since his off-season free agency saga.

Make that four series wins in a row for the Toronto Blue Jays, as they took two of three from the Padres in San Diego over the weekend. We talked about Daulton Varsho's hot streak and how he's been one of the team's best all-around players during this stretch of series wins. We also talked about how José Berríos looks like a Cy Young candidate early in the season following another excellent start. After that, we took a look around the American League East and ahead to this week's four-game series with the Kansas City Royals. They're off to a nice 13-9 start, but nearly half of those wins have come against the lowly Chicago White Sox. 

The Toronto Blue Jays handed the New York Yankees their first series loss of the season but weren't able to complete their first sweep of 2024 as The Bronx Bombers rallied in the finale with a four-run ninth inning.We talked about all of the good things from this series against New York, including strong starts from Chris Bassitt, Yusei Kikuchi, and Kevin Gausman, along with some encouraging performances from Alejandro Kirk and Daulton Varsho. We also talked about the bad from the series, which was really just the implosion on Wednesday. We also welcomed Andrew Stoeten of The Bat Flip and Blue Jays Happy Hour to the show to discuss the series against New York and make some big-picture observations about the team three weeks into the season. 

Make that back-to-back series wins for the Blue Jays since they returned to Toronto, as the team took two of three from the visiting Colorado Rockies. We talked about the electric debut of Yariel Rodríguez, who struck out six batters over 3 2/3 innings on Saturday. We also talked about the ace-like start to the season that José Berríos has put together and how important that's been considering Kevin Gausman hasn't looked like himself yet.After that, we took a look at how Danny Jansen, Alek Manoah, Jordan Romano, and Erik Swanson are doing in their rehab stints with Triple-A Buffalo, and which players are likely to be sent down when others are activated from the Injured List. Finally, we took a spin around the American League East and looked ahead to this week's series with the New York Yankees.