3 takeaways from Blue Jays' shortened series against Orioles

After picking up a series win against the Boston Red Sox earlier in the week, the Blue Jays entered their weekend series against the Orioles looking to pick up another series win against another divison rival in the Baltimore Orioles.

Unfortunately, the first game of the series was postponed due to weather, which led to the teams facing off only twice. The Orioles picked up a win in the first game of the series, while the Blue Jays responded with a come-from-behind win in the second games of the series.

Here are three takeaways from the shortened series.

Anthony Santander showed off his power

While the Blue Jays weren't able to pick up a win on Saturday, Anthony Santander still recorded his first home run of the year, which came against his old team.

Santander is a notoriously slow starter, so there wasn't a ton of concern about his slow start. Still, it was great to see him hit his first longball of the season, and the fact it came against his old team makes it even sweeter.

Santander is now hitting .190 (12-for-63) on the season and should start heating up soon. The Blue Jays have managed to win even with Santander struggling, and the Blue Jays should be even better once he starts hitting more consistently.

Myles Straw impressed in the series finale

When the Blue Jays acquired Myles Straw in the offseason, he was an afterthought in a deal where the main acquisition was international pool money to help in Toronto's pursuit of Roki Sasaki.

While the Blue Jays didn't end up with Sasaki, Straw entered spring training as a Non-Roster Invitee and ended up earning a roster spot thanks to a strong showing.

Straw's mostly found action as a defensive substitute and/or fourth outfielder, but he got a start on Sunday and made the most of it.

Straw finished the series-finale two-for-four with two RBI and also drove in the winning run in the 10th inning.

Straw's now hitting .375 with two RBI and a stolen base in 11 games, and seems poised to hold onto a roster spot even when when Daulton Varsho returns from the injured list.

Jeff Hoffman continued his incredible start

There were some question marks about Jeff Hoffman health coming into the season, but he appears to have ended that discussion thanks to a strong start to the 2025 season.

Hoffman entered Sunday's game in a tied game in the ninth inning and ended up tossing two scoreless innings to pick up the win.

While Hoffman never played for the Orioles, it was a bit of a revenge game for him after the Orioles passed on him in free agency due to questions about his medicals.

Hoffman now has an impressive 0.96 ERA through 9 1/3 innings this year, and he's made the ninth (and in this case, 10th) inning as sweat-free as possible.

Hoffman's gone multiple innings in each of his last starts, which shows just how dangerous of a weapon he can be in the bullpen.