Don’t look now, young Blue Jays finally providing glimpse into promising future

It might have taken some time, but it appears the Toronto Blue Jays young core is starting to find a way to breakthrough providing some intrigue heading into the future.

From March to mid-June, the Toronto Blue Jays‘ offence was, as we like to say in analytics, horriawful. After an aerial assault in Houston on June 16, however, the bats may have come alive for good.

It had the look of a sweep. Baseball scores can seem random at times, but when you lose 15-2 and 7-2 in consecutive days against the 48-23 AL Central-leading Houston Astros in their building, it’s safe to say that you won’t be favoured in the finale. That’s why what the Blue Jays did in said finale came, pardon the pun, straight out of left field.

In what felt like shifting into drive from neutral, going from a walk to a sprint, or whatever other fast to slow superlative you can think of, the Jays took off. The 12-0 win was helped along by a monster four RBIs, a two-homer game from Teoscar Hernandez. Rowdy Tellez, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Freddy Galvis also left the yard on the day. After the game, Hernandez said he felt “pretty good.” Clearly, his teammates did too.

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Since the Astros annihilation on June 16, the Blue Jays have gone 8-12, good for a winning percentage of .400, a noticeable improvement over their seasonal mark of 0.375. What’s even more encouraging is that it’s the young stars who are leading the way.

Since coming back from his stint in the minors, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. has looked like a different player. In the month of June alone, he slashed .337/.381/.683, hitting 10 home runs while driving in 20 runs.

Catcher Danny Jansen has been red hot too after starting out the season about as cold as you can be at the dish. Over the last 28 days, Jansen is slashing .303/.333/.667 with six homers and 15 RBIs. On a side note, Jansen’s power surge has come at the right time too, as fellow backstops Michael De La Cruz (.294/.407/.426) and Reese McGuire (.245/.328/.355) tear it up in triple-A.

And we haven’t even gotten to the best part. In the month of June, the Blue Jays hit the third most home runs in all of baseball, only trailing the Atlanta Braves and Minnesota Twins. While you pick your jaw up off the floor, let me remind you that this is all without Bo Bichette, the Blue Jays’ second-best prospect, who is still working his way back from a hand injury in Buffalo.

Add in Vladimir Guerrero Jr.‘s 91 dinger performance at the Home Run Derby and you have the makings of an offence that could contend in the powerhouse AL East. I know it’s hard sometimes, but stay tuned, Jays fans. You’ll want to say you were there when the 2022 World Series champions started building their roster.