TORONTO -- While these waves of prospects crash upon the Blue Jays’ roster, they are still waiting -- and waiting -- for the veterans in their lineup to turn back the clock.

This organization has preached patience all year, both at the individual level and for broader team issues. Even as we begin to see that fray, resulting in the moves that have brought Spencer Horwitz and Addison Barger into the lineup regularly, manager John Schneider and the Blue Jays won’t budge on their belief in a trio of players with a combined 39 years of big league experience.

George Springer, Justin Turner and Kevin Kiermaier are the Blue Jays’ only position players over 30 years old, so this isn’t just a discussion of performance, but of age and the cruel realities of baseball. All three had their moments in Wednesday’s 7-3 loss to the Red Sox, sealing a crushing sweep, and the Blue Jays need to see more of those.

“JT is 39, George is 34 and [Kiermaier] is 34,” Schneider said. “I know there’s a lot of public information out there that suggests that they are on the downswing. There’s a lot of information the public doesn’t get, that we have, that suggests otherwise. Hopefully, that turns for them.”

Turner is already rewarding the Blue Jays’ patience, and if anyone deserves that, it’s him. Coming off an excellent April (.887 OPS) and an ugly May (.349 OPS), he looks like his old self in June and had two hits in all three games against the Red Sox.

Kiermaier had just two hits in June -- and none since June 8 -- but he singled in the Blue Jays’ first run of the game and later made one of his finest defensive plays since joining this organization, covering a mile of ground to rob Dominic Smith of extra bases and save a pair of runs.

Springer, on the other hand, is the most interesting case of all.

He acknowledged recently that he hasn’t held up “his end of the bargain,” but reiterated that he believed in his ability to turn this around. That echoes Schneider’s comments almost weekly. Springer doubled Wednesday with three strikeouts (.579 OPS) and showed some frustration -- rightfully so -- in an early at-bat on a called third strike that appeared outside. Schneider and third-base coach Carlos Febles had to quickly get in between Springer and the home plate umpire.

“He’s probably a couple of days away from getting hot. That’s just how good he is. Has it happened? No, it hasn’t happened consistently,” Schneider said. “There will be times that we try to guard him or guard other guys, but at the end of the day, I’m not nearly at the point of saying, ‘You’re going to play three days a week.’ George is George. We have confidence he’s going to get it going.”

This is all connected. As the Blue Jays have moved through Plan B, Plan C and so on with their lineup, it affects everyone involved.

Go back to those quiet days that closed Spring Training; no one planned on Horwitz batting leadoff, let alone doing it as a second baseman. No one planned on so many of the shapes this lineup has taken. Yes, every team in baseball needs backup plans, but the Blue Jays still want to get back to Plan A … eventually.

“Look, in a perfect world, you’re going George, Bo, Vladdy then JT every night,” Schneider said. “We’re just not living in a perfect world. That’s my goal, to get it back to that point and let them play, let them go be themselves. Right now, it’s about how we can best fit it and it changes a lot, which is not ideal.”

Being 35-39 isn’t ideal, either. The Blue Jays still have over half a season in front of them, but this club will need to decide on a direction of some sort prior to the Trade Deadline on July 30. The clock is ticking as they hover around .500, which they continue to flirt with but haven’t touched since April 29.

“It seems like we’re kind of stuck in neutral there when we get close,” Schneider said. “What we’re worried about is just one game at a time and focusing on that. You’re going to see the same two teams again over the next week and then a couple more good teams after that.”

Whether the season goes further in this direction or turns back around, the Blue Jays’ belief in their veterans will be at the heart of the story. They’re betting on them.