SEATTLE -- What a difference a weekend can make.
Four days ago in Anaheim, the Blue Jays’ foundation was cracking underneath them. They weren’t just losing, but suffering ugly, back-breaking losses late in games as they drifted a little further from .500 than was comfortable. Then, suddenly, it all came back together.
The Blue Jays’ 9-1 win Sunday in Seattle secured a series sweep, bringing them back to .500 ahead of an off-day.
It’s time to board the happiest flight they’ve had all season.
Making it even more impressive was that this came against a Mariners team which had won nine series in a row. It’s a surprising pivot from struggling against the Angels, who sit dead last in the same division the Mariners lead. But it doesn’t need to make sense, it just has to work.
“This is a very resilient team,” George Springer said. “It’s a close-knit team. There’s obviously still a long way to go, but to come back, fight, score a lot of runs and take a series here against a team that’s probably been the hottest in the whole league is huge.”
Everything about Sunday pointed to a difficult sweep for the Blue Jays with José Ureña on the mound and both Daulton Varsho and Anthony Santander out of the lineup. Everyone else did their job, though, which manager John Schneider has been preaching again after the Blue Jays got away from it during a recent skid.
The Blue Jays got big moments from where they needed them, including Springer's three-run blast, but also benefited from the best weekend of baseball Addison Barger has had as a professional. As they piled on runs in the later innings, finally separating from an opponent instead of letting them stick around, it felt like we were watching a new team.
Now, once again, the Blue Jays can exhale and begin to build something.
George Springer, reborn
Springer doesn’t just look better in 2025, he looks like a completely different baseball player. He’s become the definition of what the Blue Jays want to do offensively, taking more chances to drive the baseball, even if that means a few more strikeouts along the way. It’s working.
“I love this team,” Springer said. “I love the guys in the locker room. For me, it’s about doing something every day to help the team win. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a hit, even though I think everyone likes hits. I could walk or get hit by a pitch and score a run. I don’t care. I’m just trying to do anything I can and have some fun with the boys in the process.”
Springer’s three-run shot in the fifth was the exact moment the Blue Jays have been searching for in 2025 but rarely found, a big blast to turn a small lead into a big one. Springer enjoyed every second of it, too, watching it soar 416 feet into the left-field bleachers at T-Mobile Park. This was Springer’s fifth home run of the season, but he’s also hitting for average and walking more than he ever has in his career.
“For one, we knew he was capable of this,” Schneider said. “He’s understood when he’s good and he’s OK with that. It’s about the in-between stuff when it’s not a great game or great at-bat. I look to last year. Take his first at-bat tonight when he taps it back to the pitcher. That probably rolled into the rest of his day a bit last year, but he’s not in that headspace right now. He hit that ball really hard. That was vintage George Springer. This is George Springer. He’s a really, really good baseball player.”
Alejandro Kirk exits after taking bat to helmet
The series didn’t come without worry. Kirk originally stayed in the game when Julio Rodríguez’s bat caught him on a backswing in the third inning, but a couple of innings later -- after doubling and scoring -- Kirk was removed for Tyler Heineman.
Kirk has been diagnosed with a “head contusion” after the bat caught him in a strange spot and hurt his ear, too, Schneider said, but he’ll be evaluated further Monday.
Kirk may be the last player on the roster the Blue Jays can afford to lose, given how well he’s been swinging the bat and his value to the pitching staff. Down in Triple-A, the Blue Jays have eight-year MLB veteran Christian Bethancourt, or Ali Sánchez, who brings more offensive upside with an .877 OPS for the Bisons.