{"id":208347,"date":"2026-04-20T22:07:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T22:07:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/can-toronto-blue-jays-shake-off-world-series-hangover-team-being-hunted-usa-today\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T22:07:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T22:07:23","slug":"can-toronto-blue-jays-shake-off-world-series-hangover-team-being-hunted-usa-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/can-toronto-blue-jays-shake-off-world-series-hangover-team-being-hunted-usa-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Toronto Blue Jays shake off World Series hangover? 'Team being hunted' – USA Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHOENIX \u2014 Music blared in the clubhouse, laughter filled the air, and for the first time in what seemed like an eternity Sunday afternoon, the Toronto Blue Jays<\/a> looked like their old selves.
They lit up the scoreboard in their 10-4 rout over the Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a> tying franchise records by opening the game with seven consecutive hits and eight consecutive baserunners. They scored eight runs in the first inning. They produced five extra-base hits. They dominated on the mound with ace Kevin Gausman cruising for six innings. And they played errorless for nine innings.
\u201cThat was the Blue Jays that everyone saw [last year],” Blue Jays outfielder Nathan Lukes said. \u201cThat\u2019s what we were missing. Now, just got to take it with us moving forward.”
It was the kind of baseball that led the Blue Jays within \u201ca blade of grass” of winning the 2025 World Series.
It\u2019s also the kind of baseball that has been AWOL in the Blue Jays\u2019 dreadful 8-13 start.
\u201cWe did the same thing last year, and look what happened,” Blue Jays All-Star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. told USA TODAY Sports. \u201cWe\u2019ll be fine. Really, we will be just fine.”
The Blue Jays have looked anything but fine these first three weeks.
They are sitting in last place in the AL East, having lost 12 of their past 16 games, and haven\u2019t won a series since the opening weekend against the Athletics.
Their offense has lacked pop. Their starting rotation has been battered with injuries. And they have a serious closer problem.
They\u2019ll tell you it\u2019s still early. They\u2019ll point out that no one is playing particularly good baseball in the AL East. And they\u2019ll remind you that they also stunk last year coming out of the gate.
They had a 26-28 record on May 27, eight games out of first place, and went 68-40 the rest of the way to win the AL East, the American League pennant, and were two outs away from knocking off the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 7 of the World Series.
\u201cWe didn\u2019t start well last year, either,” injured Blue Jays DH George Springer said. \u201cNot to say that\u2019s an excuse. But everyone in here understands that you\u2019ve just got to keep going, play hard, and we\u2019ll see what happens.”
So is it comforting they\u2019ve been in this predicament before, recovered, and played all of the way to November?
\u201cNo, because you can\u2019t just rely on last year,” Max Scherzer, the future Hall of Fame pitcher, tells USA TODAY Sports. \u201cThis is 2026. It\u2019s not 2025. That was a great year. I\u2019ll celebrate that. Talk all you want about that, but this is 2026. This is the American League. It\u2019s tough. The AL East is tough. It\u2019s not going to happen the same way. We\u2019ve got to win.
\u201cObviously, we want to play better. We want to be winning more ball games. But we\u2019re not that far away. So as frustrating as it is, it\u2019s not time to start panicking or anything of that nature. It\u2019s more, \u201clet\u2019s just pick up the focus.\u2019
\u201cWe know we can play with anybody in this league. We just need to start doing it.”
Maybe, it was suggested, the Blue Jays simply are recovering from a World Series hangover. It was a long season. A short winter. And they\u2019ll tell you it did take a bit to recover this spring, just as Springer, who played for two World Series teams in Houston, told his teammates in a meeting when they gathered for the first time in Florida.
\u201cWe definitely felt it coming into spring training,” said Lukes, who had struggled with vertigo since spring training, but after seeing a specialist in Phoenix, produced six hits the past two games.\u00a0 \u201cIt was quick. George pretty much told us what to expect, and everything he said was true. But it\u2019s over now. We\u2019re just not playing our game right now.”
Says Springer: \u201cGuys have to understand that we accomplished something really, really special last year. Last year, we were the team that was trying to hunt everybody. And this year, we are the team being hunted. When you\u2019re not firing on all cylinders, stuff is going to happen.”
Scherzer, who has pitched in four World Series, winning two championships, insists that instead of any World Series hangover \u2013 the Blue Jays\u2019 first Fall Classic appearance since 1993 \u2013 should instead be a motivation to return to greatness.
\u201cIt\u2019s not a hangover,” Scherzer said. \u201cIt should be, ‘Holy cow!, that\u2019s what you\u2019re playing the game for.\u2019 It kind of gives you a bounce in your step because you know what the top is like, and all you want to do is get back to that.
\u201cSo, I never liked the hangover narrative. If we hadn\u2019t been to the World Series last year, you\u2019d just say we suck. Let\u2019s call a spade a spade. It\u2019s not a World Series hangover. We\u2019re playing bad baseball, not a World Series hangover, just bad baseball.\u2019\u2019
The Blue Jays realize there\u2019s plenty of time to get their act together. They\u2019re playing without Springer (broken toe), catcher Alejandro Kirk (broken thumb), outfielder Addison Barger (sprained left ankle), who are all on the injured list. They\u2019ve also been without starting pitchers Shane Bieber (right elbow inflammation), Trey Yesavage (shoulder impingement) and Jose\u0301 Berri\u0301os (stress fracture in right elbow). They lost Cody Ponce, who they signed to a three-year, $30 million contract, after pitching just two innings when he tore his ACL.
The cavalry is slowly expected to come back beginning with Yesavage, the prized rookie who was dominant in the postseason last year. He\u2019s scheduled to make his final rehab start Tuesday and rejoin the Blue Jays the following week.
\u201cObviously, we\u2019ve been taking our lumps a little bit,” Springer said. \u201cWe know last year is over. Every team is different. Every identity is different. But I think we\u2019re starting to find our own.”
Still, the Blue Jays have flaws. They have scored the second-fewest runs in the American League entering Sunday, scoring three or fewer runs in 10 games. Just 30% of their hits have been for extra-bases, tied for the third-lowest in baseball. No one on the team has more than three homers. Guerrero, the $500 million man and best power hitter, is hitting .333 but has just five extra-base hits with one home run.
And, then there\u2019s the closer\u2019s dilemma, with the Blue Jays already blowing nine leads, the most in MLB.
Jeff Hoffman, who gave up the game-tying home run in the ninth inning of Game 7 to Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas, has struggled with a 7.71 ERA this year. He has given up 13 hits and 19 baserunners in 9 1\/3 innings. Opposing hitters are batting .310 with two homers.
\u201cIt\u2019s heavy,” Hoffman said. \u201cIt\u2019s usually the reason we win or lose. It definitely carries some weight. You feel terrible.
\u201cI\u2019ve got to go out there and do what I do, and get back on track.”
Schneider says that Hoffman will continue to be their closer. Well, at least for now. The leash, however, may be short.
\u201cHe\u2019s going through it,” Scherzer said. \u201cHe\u2019s got to figure it out and come out the other side. When you do, you\u2019re better for it. You learn something about yourself.
\u201cIt\u2019s the ‘evolve or die’ mentality. You\u2019ve got to find a way to get better.\u2019\u2019
Really, it\u2019s the same mantra for the Blue Jays, who are now headed to Anaheim for a three-game series beginning Monday against the Angels.
\u201cObviously, we\u2019ve dealt with a lot of adversity,” said Blue Jays starter Dylan Cease, their $210 million free-agent signing during the winter. \u201cBut it\u2019s early. There\u2019s still a lot of time to make up ground and ultimately show what we\u2019re really capable of.
\u201cBut we\u2019re not just waiting for it to happen. We can\u2019t afford to do that.\u2019\u2019
Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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PHOENIX \u2014 Music blared in the clubhouse, laughter filled the air, and for the first time in what seemed like an eternity Sunday afternoon, the Toronto Blue Jays looked like their old selves.They lit up the scoreboard in their 10-4 rout over the Arizona Diamondbacks tying franchise records by opening the game with seven consecutive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":208348,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-208347","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208347\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}