The crowd fell silent as I sat in my seat in the nosebleeds of the Rogers Centre, completely stunned at what had just happened.
Blue Jays stars Bo Bichette and George Springer brutally collided and the baseball bounced off the turf. Game two of the MLB American League Wild Card series was tied at 9-9.
The Jays’ season and World Series aspirations were gone in an instant.
The energy in the building had completely shifted. Everyone knew, as the cart came out for Springer, that it was over.
An hour earlier, when the Jays lead the Mariners 8-1 in the bottom of the fifth, my friends and I talked about who would be named the starting pitcher for the deciding third game of the series. It was a game we would never see.
The hope for a deep playoff run that ended with the greatest postseason comeback from a visiting team in 146 years of MLB’s existence is a tough pill to swallow.
I bled blue this year as I went to a dozen Blue Jays games hoping for a World Series, but realistically expecting an outcome along the lines of a divisional round loss to the American League-leading Houston Astros.
The Jays entered the season on a high note, being named sixth in MLB’s first power rankings of the season. They showed their power with a 57-45 record heading into August’s trade deadline, where teams all around them made aggressive moves to improve. The Jays, not so much.
Pitching was a well-known problem as they headed into the postseason. Despite deadline acquisitions from the Miami Marlins in Zach Pop and Anthony Bass, Toronto still ranks second worst in team pitching, according to MLB’s postseason rankings.
For a team who sat at about the league average in pitching all season long, it’s usually not enough to get you over the hump against stronger competition in a field of 12.
The Mariners made an aggressive mid-season trade for Cincinnati Reds superstar pitcher Luis Castillo, which proved to pay dividends as he pitched seven innings, striking out five in a dominant 4-0 win over the Blue Jays in game one.
Kevin Gausman started opposite former Blue Jay and Cy Young award winner — Robbie Ray in game two, pitching a near-perfect game before being pulled after five and two third innings in controversial fashion by Interim Manager John Schneider.
Following the pull, the Jays gave up five runs leading to the top of the eighth, where the eventual centre field collision between Bichette and Springer would occur. The catch would have sent Toronto into the bottom of the eighth with a 9-6 lead, but all three runs scored and the game was tied.
The momentum proved to be too much as Seattle broke the tie in the top of the ninth to take the win 10-9.
Following the game, people mostly criticized first-year manager Schneider’s controversial decisions with his pitching changes.
The Blue Jays should look to make some serious changes to the pitching staff in the offseason if they want to be serious championship contenders.
They’re going into the off-season needing to deal with the rotation pitchers, after pitcher Ross Stripling is expected to explore his options in free agency, and a serious overhaul in the bullpen that has been labelled the Blue Jays “blowpen” as they continue to blow games with poor performances.
Some of the namesthat caught my attention were San Diego Padres pitcher Sean Manaea and New York Mets pitcher Carlos Carrasco, who are both free agents coming off of good seasons.
A trade involving one of the Jays depth pieces like catcher Danny Jansen or former high-end prospect Cavan Biggio should also be looked at for pitching talent to create a greater balance on the team.
Toronto having the second-best batting lineup in the league will continue to mean nothing if they can’t stay in games with their mediocre rotation and poor bullpen.