Blue Jays take big step toward breaking out of funk with 9-run showing in SF

SAN FRANCISCO -- If the Blue Jays are going to turn this season around, it cannot be done gently. There must be big swings, broken glass and a little chaos -- anything to shake themselves from this slumber.

There may come a day when this all looks like 2025 again, when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and George Springer are leading a red-hot offense, but that is not this day. Even in Tuesday’s crucial 9-3 win, you wouldn’t confuse the Blue Jays for their old selves, but it was a step. One big, relieving step.

Before the game, hitting coach David Popkins used a boxing analogy. He sees an offense that’s defensive, trying to protect itself from getting hurt. That’s a quick ticket to boring baseball, though.

“Throw a haymaker and see what happens. Land a punch,” Popkins said. “That’s all we need. We need one shot.”

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In the second inning, Jonatan Clase threw a haymaker. It was a towering, 362-foot haymaker to right field, a three-run shot that brought one of the biggest reactions you’ll see all season out of the Blue Jays’ dugout. While Clase rounded the bases, players and coaches were already turning to jump on one another, bouncing up and down the dugout. This group, so convinced that they just needed one shot to end their long drought, finally got it.

“As soon as I hit it, I thought about that,” Clase said through interpreter Hector Lebron. “I felt great about it, because I knew that with little things like that, I’m helping my team.”

Popkins is a natural motivator, and while the results aren’t there lately, he’s kept this lineup from fracturing or losing trust. That comes from his infectious belief in this group. Amid all of the external criticism and doubt from fans -- all of which is completely warranted -- it’s Popkins’ job to keep all 13 hitters together as a unit, one that someday could be more than the sum of its parts again.

“Once we get through this, I think there’s really nothing that can stop this group,” Popkins said. “But it’s going to be a tough challenge. This game will have a grip on your throat. It will hold you down until you quit, but you’ve got to keep fighting.”

Let’s not consider this to be the breakout game just yet, but the Blue Jays need to start somewhere. The offense went quiet for several innings in the middle of the game after Trevor McDonald was lit up, so the Blue Jays still need to prove this against some real, quality pitching, beginning with Logan Webb in Wednesday’s finale.

If anything, this gives the Blue Jays permission to exhale. They can show up Wednesday asking "What next?" with a sense of excitement, not overwhelming dread. They can trust that they're on the right track, or at least moving a few inches closer to it.

“The trap in these times is thinking you need to add, thinking you need to do more stuff and change a bunch of things,” Popkins said. “There’s definitely adjustments to be made, but that’s kind of a trap. You actually need to do less. When guys are in these protective states or these stress states where they’re really trying to get things done, more information, more game plans and more drills are not how you free them up. You have to free them up mentally.”

Nothing frees a team up mentally more than a game like this, when some unexpected names get to play the role of the star for the night and the entire dugout gets to have some unfiltered fun together.

It matters that it was Clase, too. This is like a fourth-string wide receiver breaking off a big play or the fourth-line grinder scoring a shorthanded goal. Teams expect big moments from their stars, but when someone like Clase delivers, it can be a jolt of lightning for the rest of the roster.

“You never know who it’s going to be. That’s the beauty of baseball,” manager John Schneider said. “That’s why I say that today, July 7, is the most important day, not July 6 or July 8. Tomorrow, we’ll worry about tomorrow. It’s cool when young guys can step up.”

It’s addicting, that feeling. The Blue Jays have miles to go, but now, at least they have a feeling to chase again.