I mean it is clear the Toronto Blue Jays want to best the Yankees here in the Bronx in the first week of the season. One would say they are setting a tone. But others say something different which I will dissect later in this piece. Yankees beware—the Jays are coming for you.
The Toronto Blue Jays have been steadily getting better every year. They add to their roster while nurturing their youth and it is the youth that is speaking out about their rhythm that is beating loud against the Bombers. “We’re just a bunch of kids going out there giving it all we got,” Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette said. “We work like professionals and everything like that and we go out there, we just have fun, we trust in our preparation, trust in each other in the locker room. It just honestly feels comfortable anywhere we are. I love playing with these guys, it’s an awesome group," reported The New York Post.
Trusting the preparation is the line that got me. They are preparing collectively. And they believe in the work they are doing. I love that. It is honest work-hard-for-a-living talk. It is real and I appreciate hard work and trusting the process. I don't get that sort of feeling from the Yankees who once again only believe they can win with the home run—as evidenced by the last two nights. And guess what, that ain't gonna do it against the Jays or any other team that can hit with runners in scoring position and knock-in heck of a lot of runs. Last night's eighth inning should have been a huge run producer; instead, the Yankees strand two and get one run.
"They (The Toronto Blue Jays) appeared to be having themselves a jolly good time dispatching the Yankees 3-0 in the opener of a four-game series at the Stadium during which free-agent-to-be Aaron Judge — zero home runs in 16 at-bats — heard some boobirds when he whiffed in the eighth inning," reported The Post. I mean, I know it is early, and eventually, Judge comes around but we can't rely on his home run. We have to rely on hits from not just him, but the rest of the overpaid roster.
"Judge bet on himself to have a monster season so that he can get what he thinks he’s worth on the open market – he’s still saying he hopes to be a Yankee for life – but the pressure is on and his fan base may not be as accepting this year of the many hitless nights that every ballplayer has," reported NJ.com following the Monday 3-0 loss to the Jays. The wrong kind of pressure, I would say. Instead, the Yankees and Judge need to take a lesson from the Jays' playbook on winning for the joy of winning.
“I think that we’ve always been very confident in what we can accomplish. I think that the world is probably a little bit behind what we thought. We’ve known that we had an ability to make some noise for a few years internally. Obviously, we didn’t, but I think this is the first year that people are kinda onboard," said Bichette.
Maybe the Yankees can get their fuel from the Jays, or maybe how about just playing like them. I think the Yankees are missing a guy that can help in that arena— Brett Gardner. His presence brings much more than just leadership and spirit. He brings that fire and pressure to get on base that this Yankee team is lacking. Two down two to go before we ship off to the other bird nemesis we have a problem besting —those birds live in Baltimore.
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--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Senior Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof
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