TORONTO – Two on, one out in the sixth inning and Max Scherzer at 77 pitches, John Schneider jogged out to the mound rather than walked. When the Toronto Blue Jays manager does that, the man on the mound has a chance to plead his case, which is precisely what the 42-year-old righty did.
There was no expletive-laced venom Sunday afternoon like there was during Game 4 of the American League Championship Series, but Scherzer convinced Schneider that he could escape the jam and then he did just that. He then walked off the Rogers Centre field to a standing ovation from a crowd of 41,321 having allowed just one run over six strong innings in what finished as a 5-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.
The messy defeat – the Blue Jays gave up four runs, three unearned in the ninth right after tying the game – in their final outing before Monday’s 6 p.m. ET trade deadline left the Blue Jays 52-60 as they headed out to Houston for three games versus the Astros.
In preparation for the possibility of subtraction, they acquired recently designated for assignment righty Jameson Taillon, who has Canadian parents and pitched for the national team at the World Baseball Classic this past spring, from the Chicago Cubs for cash or a player to be named later, but their expected sells had yet to begin.
Still, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ acquisition of Tarik Skubal, which had felt inevitable, from the Detroit Tigers late Saturday night, was expected to uncork the starting pitching market, with one executive saying Sunday morning that he expected the market to move.
Sure enough, the New York Mets sent Freddy Peralta to the Tampa Bay Rays for outfielder Aidan Smith, ranked as their 15th best prospect by Baseball America, righty Gary Gill Hill, No. 27, and infielder Emilien Pitre, a Canadian taken in the second round in 2024, a deal that offered a rough gauge for how a rental like Kevin Gausman, for instance, could be valued.
As that market played out, the Blue Jays threw a little more intrigue into the mix as George Springer started in left field for just the second time this season. While Schneider had said recently he’d use the veteran slugger there against certain left-handed starters – Matthew Liberatore on Sunday certainly fit the bill – the timing a day before the deadline gave the move some showcase vibes.
With the right to decline a trade as a player with 10 years of service, five with the same team, Springer controls any process and all he offered about his future Saturday was that “I love this team, I love this organization and as far as I know, I am here.”
Between his salary and limitations in the field, he’s a very specific fit for a club, which is why the outfield start was notable, giving potential suitors a glimpse at how much defensive utility he might offer.
Regardless, Springer looked to be having a blast. From left field, he waved over the Myles Straw in right, turned around and chatted with the Toronto Blue Jays bullpen behind him and pumped his fist when Max Scherzer struck out Lars Nootbar to open his outing.
He wasn’t very busy in left, although he did have to retrieve the ball on Lars Nootbaar’s RBI double in the third that opened the scoring. Springer’s one-out triple in the seventh gave the Blue Jays a chance to tie the game, but they didn’t do that until the eighth, when Luis Urias ripped a double that tied the game 1-1.
The Cardinals retook the lead in the ninth when Masyn Winn walked, and consecutive singles by Bryan Torres and Jose Fermin brought him home, before an Urias error led to three more runs that broke the game open, the type of disheartening outcome that underlines why the Blue Jays are on a selling track.