PHOENIX — 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 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.
“That was the Blue Jays that everyone saw [last year]," Blue Jays outfielder Nathan Lukes said. “That’s 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 “a blade of grass" of winning the 2025 World Series.
It’s also the kind of baseball that has been AWOL in the Blue Jays’ dreadful 8-13 start.
“We did the same thing last year, and look what happened," Blue Jays All-Star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. told USA TODAY Sports. “We’ll 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’t 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’ll tell you it’s still early. They’ll point out that no one is playing particularly good baseball in the AL East. And they’ll 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.
“We didn’t start well last year, either," injured Blue Jays DH George Springer said. “Not to say that’s an excuse. But everyone in here understands that you’ve just got to keep going, play hard, and we’ll see what happens."
So is it comforting they’ve been in this predicament before, recovered, and played all of the way to November?
“No, because you can’t just rely on last year," Max Scherzer, the future Hall of Fame pitcher, tells USA TODAY Sports. “This is 2026. It’s not 2025. That was a great year. I’ll celebrate that. Talk all you want about that, but this is 2026. This is the American League. It’s tough. The AL East is tough. It’s not going to happen the same way. We’ve got to win.
“Obviously, we want to play better. We want to be winning more ball games. But we’re not that far away. So as frustrating as it is, it’s not time to start panicking or anything of that nature. It’s more, “let’s just pick up the focus.’
“We know we can play with anybody in this league. We just need to start doing it."
Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (27) prays before Game 7.Shohei Ohtani (17) warms up before Game 7.Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Max Scherzer (31) warms up before Game 7.1 / 32025 World Series: All the best moments from Dodgers vs. Blue Jays Game 7Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (27) prays before Game 7.1 / 32025 World Series: All the best moments from Dodgers vs. Blue Jays Game 7Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (27) prays before Game 7.2 / 32025 World Series: All the best moments from Dodgers vs. Blue Jays Game 7Shohei Ohtani (17) warms up before Game 7.3 / 32025 World Series: All the best moments from Dodgers vs. Blue Jays Game 7Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Max Scherzer (31) warms up before Game 7.World Series hangover for Blue Jays?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’ll 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.
“We 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. “It was quick. George pretty much told us what to expect, and everything he said was true. But it’s over now. We’re just not playing our game right now."
Says Springer: “Guys 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’re 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 – the Blue Jays’ first Fall Classic appearance since 1993 – should instead be a motivation to return to greatness.