Road to title wide open if Jays play it smarter

The Blue Jays are done making bold declarations about their future. This year, they intend on letting their play do most of the talking.

Last spring, the Jays embraced the hype surrounding their exciting core. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. infamously stated that 2021 was the trailer and the upcoming season would be the movie. Elsewhere, players spoke openly about their goal of winning the World Series.

The ending of that film was a total flop as the Jays were swept out of the wild-card series in humiliating fashion by the Seattle Mariners. The shocking collapse resulted in a more muted response from those inside the clubhouse this spring, and while the end goal hasn’t changed, there has been a renewed emphasis on the present, instead of getting carried away with the future.

Third baseman Matt Chapman admitted in a forthright interview on Wednesday that the mentality was a bit different last season. He said the Jays “may have gotten a little bit ahead” of themselves after entering the year as one of the favourites, and this season they need to do a better job of staying in the moment.

“You get a lot of good players on one team, guys get excited, guys get confident,” Chapman said on the eve of the season opener against the St. Louis Cardinals. “But that confidence can be misleading sometimes.

“We understand we have a good roster, we understand we have a good team, but it takes that day-in,

day-out grind every single day to get to where you want to be. You can’t just out-talent teams. Last year we had the right idea, but this year I think we have a better understanding of how to really achieve it.”

Part of that maturation process involves paying closer attention to detail. For the position players that means hitting the cut-off man, making smart decisions on the basepaths and executing makeable plays in the field. For the pitchers it’s holding runners, backing up the right base and limiting walks.

The concept sounds simple enough, and yet for much of last season they struggled with fundamentals. In far too many close ball games, someone would get caught napping on the bases or allow a catchable ball to drop for a hit. The Jays looked great when they were outslugging opponents. During dry periods for the offence, careless mistakes were a driving influence behind an underwhelming 43-54 record when scoring five runs or fewer.

While teams can get away with some of that sloppiness during the regular season, it’s a different story in the playoffs when every mistake gets magnified. It’s important to create the good habits now, to avoid the bad ones later.

“Our goal every night is to win and figure out a way to beat our opponent,” said Jays manager John Schneider, who will hand the ball to right-hander Alek Manoah for the opener. “But when you take care of the stuff you need to take care of, consistently, good things happen. We get that we’re looked at as a good team, which is awesome; we’ve put ourselves in that spot. But what are you going to do to maintain that over the course of a year?”

The desire to field a more wellrounded team fuelled an off-season of change by the front office. Teoscar Hernández and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. were shipped out to improve the outfield defence. Lefty bats Brandon Belt, Daulton Varsho and Kevin Kiermaier were brought in to balance out the lineup, starter Chris Bassitt and reliever Erik Swanson to upgrade the pitching staff.

The Jays still have more than enough offensive firepower to outslug their opponents on any given night, but they sacrificed a bit of offence to improve in other areas. This is a team that wants to win in a variety of ways, not just with the long ball. For the Jays that involves increased activity on the basepaths, improved athleticism in the field and more reliable options in middle relief.

On paper, this group appears well positioned to challenge for the American League East title, especially considering recent developments out of New York. While the Jays got through camp healthy, the Yankees weren’t nearly as fortunate after losing three-fifths of their rotation — Carlos Rodón, Luis Severino and Frankie Montas — to injuries. That might end up becoming a season-long trend for the Yankees, who have one of the oldest rosters in the majors.

Elsewhere in the division, an emerging Baltimore Orioles squad failed to build on last year’s success by barely spending a dime in free agency. The Tampa Bay Rays are still a threat, but the Red Sox remain a dysfunctional mess.

The competitive window for the Jays is wide open. And with only three years of control remaining over Guerrero and Bo Bichette, it’s time to deliver.

“If you look back at a couple years ago, the way we ended the season, that tells you right there that every game counts,” Guerrero said through an interpreter, referencing the 2021 season in which the Jays fell two wins shy of making the post-season. “You can’t take it for granted. We’ve matured on that aspect.”

One could argue that last year’s Jays acted like they were the team to beat before ever proving it on the field. This season they want to be less known as the fun-loving club that hits homers and more known for being the pain-in-the-butt team that nobody wants to face.

Forget the silly club marketing ploys — #NextLevel or #LoveThisTeam — designed to spark interest online and sell tickets. The refrain continuously repeated in the clubhouse this spring was to never give anything away.

The Jays did far too much of that in the past. With improved balance on the roster and increased maturity, there shouldn’t be as many freebies this year. The division is there for the taking as long as those little things don’t get in way.