Blue Jays week in review: the good, the bad and the noteworthy for June 9

They say patience is a virtue and that can’t be more true than with what Toronto Blue Jays Fans have experience in 2025. “These guys are close, they will heat up,” lamented Jays Manager John Schneider throughout April and into May.

The future has become the present as the Blue Jays are playing their best baseball this season, despite the week ending on a sour note. They went 4-2 against two very good opponents in the Phillies and the Twins. While the week was bookended by loss, Toronto picked up four wins in a row between Wednesday and Saturday, and it gives them a second straight week of playing better than .500 baseball.

They are five games above .500 now at 35-30, giving them an identical record to the Rays and the Twins, who hold down the other two wild card spots at weeks end. Toronto have also won their last four series and have outscored their opponents 172-139 since the beginning of May.

Let’s see what got them there, what needs to improve and what was noteworthy over the last seven days.

Blue Jays week in review: the good, the bad and the noteworthy

The Good: Springing forward in June

George Springer keeps putting them over the porch! The 35-year-old veteran has done everything the Blue Jays have asked him this season and after a disappointing 2024 campaign, he has bounced back to have one of his better years since becoming a Blue Jay. From starting in the lower half of the lineup at the beginning of the year, to taking on a DH role in the last few games, Springer has taken everything in stride. For a guy who has been around for as long as he has, Springer has shown no ego, willing to help out the team wherever they need him.

Springer has five home runs and ten RBIs in his last ten games, which has bumped his OPS up to .854. That is 180 points higher than his .674-mark last season, the wors of his career. His team leading 10th home run might have been the biggest of the season so far. It was a two-run shot in the top of the eighth on Saturday, which gave the Blue Jays a lead, en-route to a fourth straight win against a Wild Card rival.

The Bad: What to do with Bowden Francis?

While the Blue Jays pitching has largely been a plus for them this season. Francis has had to battle for every out this season. That continued again this week with the Blue Jays only losses coming in games in which Francis started. On Tuesday against the Phillies, Francis allowed seven runs (six earned) in just 1.2 IP, putting the Blue Jays in an early hole they couldn’t climb out of.

Looking for a bounce back outing on Sunday, Francis took the hill in Minnesota, hoping to lead the Blue Jays to a sweep. He only lasted 3.1 IP while allowing four earned runs to the Twins, including back-to-back home runs to Brooks Lee and Christian Vàsquez (the eighth and ninth hitters in the lineup) in the fourth inning.

Francis’ season ERA now sits at 6.12 and he hasn’t been able to find the success that made him so dominant at the end of 2024 when he gave up just 10 earned runs in 59.1 IP while striking out 56 hitters in August and September.

The noteworthy: They keep coming back!

The Blue Jays are building a reputation for never being out of game this season. Saturday’s win over the Twins was their 19th come-from-behind win this year, which is the second-most in the league. The Blue Jays had 25 of those victories in all of 2024.

While it does create some havoc and stress on the pitching, knowing that they are within striking distance at any time, at any point, makes them a dangerous team to play against. The Phillies experience this on Wednesday, when the Blue Jays overcame a 1-0 deficit in the sixth inning, leading to an Alejandro Kirk walk-off in the ninth.

The Twins had a lead in all three games against the Blue Jays, only for Toronto to come back and win two of those contests.

On Deck: NL road tripping

The Blue Jays get back to back interleague series this week, starting with a three game set on Monday against the Cardinals, in St. Louis. This will be Toronto’s first visit to St. Louis since a season opening series at Busch Stadium III in 2023. Toronto and St. Louis have 14-14 records against each other all-time, while the Blue Jays took all three games at Rogers Centre last year in their only meeting.

Andre Pallante (4-3 4.91 ERA) is expected to take the mound for the Cardinals (36-29) while the Blue Jays will counter with Jose Berrios (2-2 3.67 ERA). Following this series, the Blue Jays will play three games in Philadelphia beginning on Friday.