The Blue Jays’ August surge didn’t look like a full-blown offensive explosion. It looked like something simpler, and maybe more painful for Toronto fans to process: competence.
For one month, the lineup stopped dragging the whole operation down. The numbers weren’t flashy - just enough to remind everyone how different this season could have felt if the bats had been merely average instead of stuck in the basement for so long.
Toronto finished August with a .706 team OPS, which ranked 16th in MLB, and scored 115 runs, also tied for 16th. That’s not a superstar offense.
That’s not the Dodgers, Braves or Yankees. It’s middle-of-the-pack production, and that was enough to make the Blue Jays look far more like the team people expected coming into the year.
The contrast with the first four months is brutal. From March and April through the end of July, Toronto’s .684 OPS ranked 29th in baseball, and its 433 runs were dead last.
The gap between that and average wasn’t enormous. The middle of the league in OPS was around .722, with the Athletics and Tigers sitting there, and the Rays ranked 16th in runs scored over that same span with 482 - only 49 more than Toronto.
That’s the part that stings. A handful of extra runs here and there, one more productive inning every few games, and this season could have looked very different.
The Blue Jays were getting enough from other parts of the roster to stay afloat. Through the first four months, they posted 7.0 defensive WAR and 11.8 pitching WAR.
The offense, though, was a wreck, with -40.2 offensive WAR and a 92 wRC+ over that stretch. It wasn’t just below average.
It was actively pushing the team backward.
And yet, this wasn’t a lineup that was whiffing itself into oblivion. Toronto struck out only 791 times through the first four months, the second-lowest total in MLB behind the Rays.
The problem wasn’t simply making contact. It was what happened after the ball was put in play.
The Blue Jays had the third-lowest hard hit percentage at 32%, and their .280 BABIP ranked 22nd. They also walked only 299 times, the second-lowest total in the league, with a 7.3 percent walk rate. They were putting balls into play, but too often they weren’t turning those swings into traffic, base runners or sustained innings.
August didn’t completely erase those issues, but it did finally produce enough results to matter. Toronto struck out 199 times in the month, the sixth-fewest in the league, and its walk rate was basically unchanged at 7.7 percent.
The bigger change came in the quality of the output. The club’s August OBP jumped to .317, good for 15th in MLB, after sitting at .305 through the first four months, which ranked 28th.
Several hitters were part of that lift.
Alejandro Kirk was one of the biggest reasons. Injuries limited him to 123 plate appearances through the first four months, when he hit .231/.309/.339.
In August, he looked like a different hitter entirely, producing .341/.412/.534 with five home runs, 20 RBI, a .946 OPS and a 160 wRC+ across 102 plate appearances. He also posted an 11.8 percent walk rate and an 8.8 percent strikeout rate.
Brett Bateman gave the lineup a new look as well. He spent the first four months in the Cubs’ minor-league system while Daulton Varsho handled centre field, and Varsho hit .260/.306/.396 with a 92 wRC+. Once Bateman arrived, he delivered in August with a .333/.384/.410 line over 88 plate appearances, good for a .794 OPS and 127 wRC+.
George Springer’s month was just as dramatic. Through the first four months, he hit .235/.319/.402 with a 105 wRC+. In August, he flipped that to .321/.370/.488 with two home runs, 11 RBI, an .858 OPS and a 141 wRC+.
Individually, those weren’t season-saving transformations. Collectively, they were enough to push Toronto into a better place. The Blue Jays went 17-11 in August, the fourth-best record in MLB, while their offense sat right in the middle of the pack.
That’s what makes the month so encouraging and so frustrating at the same time. It showed the Blue Jays didn’t need a historic offense to be a much more respectable team. They just needed something closer to average.
In Other News...
Blue Jays Add Catching Depth With One Intriguing Upside
The Blue Jays made a quiet catching move, claiming Shawn Ross off waivers from the Mets and sending him to Triple-A Buffalo. It is the kind of depth add that can matter over a long season, especially for a club that keeps one eye on the big-league roster and another on keeping Triple-A stocked with options that can move quickly if needed.
Ross brings a little intrigue with the bat, having shown notable power in the minors even as the strikeouts have remained part of the package. He reached the majors with Pittsburgh before landing in the Mets organization, and now he gets another reset in Toronto as a depth catcher with enough upside to keep him interesting if the contact comes around. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jays Face A Bigger Pitching Question After Latest Roster Shuffle
Jameson Taillon landing back on the injured list with right elbow inflammation adds another layer to a Blue Jays staff that has already had to keep adjusting on the fly. Toronto answered by recalling Ricky Tiedemann from Buffalo, giving the club another arm to plug into the mix after he has already appeared in two games for the Blue Jays. The move at least gives the team a fresh option while it sorts through a rotation picture that keeps shifting.
Shawn Ross also came into the organization on Tuesday after Toronto claimed the catcher off waivers from the Mets, though he will head to Buffalo for now. It is the sort of roster shuffle that can look routine from the outside, but for the Blue Jays it underscores how much of the present is tied to managing the staff day by day. The bigger concern is whether Taillons return to the injured list is an isolated setback or the latest sign that the pitching depth is about to be tested again. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jays Just Created Another 40-Man Roster Question
Daz Camerons latest stop with the Blue Jays has already come full circle. The outfielder was designated for assignment, cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Buffalo, keeping him in the organization after a brief run on Torontos major league roster. Cameron had only recently been promoted and is now back in the upper minors, where the Blue Jays can keep a closer eye on a player who has bounced through some unfamiliar territory in the past.
Cameron does have the option to reject the assignment and test free agency, but he is expected to stay with Buffalo for now. For Toronto, the move is another reminder of how quickly the 40-man picture can shift, especially with fringe depth pieces who are trying to hold onto a spot. Cameron has already shown a willingness to keep moving, including time in Korea with the Doosan Bears, and this latest turn leaves the Blue Jays with one more roster question to manage. [Read more 🡒]