In a shortened 60-game campaign haunted by multiple COVID outbreaks and the looming possibility that the entire season could be canned at any moment, the Toronto Blue Jays were one of baseball’s more pleasant surprises. With low expectations from analysts, the team surprised many.
The Jays grinded their way to a 32-28 record and grabbed the eighth and final American League (AL) playoff spot in this year’s expanded format.
In the club’s first playoff berth since 2016, Toronto faced off against the AL’s number one seed, the Tampa Bay Rays, in a best-of-three wild card series.
In game one, Blake Snell was the star of the show, showing the baseball world why he won the AL Cy Young award just two years ago. He went five 2/3 innings, allowing just three base runners and striking out nine.
Tampa Bay outfielder Randy Arozarena had a triple and scored the game’s first run. Manuel Margot added a two-run homerun in the seventh and, while the Jays scraped one run together late, the game ended 3-1 in the Rays’ favour.
Game two had much less promise. Toronto’s ace Hyun Jin Ryu was uncharacteristically off his game, giving up hits to six of the first nine batters he faced.
Shortstop Bo Bichette made two brutal errors, the second of which kept the inning alive for the next batter, Hunter Renfroe. Renfroe launched a grand slam just inside the left-field foul pole at Tropicana Field. By the end of the second inning, it was 7-0 and Ryu was out of the game.
The game finished 8-2 and just six days after the Blue Jays clinched a playoff spot, their season ended in a rather anti-climactic conclusion.
Apart from the Jays’ lackluster performance in the playoffs, there were still lots of positive takeaways from the 2020 season.
Overcoming adversity
The Jays didn’t even know where their home diamond would be until July 24, one day after the regular season started up.
When the Canadian government didn’t allow the Jays to play at the Rogers Centre, they pivoted to Sahlen Field in Buffalo, N.Y., the home of Toronto’s Triple-A affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons. The Jays made the best of it, turning in a 17-9 record at their temporary home.
The Blue Jays also went to extra innings eleven times in this 60-game season. Eleven more than any other team in the majors. Despite all that extra baseball and the added miles on its bull pen, Toronto still held onto that final playoff spot in the AL.
Team MVP(s)
For the first time since David Price’s departure after the 2015 season, it looks as though Toronto finally found a true ace. South Korean-born Hyun Jin Ryu was outstanding this season, fashioning a 5-2 record, a miniscule 2.69 earned run average (ERA) and striking out 72 hitters over 67 innings.
Even though he laid an egg in the playoffs, Ryu still looks like a guy the Jays can rely on for a quality start every time he takes the mound.
The team’s other shining star, Teoscar Hernandez, finally made some progress with his approach at the dish. In 50 appearances in 2020, Hernandez cemented himself as a middle-of-the-order threat, launching 16 long balls and reaching a career-high on-base plus slugging (OPS) percentage of .919.
To show you how good Hernandez really was, here’s a side-by-side comparison between him and former AL MVP Mookie Betts this year.
| Name | BA | HR | RBI | OPS |
| Teoscar Hernandez | .289 | 16 | 34 | .919 |
| Mookie Betts | .292 | 16 | 39 | .927 |
Not bad, eh?
A look at the future
The Jays young hitters all seemed to take a step forward with their approaches, minus maybe Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who has yet to really flash that blue-chip prospect potential that got everyone excited about him in the first place.
With Matt Shoemaker and Taijuan Walker likely to test out the free-agent market, the Jays may look to bring in a middle-tier starter on a short-term deal in free agency. Apart from standouts Rafael Dolis, and Markham, Ont. native Jordan Romano, Toronto’s bull pen will likely start from scratch in 2021.
The Blue Jays have a solid wave of prospects we could see next year. Infielder Jordan Groshans, 6’6” starter Alek Manoah and maybe even 20-year-old Simeon Woods-Richardson, the prized return from the Marcus Stroman deal, could all join the team in 2021 to add a little boost to an already exciting young team.
Unlike the Toronto Maple Leafs, who year after year find more cruel ways to torment its fanbase with playoff agony, this Blue Jays season and subsequent playoff exit shouldn’t leave a sour taste in the mouth of Toronto sports fans.
For a shortened season— without a home ballpark or fans in the stands—the Toronto Blue Jays should be proud of what they accomplished. Jays fans should be fired up for next season, as this year offered a glimpse at the young ball club’s potential for the not-so-distant future.
Featured graphic by Lara Sedele
