TORONTO – David Phelps walked into a bumping Toronto Blue Jays clubhouse Saturday morning, saw a DJ spinning beats in the middle of the room, laughed and turned to Ross Stripling.
“This you?” the reliever asked the starter.
“No, not me,” grinned Stripling.
Interim manager John Schneider was the culprit, inviting DJ Ray, a Blue Jays fan a few staffers had gotten to know, to come in and “break up the day after a night game,” said Schneider. “It was pre-planned, some players knew in advance and the playlist was open to requests.
“It’s a fun way to come into the clubhouse. It’s unexpected,” said Phelps. “Day games can be a grind and it’s trying to get the energy up. You walk in and there’s a DJ going and you’re like, ‘Oh, geez.’”
Vibes matter, and while such events won’t be part of Schneider’s approach on the regular – this wasn’t a gateway to some of Joe Maddon’s zanier clubhouse stunts – it is demonstrative of the atmosphere he’s seeking to maintain.
Even more significant in that regard is that following losses Wednesday against St. Louis and Friday against the Detroit Tigers, the Blue Jays had the music on in the clubhouse, albeit at a much lower volume and minus the body-moving beats. That’s a more notable change and one in stark contrast to the oppressively tense silence following losses during the 1-9 stretch that led to Charlie Montoyo’s firing.
The Blue Jays are playing far better now, with Saturday’s 5-3 win over the Tigers their 11th victory in the past 14 outings. Phelps said Matt Chapman put on the music following the 6-1 setback to the Cardinals “and I was like, yeah.”
“I don’t ever have a problem with music post-game, win/loss. I’m all for like taking a little bit of time after the game to decompress and take stock of what that game was. But it helps make it not be bigger than what it is,” explained Phelps. “Over the course of 162, you’re going to lose games. If we can, even after like losses like that, keep the good energy going in a positive direction, it helps us not snowball into something bigger.”
The Blue Jays did that Saturday before a crowd of 42,933, even if it wasn’t the prettiest of afternoons.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. helped get them going in the first by stealing second after a base hit and then scoring on a Lourdes Gurriel Jr. base hit to open the scoring. But Gurriel was thrown at second as Bo Bichette struck out to end the first, the Tigers eked out a pair in a weird fifth set up by a Jonathan Schoop hit by pitch confirmed by replay that was initially a double play and extended to 3-1 on a Schoop RBI single in the sixth.
Derek Law, part of the 2019 teardown season in Toronto, then unravelled in the bottom of the sixth, gifting the Blue Jays a big inning fuelled by a scary Guerrero hit by pitch on the left wrist and an error on a Gurriel comebacker.
Bo Bichette’s sacrifice fly cut Detroit’s lead to 3-2 before Teoscar Hernandez ended an 0-for-13 drought with a three-run homer that provided the difference.
Yimi Garcia delivered 1.2 key innings of relief before Jordan Romano closed out the ninth for his 23rd save and on a day they were more opportunistic than at their best, the Blue Jays will gladly take it.
That helped keep the vibes high and meant the beats were bumping once again post-game.
“The loss to St. Louis after the run we were on feels different. Guys are still loose. We’re not beating ourselves up after,” said Phelps. “That just speaks to knowing this season is a grind. We know that we’re going to go through some really bad stretches when you’re in the middle of playing good baseball. You don’t want to overstate a loss. We’re going to lose games. At the same time, if we can just keep our mindset on let’s win series, let’s keep the vibe that we have going right now, that’s the biggest thing, not letting one loss carry over into more.”
