TORONTO – Nevermind that Corbin Burnes and Anthony Santander left and that Gunnar Henderson, Grayson Rodriguez and Andrew Kittredge are hurt – the Baltimore Orioles are still really good and a prime obstacle on the path to American League East supremacy.
A reminder of that came on the opening day of a season both hopeful and fraught for the Toronto Blue Jays, who amid the usual pomp and circumstance inherent to a curtain-raiser, before a sellout crowd of 40,734, jumped back into the fray without a long-term extension for Vladimir Guerrero Jr., along with all the corresponding questions a result of that.
Any hopes for a feel-good entry into the 2025 waters faded quickly as Jose Berrios gave up three home runs in five innings of work – including Canadian Tyler O’Neill’s pivotal three-run shot in the third, the sixth consecutive Opening Day in which he’s gone deep – while Zach Eflin gently worked over the revamped lineup during six innings of two-run ball.
Eventually, what finished as a 12-2 beatdown carried all kinds of 2024 vibes, as a revamped bullpen let the game completely unravel in the late innings, when Cedric Mullins hit his second homer of the day, a three-run shot, off Chad Green in the seventh before Adley Rutschman, with his second, and Jordan Westburg both took Yariel Rodriguez deep in the eighth.
Highlights were limited to Andres Gimenez, batting in the cleanup spot, hitting a two-run shot in the fourth that cut into a 6-0 deficit, and Alan Roden collecting a single and a walk in his major-league debut, which underscored how bleak the day became.
In the ninth inning, there was a legitimate debate to be had about whether backup catcher Tyler Heineman should have pitched instead of Nick Sandlin, the Blue Jays’ fifth reliever to see action.
One game, of course, does not a season make, but it underlined the Blue Jays’ challenge in climbing back up the divisional pecking order.
Still, notable for the Blue Jays is that three of their four hits came in at-bat with platoon advantage – Gimenez batting left-handed in the fourth, Roden in the sixth and Will Wagner in the seventh – and with the way they’re set up now, they can do that more often this year.
Last year, they had the fewest plate appearances with platoon advantage in the majors at 43.1 per cent, a category they’ve been at or near the bottom of the league in over the past few years.
With better balance on the roster, thanks to the switch-hitting Santander plus lefties Gimenez, Roden and Wagner, the Blue Jays aim to be more difficult “for an opposing manager to match up, especially out of the bullpen,” said manager John Schneider. “Constructing (the lineup) to where you have spots you’re staying pat and spots where you’re going to move, putting guys in those spots appropriately. It starts with how you start it and then that definitely affects, with how their bullpen is built, how they’re going to probably deploy. It’s kind of a never-ending puzzle, if you will, but I do like the fact that we have an opportunity to be a little bit more platoon-neutral than in years past.”
