‘Every game is pressure’: Urgency mounts as bats continue to struggle

TORONTO — You’ve read this story before, at least a version of it.

You know how to recognize the narrative arc now, as the Blue Jays scuffle through the early innings against a pitcher they should be hitting. So many of Toronto’s losses have looked like the 3-1 defeat to the Guardians on Friday night at Rogers Centre.

Even though this wasn’t Kevin Gausman’s finest start of 2024 — as he allowed three runs over 5 1/3 innings — the Blue Jays’ offense is leaving its rotation almost no room for error. Two days after Chris Bassitt spoke about the reality Toronto’s starters are facing, saying that they “have got to be good” in front of a low-scoring offense, Gausman was asked how a pitcher balances that reality while they try to perform.

“As much as you try to block it out, it’s really hard to. The reality is, yeah, if we don’t pitch well, we probably lose,” Gausman said. “We’ve got to be really good. That’s not to say we have a lack of effort, but right now, offensively, we’re struggling. Defensively, as pitchers, we need to be better. We almost have to be perfect. It’s tough. It adds some pressure, but we’re in the big leagues and you have pressure every single day. Every game is pressure. It doesn’t add any more to it, but that’s just the reality of the situation we’re in.”

Now 33-36 in the season, there’s nothing complicated about Toronto’s path back to postseason contention. The team needs to score more and support these starters, who have been fantastic. If you’re tired of it, so are the Blue Jays, and nothing changes the direction of a plot like introducing some new characters.

Hours before Friday’s loss, in which the Blue Jays’ bats did little to back up Gausman and the bullpen, the club made its second notable roster move of the week. Gone is Daniel Vogelbach, designated for assignment after this organization tried everything it could to make his roster spot work. The veteran DH was DFA’d to make room for No. 6 prospect Addison Barger, who brings offensive upside with far more defensive versatility.

This comes just a week after Toronto moved on from Cavan Biggio for No. 16 prospect Spencer Horwitz, and while neither move will exactly cause the buildings around Rogers Centre to shake and sway, they finally represent permanent and decisive shifts, something the Blue Jays had been hesitant to make as they waited on the one thing their offseason leaned so heavily on: internal improvements.

Both Biggio and Vogelbach were beloved within those clubhouse walls, but there were baseball cases for both moves. Now, it begs another question. What next?

“We have guys here that we expect to perform. Some guys are performing better than we thought, other guys, not as good as we would have hoped,” manager John Schneider said. “If it means trying to shake things up a little bit, sure, but I don’t think that it’s a slam dunk that [Barger] is going to play every day. It will be a similar runway to the last time he was up here, and we’ll see how he does.”

These prospects aren’t being called up to ride the pine, though. When Horwitz was recalled, he was thrown right into the deep end, batting leadoff or second in each of his first four games. Barger can play third base and both corner-outfield spots, so there are even more avenues for him to play if the Blue Jays want to be aggressive.

The heart of this lineup is where the turnaround needs to come from. Veteran George Springer is in a particularly tough stretch, batting .197 with a .580 OPS this season, but Schneider expressed his belief in Springer’s track record and some encouraging recent trends.

“George has been one of the best players in the league for the majority of his career, and we’re going to count on him to be productive,” Schneider said. “It’s a tough stretch, for sure.”

It’s not getting any easier, either. The Blue Jays are barreling into a long stretch against the Guardians (twice), the Red Sox (twice) and the Yankees. Those teams rank fifth, sixth and first in team ERA, respectively. Toronto ranks 26th in runs scored. One might call those mismatches.

Whether it’s the new faces sparking this team or the ones you know saving the day, this offense needs a hero to save you from reading another version of this story again.