Jansen heating up as Toronto pushes for WC home field

TORONTO -- The beauty of having one of baseball’s youngest lineups? They can still bounce back from a night of popping bottles and be ready to roll the next day.

The Blue Jays blew the doors off the Red Sox once again Saturday at Rogers Centre, with their 10-0 win representing the team's second shutout in as many days. Toronto’s lineup was relentless, out-hitting Boston, 21-5, and the team’s win keeps it in the driver’s seat for home-field advantage in the AL Wild Card Series.

“This is what they have,” said interim manager John Schneider. “They want to continue to put wins on the board, and they know every game is important. As fun as last night was, you’ve got to turn the page and come ready to go. They did that today starting with [starter Ross] Stripling, and the bats were awesome. This was a good day.”

If we’re being greedy, the Blue Jays would absolutely love to have home field locked up prior to Game 162 in Baltimore, allowing them to exhale for a few hours and rest some weary regulars.

Standings update: 89-69 (first AL Wild Card spot)
Games remaining: 4
AL Wild Card: The Blue Jays are 1 1/2 games up on the Mariners, who won Saturday, and three games up on the Rays, who lost Saturday.
Seeding battle: Toronto would lose the tiebreaker against both the Rays, who beat the Blue Jays, 10-9, in the season series, and the Mariners, who beat them, 5-2.

Saturday’s performance represents the fullest version of this Blue Jays offense. There have been many days, especially in the early half of the season, when one player would erupt for a game or a series but be unable to carry the entire club. In this one, Bo Bichette, George Springer, Teoscar Hernández and Danny Jansen combined to go 14-for-17, and when multiple stars step up at the same time, this lineup looks unstoppable.

For Bichette, this is expected. He just set a Blue Jays record for the most hits in a single month, lighting September ablaze with 48 hits. Springer is the club’s Mr. October, and Hernández has been making louder contact lately. But it’s Jansen who could emerge from this star-studded lineup to become a key contributor in the postseason.

“It seems like he’s always on base,” said Stripling, who threw six shutout innings. “You guys should look. I don’t know the numbers, but I feel like he rakes when I pitch. It has to be a 2.000 OPS when I pitch. It seems like I’m always warming up with [Gabriel] Moreno, because Jansen is coming in from being on base. He’s a huge weapon for us.”

Jansen went 3-for-4 with a home run, a double and five RBIs, missing his second homer of the night by just a few feet in his final at-bat. He’s known best for being a pull hitter -- an identity he fully embraces -- but we’re seeing his game broaden.

“He’s leaning into what he’s good at,” Schneider said. “He’s really taking great swings at balls that are in the zone where he likes them. It used to just be hitting the fastball, but he’s clipping some breaking balls that are in the zone now. He’s confident. He’s always had good bat-to-ball skills, and right now, he’s figuring out who he is.”

Jansen has also shown a knack for the moment, coming through in the clutch several times over the past month. There’s a reason the pitching staff trusts Jansen fully, and it’s that same steady hand and grounded mentality that lets him shine in these moments.

Whether or not the Blue Jays plan to keep Moreno as a third catcher on the postseason roster, they can be aggressive with Jansen and Alejandro Kirk, using one at DH while the other catches. Jansen has hit DH just twice compared to 51 times for Kirk this season, but the playoffs call for your best possible lineup every night.

These moments are coming more and more for Jansen, and the 27-year-old, who’s in his 10th year with the organization, feels himself settling in.

“This whole month of very meaningful games, having done it last year and having more experience playing at this level, has really helped me,” Jansen said. “I just feel calmer in these scenarios. It’s just about experience, and it’s been fun.”

Every postseason run has an unexpected hero. This lineup is loaded with safe bets, but Jansen has done everything to earn a share of that conversation over the past month, and this Oct. 1 performance could be a tease of what’s in store the rest of the month.