Blue Jays show they’re serious by narrowing their focus series by series

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HOUSTON — Eventually, the Blue Jays want to play in series far more meaningful than a three-gamer at Minute Maid Park or, before that, Fenway.

But that ultimate goal is still months down the road.

So in the micro view of a 162-game season, the focus on winning series after series is both a means of narrowing focus and a motivational tool in the midst of the grind.

And so far so good for a team that has yet to lose one of the five that they’ve been in (4-0-1) early in this 2022 season.

While no one expects the Jays to continue at that rate, the more series you win or draw, the more the numbers add up favorably as the months advance.

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“What we talk about in the bullpen especially is the focus on winning series,” Jays reliever David Phelps said in an interview. “If we look too much in the long view, you lose track of what we’re trying to do in the short term.

“We focus on the game at hand, but if you have a three-game series and you win two out of three and then you do that over 162, it’s going to be a really good year.”

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It’s a particularly handsome result during the rather stout early-season schedule the Jays have slogged through. Series wins against the Astros, Red Sox and a draw in a four-gamer against the Yankees have all had their degree of impressiveness.

“If you’re going to be good, you’ve got to beat the good teams,” Jays bench coach, John Schneider said. “Definitely, it’s something we’re up for and looking forward to.”

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It doesn’t hurt that they’ve played in noisy environments in every game, including the 39,534 who were at Minute Maid on Sunday. In fact, for the first time in club history, the Jays have played their first 16 games without one contest having an attendance of less than 25,000

“Hard environments to play baseball in against two teams used to play at the end of the year,” said third baseman Matt Chapman said in reference to one-run wins with late-season drama at both Fenway and Minute Maid. “I feel like it shows the kind of character our team has.

“I think that’s how it’s going to be this whole season. Every game is precious. This team knows that. They missed out on the playoffs by one game last year and that hurts.”

That character has certainly been on display as the Jays have compiled a 10-6 record through their first 16 games. Also notable of that single-minded focus is the fact that they are 5-2 in one-run games following Sunday’s 8-7 loss in 10 innings.

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The little things are paying off: Solid defense, clutch hitting (making up for the absence of Teoscar Hernandez) and superb work from a bullpen that is deeper than it has been in years.

The offense has been nowhere near as explosive as most expected it to be, but there isn’t a whisper of worry that such production will re-surface soon enough.

“We know what this offense is capable of doing,” Phelps said. “The fact our record is what it is with what we’ve dealt with so far… we like the spot we’re in.

“We’re going to have guys coming back. We’re going to have guys starting to get hot. We know we’re going to win a lot more games with our offense than we’re not.”

So far, that has been precisely the case. Prior to Sunday’s game, the Jays were averaging 3.9 runs per game, 17th in the league and a hair below the MLB average of 4.0. It’s a stark difference from the bombing attack of 2021 that averaged 5.2 runs per game, third best in all of baseball.

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The absence of Hernandez probably shouldn’t be underestimated, yet still his teammates compiled a 6-3 record during his first nine games on the injury list.

So, instead of blowing out opponents — they have just one win by more than three runs — the Jays are knuckling down and focusing on the here and now and winning tough games.

“The goal is to win as many games as possible and to win as many series as possible,” Jays field co-ordinator Gil Kim said. “Chunking it down into series-by-series, or day-by-day just helps you focus on what’s present right now.

“That’s really important when you have a season as long as what we have.”

Kim says the team takes its preparation extremely seriously and the early results have been paying off.

“Everybody in that clubhouse is prepared to go compete every night,” Kim said. “The players, they get there by sticking with our process every day and being as mentally and physically prepared. And that starts from the moment we wake up to the moment we leave the ball park.

“There’s a lot more that happens in the course of the day than just three hours of the game, although that’s the most important hours. We like to think that once the game starts we’re as prepared as we possibly can be and that gives an extra level of confidence to go out and compete.”