Blue Jays flip the script in Wild Card rematch with Mariners

TORONTO -- There were a dozen different moments in the series opener against the Mariners when the movie would have stopped, zoomed in on a player’s face and jumped to a flashback of that nightmarish 2022 Wild Card Series.

It was Alek Manoah versus Luis Castillo on a cool Friday night with the dome closed and a packed house, just like Game 1. Cal Raleigh wrapped a home run around the right-field foul pole off Manoah, just like last time, and Manoah eventually handed things off to Tim Mayza and Yimi García for the sake of script continuity.

Toronto’s Game 2 loss last year, an 8-1 lead that became a 10-9 defeat in one of this organization’s lowest moments in decades, even reached a hand up from the grave with a harmless reminder when Ty France popped out to shallow center in the first inning on Friday. As those at Rogers Centre saw Whit Merrifield and Kevin Kiermaier coming together, images of the collision between Bo Bichette and George Springer came rushing back.

History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.

The Blue Jays won 3-2 this time, though, another step in the right direction on a long road back. Measuring sticks and litmus tests are typically empty narratives, but when you freeze these two moments in time, they can paint a picture of just how much Toronto -- currently on a five-game winning streak -- has changed.

“I think we’re better on the bases. I think we’re a little bit tighter defensively,” manager John Schneider said before the game. “Our lineup looks different with [several] left-handed hitters as opposed to maybe one [last year]. We’re a little more balanced. I think our bullpen floor got raised a little bit, too.”

Well, that’s four ways in which this team has evolved. Come October, they could make all the difference.

'We’re better on the bases'

Without question, it’s true. Kiermaier and Daulton Varsho improved this the moment they crossed the border, but we’re finally seeing the proper balance of aggression and intelligence from Blue Jays baserunners.

Not everything needs to be beautifully executed baseball, though. There’s joy in the chaos, like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. rounding the bases to score on Matt Chapman’s double on Friday. As he rounded second with a bright, wide smile, Guerrero ditched his helmet, then threw off a wrist guard halfway to home and slid in head-first, his limbs splashed out in every direction.

Come October, you’re facing aces and closers. That means plenty of 4-3 and 3-1 games, so if baserunning can steal a run at some point, it can be a difference-maker the Blue Jays lacked before.

'We’re a little bit tighter defensively'

This is another improvement that came naturally with Kiermaier and Varsho, sliding Springer to right field for an elite defensive trio. Chapman’s defensive metrics should rebound eventually to make him the star of this group, but the catchers hold up their end, too.

We already know that Alejandro Kirk and Danny Jansen are among baseball’s best at pitch blocking, but Kirk made the defensive play of the game for the Blue Jays Friday, adjusting to receive a Manoah pitch down and away before delivering a perfect throw to get Julio Rodríguez trying to steal second. Merrifield’s glove was already glued to Rodríguez as he made the catch.

“It’s obviously something we prioritized this offseason, run prevention,” Manoah said. “Those little things are showing.”

'We’re a little more balanced'

You think? Last season, Toronto took 4,638 at-bats from the right side. It didn’t just lead MLB, it was the most right-handed bats a team had taken since the 1993 Rockies. The 917 at-bats they gave lefties ranked dead last, and once again, was the fewest since those '93 Rockies.

Kirk’s second home run of the season led the offense Friday, but still, there were three lefties in the lineup. The fact they entered Friday 25th in lefty at-bats is already an improvement. Come October, when their opponent has a stud reliever who dominates righties, they’ll be far less at risk.

'Our bullpen floor got raised a little bit, too'

Teoscar Hernández is on the other side of this, dealt to the Mariners over the offseason for Erik Swanson, whose addition deepened Toronto’s bullpen and given it far more upside -- as evidenced by four dominant innings on Friday.

“The bullpen, I can’t say enough about them right now,” Schneider said. “They were lights out.”

After the Mariners advanced last year, their own season ended in a 18-inning marathon against the Astros that pushed each bullpen to its breaking point. When pushed, the Blue Jays’ bullpen can bend a little further before it breaks.