CHICAGO — Think there isn’t anything on the line for the Toronto Blue Jays in the coming weeks? Ask Bowden Francis, working to prove he can hold up as a starter. Ask Joey Loperfido, trying to make the most of his loud tools and establish himself as a big-leaguer. Ask Davis Schneider, currently navigating the labyrinth of his worst slump since high-A.
No matter how irrelevant the wins and losses are for the Blue Jays on a macro level — Sunday’s narrow 1-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs brought Toronto back up to a mere eight games below .500 — the individual performances that aggregate to influence those results matter a great deal on a micro level for athletes competing for careers.
Francis, for instance, is determined to prove his future belongs in a major-league rotation, an opportunity he seized with a spectacular spring training but quickly lost his grasp on with a pair of rocky starts once the season began.
After a dejected three months spent pitching in relief, and a brief stint at triple-A to rebuild workload, Francis has returned to the rotation and pitched brilliantly, adding another strong, efficient outing to his resume Sunday with seven shutout innings against the Cubs.
Francis struck out four of the first five batters he faced and was perfect through three, continuing a recent trend that’s seen him dramatically up his slider and splitter usage at the expense of his curveball, which he struggled to execute consistently earlier this season:
Francis didn’t allow a hit until the fourth, when Michael Busch dribbled a two-strike splitter up the third base line for an infield single before Seiya Suzuki flared an elevated fastball into shallow centre field no-man’s land. And an out later, Ernie Clement botched a routine groundball at short that should have gotten Francis out of the inning.
Missing badly with a first-pitch splitter to Dansby Swanson put Francis in a difficult spot, sacrificing count leverage with the bases loaded. But his next four pitches were absolutely painted — called strike slider, swinging strike fastball, fouled off fastball, called strike splitter that put Swanson in a blender.
Francis completed seven innings for a second consecutive outing and has now worked to a 2.16 ERA over five starts since rejoining the Blue Jays rotation, striking out 24, walking only three, and further solidifying his candidacy for a 2025 back-end starter role with each trip to the mound.
Of course, he’ll have competition in that pursuit. The Blue Jays will likely look to acquire at least one major-league calibre starter this winter, and potentially a second — preferably someone optionable or capable of filling a swingman role. There’s also Adam Macko, who was trending towards a promotion this summer before encountering left forearm soreness and getting shut down, and Jake Bloss, who made his second start with the triple-A Buffalo Bisons on Friday, allowing only a single and a walk over four strong innings.
Bloss is on a workload limitation and the remainder of his season has been carefully mapped out, but if he’s healthy and effective that plan will include major-league outings. His arm certainly didn’t look tired Friday, as he sat 94 m.p.h. with his fastball and ran it up to 95.5. After evaluating Bloss in their pitching lab in Toronto recently, the Blue Jays feel he has room to add strength to his six-foot-three frame this winter and hold that velocity more consistently.
Loperfido, meanwhile, who began his Blue Jays tenure mired in a deep, four-for-36 funk that saw him strike out in nearly half his plate appearances, is finally showing signs of life with two hits and a walk across eight plate appearances entering Sunday, followed by this rocket off Shota Imanaga for his Blue Jays first home run:
For Loperfido — who worked a 10-pitch at-bat in the seventh and added a well-struck single in the ninth — producing and producing soon is paramount as Toronto’s outfield picture is on the verge of shifting down the stretch, with players arriving from triple-A battling for their own openings to audition for a 2025 role.
Start with Nathan Lukes, who rejoined the Bisons on Friday after missing two months following surgery to repair a ligament in his left thumb. The 30-year-old’s done everything and more to earn a major-league role throughout his Blue Jays career — he’s hit .316/.388/.466 with a 125 wRC+ with the Bisons since 2022 — but has been the repeated victim of roster crunches when healthy and ill-timed injuries when opportunities arose.
Yet circumstances are currently aligning, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if Lukes had a locker in the Blue Jays clubhouse at some point during the team’s upcoming seven-game homestand — potentially as early as Monday. The club could open the necessary roster spot by optioning Steward Berroa, who’s provided immense clubhouse energy during his two unexpected big-league stints this season, but is a lower-priority prospect who’s started only twice this month.
Certainly lower priority than Jonatan Clase who, like Lukes, had two hits and a homer with Buffalo on Saturday. Clase played only 59 triple-A games in the Seattle Mariners system before being rushed to the majors this May, only a month shy of his 22nd birthday. Athletic and toolsy, Clase still has plenty of development ahead of him and the Blue Jays believe he’ll benefit from more time at triple-A finishing school, which is why he’ll remain at Buffalo for now.
But you’ll likely see Clase in the majors before this season is through, perhaps when rosters expand in September. A switch-hitter with 80-grade speed and a 110-m.p.h. maximum exit velocity this season, Clase possesses gobs of upside for the Blue Jays to try to unlock. When he gets up to the majors, they’ll want to see him play.
That could make lineup decisions interesting for Blue Jays manager John Schneider in September, as he juggles outfield playing time between younger prospects breaking into the majors, established regulars George Springer and Daulton Varsho, plus part-timers Addison Barger and Davis Schneider.
Of course, Schneider’s playing time already has decreased dramatically due to the deep slump he carried into Sunday’s game, hitting .165/.236/.250 with a 33-per-cent strikeout rate since June 1. And those opportunities could diminish further if Lukes and Clase enter the fold, and Clement, Will Wagner, and Barger continue out-playing him for infield reps.
Now, Schneider isn’t as over-matched as he’s looked over this recent stretch, just as he wasn’t as prodigious as he looked hitting .403/.535/.881 with 17 extra-base hits over the first 21 games of his MLB career. But the Blue Jays will have to walk a fine line going forward, giving Schneider runway in favourable matchups to continue trying to work out of this while awarding playing time to others who are earning it.
Toronto’s infield picture will crowd further once Bo Bichette’s ready to return from his right calf injury. The shortstop recently resumed hitting and throwing in Florida, and is expected to begin a running progression in the next week.
Bichette’s ramp-up will continue in Florida for now, but if he pops up at Rogers Centre any time in the near future for a check-in with Blue Jays staff, you’ll know he’s on the verge of beginning a rehab assignment.
So, once rosters expand and Bichette returns, that’s a lot of moving parts for Toronto’s coaching staff to maneuvre. Opportunities will arise for some and evaporate for others. The Blue Jays season may be lost. But a ballplayer always has something to prove.
