Blue Jays Happy Hour

George Springer and Trey Yesavage are back, José Berríos is on the way, the bullpen feels in great shape, Kazuma Okamoto is making strides, Jesús Sánchez is providing power, Ernie Clement can't stop hitting, and the Blue Jays are winners of three series in a row.The Blue Jays are building momentum. Finally!Plus: Talking Max Scherzer's injury, Tyler Heineman versus Brandon Valenzuela, a crazy shirt giveaway, and more!** FOR AN AD-FREE VERSION OF THIS—AND EVERY—EPISODE, PLUS WEEKLY BONUS SHOWS, FIND US AT patreon.com/BJHH ** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Blue Jays finally won a series this week, and with Nathan Lukes finally getting over a case of vertigo he somewhat selfishly played through, their offence has started to look downright functional at times. And yet the biggest story around the Jays—outside of the ongoing Jeff Hoffman saga, which I assure you we do touch on in this episode—is the making of one man: Eric Lauer.The team's long man, turned starter, turned reliever, turned arbitration case loser, turned long man, turned starter, turned opener-hater, turned tape-wearer, turned malcontent has once again been making himself the centre of attention, weirdly choosing to fight a war of words with his manager through the media while continuing to not pitch especially well. What's up with that?We talk all about it in this one, plus injury updates, EloyWatch, Yesavage expectations, and more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Blue Jays bats showed signs of life on Tuesday, but went immediately back to sleep in consecutive 2-1 losses to the Brewers in Milwaukee that sent to club to its fifth straight series defeat. Their hitters are struggling, and even on the pitching side—where help is on the way—a strong performance from Patrick Corbin and back-to-back duds from Eric Lauer and Max Scherzer are complicating the path forward. Fun, huh?The American League has hardly gotten away from them yet, but getting back to a .400 winning percentage shouldn't be this tall of a task. Especially when, through all of this, we're simultaneously having to deal with Insufferable Closer Discourse (TM).** FOR AN AD-FREE VERSION OF THIS—AND EVERY—EPISODE, PLUS WEEKLY BONUS SHOWS, FIND US AT patreon.com/BJHH ** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Jays avoided a total bottoming-out of their vibes with a 4-3 win over the Dodgers on Wednesday, avoiding a sweep, but with a Patrick Corbin start on the horizon, a lengthy injured list, and a sputtering offence, the real worry isn't so much what happened over the last week or so, but what happens between now and when Alejandro Kirk, and some of their injured starters, are able to return.This week we talk about which of their problems is really worth taking seriously, plus a look at some minor moves, a check in on struggling hitters, thoughts on some new guys, and a record-shattering hot-dog event.** FOR AN AD-FREE VERSION OF THIS—AND EVERY—EPISODE, PLUS WEEKLY BONUS SHOWS, FIND US AT patreon.com/BJHH ** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The 2026 Toronto Blue Jays season has begun, and though the team has already had its share of setbacks—the Cody Ponce injury, all the returning guys expected to carry the load offensively coming out flat, Brendon Little—they've played well on the whole, and were just one hit from several huge opportunities against Colorado away from starting the season 5-1. So, with not all that much to nitpick, this week we spend a lot of our time discussing first impressions. We've finally got our first (official) looks at Kaz Okamoto, Dylan Cease, Tyler Rogers, and Jesús Sánchez. And we also check in on the early results from the groups of Jays we each chose in our WAR Projection Over/Under Draft back in February. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Blue Jays manager John Schneider and GM Ross Atkins were both heading into the final year of their contracts, and so before the 2026 season kicked off, the team did the only thing they possibly could, extending both of them for multiple additional seasons. Some of the reactions to this were oddly negative, and this week we discussed it—along with all the latest news on the club's roster decisions heading into Opening Day.  ** FOR AN AD-FREE VERSION OF THIS—AND EVERY—EPISODE, PLUS WEEKLY BONUS SHOWS, FIND US AT patreon.com/BJHH ** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We recorded this one before news broke that José Berríos will be seeing Dr. Keith Meister—the Keith-meister!—for a second opinion on his inflammed right elbow, but I don't think that changes a whole lot about the episode, or our concerns over the Jays' slow-building pitching depth. So have a listen as we discuss Berríos's flagged MRI, Trey Yesavage's deliberate ramp-up, the progression of Shane Bieber and Yimi García, Scherzer the potential saviour—and the dangers of believing in anyone's age-41 season—plus Vladdy continuing his October momentum at the WBC, an odd IKF-related announcement from MLB, and a whole lot more!** FOR AN AD-FREE VERSION OF THIS—AND EVERY—EPISODE, PLUS WEEKLY BONUS SHOWS, FIND US AT patreon.com/BJHH ** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, in a heavily pitching-focussed episode, we talk "phantom IL" stints, keeping eight starting pitchers happy, Max Scherzer's intangibles, early Cody Ponce impressions, Trey Yesavage's innings, European prospects, Joe Mantiply, Nate Garkow, and more!** FOR AN AD-FREE VERSION OF THIS—AND EVERY—EPISODE, PLUS WEEKLY BONUS SHOWS, FIND US AT patreon.com/BJHH ** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Spring has sprung for your Toronto Blue Jays, who are gathering in Dunedin to begin the drive for a second straight American League championship—and, ideally, more—as we speak (or, you know, as you read this). But that's not all that's been sprung this week in Jaysland. The team has sprung some fairly significant news here at the dawn of camp, announcing that the shoulder that torpedoed Anthony Santander's first season now requires surgery that may make his second year a write-off as well, that Shane Bieber continues to be dealing with fatigue in his surgically repaired arm and will be brought along slowly, that Bowden Francis is going under the knife and will be out for the season, and—though this was more a Sportsnet thing than a Jays thing—that the legendary Buck Martinez has decided to hang up his microphone, announcing his retirement after an incredible career in Major League Baseball that began before Woodstock.Not great, Bob! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kyle Sucker—heh!—and Blow Bichette—get it?—are significantly wealthier today than they were a week ago, having freshly signed incredibly lucrative high-AAV, opt-out-laden free agent contracts with the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets respectively. But are Blue Jays fans the suckers here for expecting more from their front office? Did Ross Atkins and company blow their opportunity to truly become one of the game's elite franchises?DISCUSS!** FOR AN AD-FREE VERSION OF THIS—AND EVERY—EPISODE, PLUS WEEKLY BONUS SHOWS, FIND US AT patreon.com/BJHH ** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Big Oak Era has begun! The Blue Jays have finally made a big splash in the Far East, signing the first ever position player to be posted by the 22-time Japan Series champion Yomiuri Giants, Kazuma Okamoto.A player of great intrigue for many reasons—including how he'll fit with the Blue Jays defensively, whether his improved strikeout rate in 2025 was for real (it jumped from a still-excellent 15.9% down to an unbelievable 11.3%), how well his ability will translate overall, and how much of a marketing win in Japan his acquisition will prove to be for the Jays—Okamoto was unveiled by the club in a press conference on Tuesday, where he charmed in both Japanese and, briefly, English. If he can contribute even just a little more than half of his 2025 wRC+ of 210 in the big leagues, he'll be an outstanding addition on a Jays club where his high-contact/low-strikeout skillset should fit right in. And his arrival doesn't even appear to have taken the team out of the running for top free agent Kyle Tucker or a reunion with homegrown star Bo Bichette.Fun times!** FOR AN AD-FREE VERSION OF THIS—AND EVERY—EPISODE, PLUS WEEKLY BONUS SHOWS, FIND US AT patreon.com/BJHH ** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Please enjoy in full our latest Patreon-exclusive bonus episode, as we continue our intermittent series of indeterminate length looking back on some of the key players from the 2025 Blue Jays, focusing this week on the team's breakout slugger: Addison Barger.WEEKLY BONUS EPISODES AND AD-FREE VERSIONS OF OUR MAIN SHOWS ALL AVAILABLE AT patreon.com/BJHH Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.