Blue Jays: The potential benefits of making the playoffs in 2020

The Blue Jays have a legitimate chance to make the playoffs this year, and that kind of step would be a significant development for this young roster.

The 2020 season has been a strange one by pretty much any measure you could find, and for Blue Jays fans, it may come with another unexpected surprise.

After sweeping the Orioles in Baltimore to begin the week, the Blue Jays have now pushed their record to 10-11 on the season. More importantly, they’ve made up some significant ground on the Orioles and others in the standings, and have started to gather some momentum. They could be facing a season-defining series with the Rays coming up, which sounds strange to say after just three weeks worth of games, but it may be the truth.

I wrote about it yesterday, and their playoff chances have increased even more after their third straight win over Baltimore. In fact, according to Fangraphs (as of this writing at 6:00pm EST), the Blue Jays are now given a 36.5% chance to qualify for the post-season. When you think back to how many leads they’ve blown so far, it’s hard to believe that they’re still in a relatively positive position.

Dan Shulman and Buck Martinez talked on Wednesday’s broadcast about the potential benefits of making the playoffs in 2020 with this group, and I feel like it’s worth highlighting at least three major points.

Important experience for the young core

Just as it usually takes a while for a young player to get adjusted to life in the big leagues, it often takes time for youthful teams to learn how to win.

We’ve seen that sort of thing in spades with the Blue Jays this year, as they’ve made plenty of careless mistakes on defence, forgotten how many outs there were, or fell asleep on the base paths. By no means am I making any excuses for them, as I’ve been just as frustrated as many of you have been, but it’s all part of having a young roster.

It’s important to learn how to eliminate those types of mistakes, which can be the difference between winning and losing at the highest level, and that’s something the Blue Jays still need to work on. Equally as important though is learning how to lose, and taking away important lessons from it.

That’s even more amplified on a playoff stage, and even if Charlie Montoyo‘s squad were to make the post-season as the eighth seed and get knocked out without winning a game, there would be significant benefits from the experience. The best in the world ramp things up to a whole other level in October (or whenever it ends up happening this year), and it often makes great players look pretty human. It also requires a preparation that many players have said you can’t understand until you get there and experience it for yourself.

With that in mind, here’s hoping the Blue Jays can get a taste of the playoffs this year, even (or especially?) if it results in some hard lessons.

Building a winning culture

The third point I’d like to make is fairly related to the first, but I still consider it to be a separate, and important concept. One of the major focuses of this season has to be on building a winning culture in the clubhouse.

What does that mean? The answer to that question can be a little different for every group, but it really centres on learning what it takes to win. Whether that means taking some extra time in the batting cage, the film room, or if and/or how teammates spend time together, it’s finding that recipe for success.

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As we’ve talked about, a huge piece of that puzzle is gaining the experience needed to win at the highest level. However, an equally important facet is building a belief that you are going to win every game, even when you’re squaring up against the Yankees or the Rays.

There’s no doubt that this young team has confidence, especially when you look at the charismatic swagger of Bo Bichette, or the quiet presence of Cavan Biggio. However, believing that you can be the best is one thing, but it’s another to believe that you are the best. As much as I love the confidence I see from this group, I sincerely doubt they think that highly of themselves just yet, nor should they.

With all that being said, taking the step of making the post-season, even in a year when there are eight teams that will qualify from the American League, would have to be a major confidence boost for the Blue Jays as they look to the future. At that point, it would no longer be a message of “we’re coming”, but instead it would be replaced with, “we’re here”, and that’s a significant step that I hope they’re ready to take.