MILWAUKEE -- No, you didn’t just watch a replay of the last game.
The Blue Jays' 2-1 loss Thursday at American Family Field was frustrating for its own reasons, even if it felt entirely too similar to the one the night before.
This is what mattered from the loss, which dropped the Blue Jays to 7-11 as they take off for Arizona.
1. No breathing room
Yesterday, Toronto lost in an inning where the Brewers didn’t hit the ball more than a few feet in the air, a series of bizarre choppers and dribblers against Tyler Rogers. Thursday, Toronto lost when a leadoff walk was followed by a bunt, a bunt and a bunt. You can’t make this stuff up.
You can’t chalk it up to bad luck, either. When you score one run, you give bad bounces and small ball permission to stroll right through the door and ruin your day.
“We’ve got to get back to everyone doing their part, whether that’s contact or slug,” manager John Schneider said. “It seems like we’re missing that extra-base hit right now.”
This brand of baseball lately feels so constricting. Even behind Joe Mantiply’s fantastic outing, the Blue Jays’ bullpen was likely without Mason Fluharty, Braydon Fisher and Rogers, all of whom pitched in the first two games of the series. Toronto doesn't just need a string of wins, it needs a few laughers along the way to shake the dust off this season and give everyone some air to breathe.
2. Searching for: The 2025 offensive identity
Tuesday’s 9-7 win felt like the old days -- a messy, come-from-behind victory with contributions from the entire Blue Jays’ lineup and most of their bench. That’s an outlier, though. After after back-to-back days of scoring just one run, the numbers aren’t looking encouraging.
Runs scored: 25th in MLB
Walks: T-24th
Strikeouts: 2nd-fewest
Average Exit Velocity: 27th
Together, these show us an offense that is putting the ball in play constantly, but not doing enough with that contact. The Blue Jays don’t need a full lineup of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Aaron Judge impersonators, but they need more balance, more big blows to balance out all of the jabs. Right now, this production feels closer to their 2024 offense, not the ‘25 group that clicked.
Situational hitting has been a major problem, too. The Blue Jays can’t seem to get anything going with runners in scoring position, and while that’s largely something that will balance itself out naturally, that thought doesn’t offer much comfort right now.
Thursday’s moment that could have turned into much more came in the sixth, when Guerrero strolled up to the plate with two runners on and no outs. He grounded into a double play on the first pitch.
3. What's next? Patrick Corbin
Corbin, like Dylan Cease on Wednesday, deserved the win here. With 5 2/3 innings of efficient, one-run ball, Corbin gave the Blue Jays exactly what they needed.
The problem right now, though, is that Toronto's offense is too often asking its pitchers to be perfect. It’s left so many pitching performances overshadowed and forgotten, particularly in the bullpen, which has produced some great outings early in the season.
It’s time to look one week down the road, though. Trey Yesavage could be returning to the rotation the next trip through after throwing 71 pitches in a Wednesday rehab game in Triple-A. It felt like Yesavage would slide right into Corbin’s rotation spot, but that would be a tough draw for the veteran lefty after such an impressive performance.
“It’s been unfortunate with some injuries here that kind of allowed me to step in, but I’m just going to show up and try to do my job,” Corbin said. “I’ll go out there, compete, control what I can and do what I’m told.”
There could be a heightened importance on Max Scherzer’s start this weekend in Arizona. He’s managing forearm tendinitis and lasted just 2 1/3 innings last time out, allowing eight runs. The same goes for Eric Lauer, who will pitch the opener and has posted a 7.82 ERA while he’s worked around a flu bug.
Regardless of how this shakes out for Corbin, though, the Blue Jays could benefit from a true long reliever or swingman in the bullpen to eat some innings. Otherwise, they’ll have far too many one-inning relievers barreling towards 80-plus appearances.