ATLANTA — The pressure’s building again for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Now granted, no one in uniform gains anything by focusing on that pressure or even acknowledging it. That’s where the baseball cliches come into play. Focus on one thing at a time. It’s a long season. We still have time.
All of that’s true, even after a 7-3 loss at Atlanta’s Truist Park. But not only was Wednesday’s loss the Blue Jays’ fourth in a row, it sets up a significant mismatch in the series finale with future Hall of Famer Chris Sale on the mound opposite Mason Fluharty.
Thursday's bullpen game may include Chad Dallas, who’s here on the Blue Jays’ taxi squad. It won’t involve Simeon Woods Richardson, who was acquired in a minor trade Wednesday but isn’t expected to join the team right away.
Either way, there’s a little pressure to turn this back around. A significant ask, but an achievable one. Just a few days ago the Blue Jays completed a long climb back to the .500 mark, seemingly setting them up to put that milestone behind them.
“We had that tough loss in Baltimore (on Saturday), and we’re still searching,” starter Patrick Corbin said. “But the guys here come to the field ready to battle and nothing’s really changed. We’re just playing a hot team. We need to get one tomorrow, and that’s really it.”
Yet as Kevin Gausman said after Tuesday’s loss, it’s too often felt like four steps forward, two steps back with this team. Or, depending on the day, two steps forward and four steps back.
“It’s baseball,” said outfielder Nathan Lukes. “Every team has the ability to beat one another. We’ve got to get back to doing the little things correctly.”
“Laying a bunt down when asked, taking the extra base, catching a fly ball that you should’ve caught – doing all the little things right.”
Facing Grant Holmes on Wednesday, the Blue Jays (29-33) continued to struggle offensively. Despite some hard contact, they managed just three runs on eight hits against Holmes and Atlanta's relievers.
Batting leadoff in place of George Springer, Lukes scored two of those runs as his impressive offensive season continued. First, he led off the game with a single to right, scoring soon afterwards to give the Blue Jays a brief lead.
In his next at-bat Lukes hit his first home run of the season, sending one into the right-field seats. After a two-hit day, he's batting .317 with a .787 OPS to take over the team lead in both categories.
“I guess the baseball gods are on my side,” Lukes said. “The balls are dropping. I feel comfortable in the box and I’m trying to have fun doing it, too.”
“He’s a pro,” manager John Schneider added. “I don’t want to say you expect a couple hits a night, but you expect the at-bat quality to be there and it has been since he’s been back.”
But as impressive as Lukes has been since recovering from a bout with vertigo, Blue Jays decision makers didn’t expect him to be leading this offence into June. Nor would Lukes have expected to feel so good at the plate so soon after struggling to even see the ball as it approached.
“Swinging at air compared to what I’m doing now,” he said. “It’s been a night-and-day difference.”
Springer’s on-base percentage has dropped by 117 points to .282 compared to last year while his slugging percentage is down 210 points to .350. Hurrying back from a broken left toe undoubtedly impacts his production to a degree, and Schneider praised Springer’s swing decisions before his scheduled day off, but the dropoff in offence still hurts.
Many others, including Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Daulton Varsho and Andres Gimenez, have also seen their production fall off considerably. And while Alejandro Kirk homered in a rehab game Wednesday and could be ready before long, this offence still has many questions.
As for the Blue Jays' pitching, Corbin provided five solid innings against the team with MLB's best record, allowing four runs on six hits over five innings as his ERA climbed to 3.98.
From Schneider’s standpoint, the left-hander seemed to have trouble escaping innings.
“He was in a rhythm, then got out of a rhythm,” Schneider said. “And they made him pay for some mistakes.”
Blue Jays defenders didn’t always help their pitchers out Wednesday, as a pop-up dropped in foul territory between Guerrero Jr. and catcher Brandon Valenzuela, who later homered.
“No man’s land,” Schneider said. “Vlad’s playing way over. He had to go a long way. I think it was just put in the perfect spot.”
Initially acquired from the Mets for Marcus Stroman, Woods Richardson went to Minnesota in the 2021 Jose Berrios trade and pitched to a 4.76 ERA for the Twins in parts of five seasons before getting designated for assignment. He’ll provide the Blue Jays with innings – specifics TBD – once he joins the roster.
“He’s been good for a couple years and kind of got off track this year,” Schneider said. “There’s some tweaks to the arsenal you can make. You can never have enough pitching.”
As always, momentum can shift quickly in baseball. And whatever’s happened so far, there are still 100 games remaining. But after losing four in a row, the Blue Jays are in an uncomfortable spot: beat Sale, or get swept.
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