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Down 1-0 in their wild card series versus the Minnesota Twins, the Toronto Blue Jays were desperate. They lost the first game of the series 3-1, a game that might have changed dramatically had Matt Chapman's long fly ball late in the game been hit maybe half a foot further. It was a tight game, and a disappointing one: the Twins had started Pablo Lopez, a great pitcher, but the Jays started Kevin Gausman, their undisputed ace. They liked their odds, but they lost. And in game two, it was a taller order, with the Twins starting the superlative Sonny Gray (and isn't that just a name that feels straight out of early 20th century baseball). But the Jays were comfortable heading into game two, as well: they had a deep pitching staff all year long, and Jose Berrios was taking the mound.
Jose Berrios has been something of an enigma for the Jays: two years ago, after they acquired him from the Twins, he was great. Last year he was, by most accounts, one of the worst starting pitchers in the majors, sporting a 5.23 ERA. But then, this year, he turned it around. Hurt by a lack of run support, he only went 11-12, but had an ERA of 3.65. You could make the argument he was the second-best starting pitcher on the Blue Jays. And they were certainly making that, too, starting him in a win-or-go-home game.
Yesterday afternoon against the Twins, he was dealing. His split-fingered fastball, at its best, seems to head far outside the strike zone, dancing in at the last minute for a strike. And it was doing just that, breaking sharply, finding the corners. For three innings, he stymied the Twins' hitters. And then in the fourth, after walking the leadoff batter, he was pulled.
Everyone was baffled. Here was a pitcher who had, to this point, thrown under 50 pitches. His stuff was on, and it was exceptional. The Twins had baserunners, but purely by dint of weak contact finding holes. They hadn't figured him out, and it didn't look like they were going to do so anytime soon. With a bit of luck, Berrios could go seven innings, then hand it over to the Jordans in the Blue Jays' bullpen: Hicks and Romano, the 100+ mph fireballer and the closer with the hard fastball and filthy slider.
Everyone was baffled, but there were signs that this was coming: earlier in the game, Yusei Kikuchi, the Jays' fourth starter and a left-hander, was warming up hard in the bullpen, as if he was coming in soon. Genesis Cabrera, too, another left-hander. Something was going on. When the cameras cut to this, you could hear Buck Martinez, the Jays' colour man, shaking his head. "I don't like this," he said in disbelief.
By the end, Jays fans wouldn't, either. If it was a surprise to Martinez, it was to all the other broadcasters, to the fans, to the players, everyone but the group of people who'd planned this out. This was a premeditated murder by Blues Jays parties unknown: convinced they were clever, that it was going to work, they had (in their minds) the perfect plan. But Berrios was pitching exceptionally well. Why pull him? An hour and a half later, the Jays had lost, and their 2023 season was over.
The runner at first was, as they say in baseball, Berrios' responsibility, since he'd walked them. The losing run, and the loss, were ultimately his. But it was Kikuchi who came in and allowed two runs to score. And in a game that the Jays lost 2-0, this could be the major storyline. But it had to share space, because in the previous game, they'd managed just a single run, and in this one, wouldn't get any. The 2023 Blue Jays had terrific problems scoring runs, all year long. They won more than they lost, and often did so in very tight games. They had significant power problems, hitting far fewer home runs than in previous seasons. They were a light-hitting team that relied on exceptional pitching to win. And all of this was in display in game two.
In the top of the fifth, the Blue Jays had arguably their best chance: George Springer at 3rd base, Vladimir Guerrero Jr at 2nd, and Bo Bichette, undisputably their best hitter all season long, at the plate. Bichette is a contact hitter with power, hitting 29, 24, and 20 home runs the last three seasons. He's also lead the league in hits twice, and had a chance to do so again this year before knee inflammation sidelined him for nearly a month. And with Bichette at the plate, and with a full count, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. simply got picked off. He wasn't paying attention. He didn't know where the shortstop was, didn't anticipate the play. Sonny Gray threw to Carlos Correa, who'd moved behind Guerrero, and tagged him out at the bag.
And just like that, the best chance they'd get all game was gone.
Oh, they had other chances: later, Matt Chapman would hit a laser to left with the bases loaded that just fell foul. It would have cleared the bases, it would have given the Jays the lead. But on the next pitch, he hit into a double play, ending the inning. And outside of this, and their blunder in the fifth, the Jays were, actually hitting: nine for the game, but all singles, and only one extra-base hit all series. The power, streaky at best, didn't show up.
Zero runs on nine hits feels like a very 2023 Blue Jays score. All year long they struggled to score runs. Apart from a one month stretch late in the season, they were the worst in the league for batting average with runners in scoring position. Just make the playoffs, the wisdom went; just get in and you never know who'll get hot. Look at the Phillies last year, or the Cardinals in 2006. Flawed teams can win the World Series (or, at least, make it). Just get in, and you never know what'll happen.
But lost in the narratives around the teams that catch fire in October are all the stories about the ones that didn't. When the Toronto Blue Jays were swept in two games by the Twins last night, they joined this year's Tampa Bay Rays, Milwaukee Brewers, and Florida Marlins, all of which failed to win a game in their wild card series. They also joined last year's Blue Jays, and the 2020 team as well - each swept in the wild card series, each good enough to get in the playoffs, but with enough glaring weaknesses to get picked apart when it really mattered. Baseball is tragically, agonizingly hard. Sometimes you catch fire. Usually you flame out.
And so the 2023 Blue Jays season is over. Goodbye to them and good riddance, goodbye to the most miserable, most un-fun good team I can ever remember watching. There will be a lot written about this team for a long time: it had an elite pitching staff, the best I can remember after decades of watching the franchise play. But it was let down by its offense, and by its baserunning, time and time again. And yesterday, with its very season on the line, it was also let down by pulling Jose Berrios early, far too early, by people who love numbers more than baseball getting cute with matchups and advantages. Time will tell who was involved in that decision. But for now, for me, it's a relief. If they hadn't lost to the Twins, they would've lost eventually. The collective feeling was that this team was good but not good enough, that it wasn't winning anything. Better to lose early in the playoffs than late. And now I can have my evenings back, no longer watching them launch warning-track fly balls, or grounders that become double plays, no longer wondering how on earth their record is so much better than what my eyes are telling me night after night after night.