PHOENIX -- Do not rub your eyes, pinch yourself or adjust your television.
The Blue Jays just pulled off a comfortable 10-4 win with a dominant offensive performance, so deeply needed amid a challenging start to their season.
This is what else mattered from the win, which moved the Blue Jays to 8-13.
1. BIG OAK: Big swings
That is what Kazuma Okamoto is supposed to look like at the plate.
With a two-run double in the first inning and a home run in his next at-bat, Okamoto uncorked a pair of loose, aggressive swings, which are exactly what the Blue Jays have been looking for.
“He was really hitting through some of those pitches that were away from him, if that makes sense. He was just staying on it a bit more,” said manager John Schneider. “The home run was a great swing. His walk was a great at-bat, too. He’s getting there. He’s getting pretty close. There have been signs, and today was a really good day.”
Over the past few weeks, many of Okamoto’s swings have looked hesitant or caught in-between, which is understandable as he’s adjusting to an entire league of new pitchers and everything that comes along with that challenge. There are miles to go and more challenges to come, but these swings remind us all what Okamoto can really look like in this lineup.
“Everyone was passing the baton, and everyone was getting a hit today,” Okamoto said through interpreter Yusuke Oshima. “I wanted to do my part and keep the train moving.”
2. POP: The other side of coaching
Last season, David Popkins became the ultimate rarity in baseball -- a hitting coach who was well-known to fans because they actually liked the work he was doing. Typically, if a coach is part of the daily conversation, it’s bad news.
The early days of this season have been challenging, but this is where the more human side of coaching comes in. There are times for Popkins to lean on his background in biomechanics and go “inside” hitting, but there are also times to step back. A former player himself, Popkins can rely on that experience.
“Failing so much gave me the awareness and empathy to understand what these guys go through on a daily basis,” Popkins said. “Sometimes, mechanical thoughts or physical things are actually not helpful, it’s more mental things that can relax them and reframe things to help them.”
Popkins played three seasons in the Minor Leagues and spent a couple of seasons in independent ball before moving into coaching. Just as Schneider was never a top prospect in the Blue Jays’ system, neither was Popkins with the Cardinals, but that’s shaped his coaching style and how he approaches rough stretches like the one the Blue Jays just went through.
“You have to go through adversity over and over again. Get through it, go through it again, get through it again,” Popkins said. “You have to go through that roller coaster to have any sort of ability to connect with these guys. Not to mention, I went through those rollercoasters for a $1,300 check. They’re going through it with millions of dollars on the line. It gives you empathy for that.”
Now, everyone can exhale and get back to the finer details of hitting. One big inning is nice, but this team needs one big winning streak.
3. MOMENTUM IS: Kevin Gausman
After Saturday’s ugly loss, Schneider reminded everyone that momentum is only as good as the next day’s starter. Kevin Gausman didn’t need to do much in Sunday’s win, but he was still exactly who the Blue Jays needed on the mound for six innings of two-run ball.
It even looked as if Gausman was able to downshift a bit, with no need to max out and throw 98 mph in a game that was 8-0 before he threw a pitch. The outing brings Gausman’s ERA to 2.54 ERA, an excellent start to the season for the 35-year-old who just keeps getting better in the final year of his five-year, $110 million deal.
Now, the next day’s starter heading into Monday? Dylan Cease, who has a 1.74 ERA and 32 strikeouts over 20 2/3 innings. That feels like some good momentum, doesn’t it?