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The 2023 Toronto Blue Jays and Toronto Maple Leafs show many similarities to each other

By Edward Eng |
Alek Manoah and Auston Matthews
Alek Manoah and Auston Matthews / Cole Burston/GettyImages
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Why does the current Toronto Blue Jays team seem to look more and more like the Toronto Maple Leafs?

  1. Style of Play
  2. Using Analytics
  3. Focus on Defense and Not Just Offense
  4. Having the Right Mix of Core and Character Players

After coming off a clean save in a 5-2 win against the Chicago White Sox this week, Toronto Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano recently showed his support for his fellow Toronto Maple Leafs team in a post:

Players from different sports teams within the same city supporting each other isn’t an uncommon trend in the sports world nowadays, since as competitive athletes themselves, they would want each other to do well and succeed as a whole. In addition, they often can feed off that energy to motivate their own play, too.

But what is much more unique is the fact that sometimes, a team may inadvertently try to “model” the success of the other in hoping that it would work for their own success as well. Right now, it’s not like they are doing it on purpose, but the more you look at the makeup of the current Blue Jays, the more they seem to look like their Maple Leafs counterpart, like it or not. How is that the case? Let’s take a careful look at some of the aspects of similarity between the two sports clubs.

Style of Play

We have to all admit, both the Leafs and Jays are at times unpredictable in terms of what they do. They can be amazing and firing on all cylinders one game, and then lay an egg against a bottom feeder in another. In addition, they both like to play down to their opponent’s abilities, sometimes frustrating fans and viewers why they create such unnecessary stress. As a result, watching some of their games can sometimes create high anxiety and tension, leading to great fascinating joy or dire heartbreak at times.  

But one thing is for sure, they both have the flair for the dramatic comeback whenever they feel like turning the switch up a notch, as seen from the Leafs’ playoff Game 4 comeback from 4-1 to win 5-4 over the Tampa Bay Lightning, and when the Jays stormed back from down 6-0 to the Los Angeles Angels to win 12-11 back on April 9th. 

In the end, after some ups and downs and bumps in the road, they would always still end up posting a winning record for the season despite some lack of consistency in their play.

Using Analytics

For the Leafs management with GM Kyle Dubas at the helm, he focuses highly on the numbers and analytics in making decisions for the team to determine their roster configurations, and what would work best for them. Similarly, for Jays' management, with GM Ross Atkins leading the way along with the guidance of manager John Schneider, they too look at analytics to make roster and in-game decisions to help determine outcomes. 

Sometimes it’s good to just go with some common sense or the gut feeling once in a while, and let the situations or circumstances play themselves out, but if they believe analytics is still the way to go for success, they sure have to prove it can be done, and this year is a prime year to do it.

Focus on Defense and Not Just Offense

As many tend to believe, offense may be all flashy and entertaining, but defense is what wins championships. Both the Leafs and Jays never really took into that belief at first, with the Leafs playing run and gun hockey at the beginning of their current winning era, and the Jays going for the big swings and home runs in their recent winning era as well. However, similar fates appear to have met them both as they ultimately failed to get out of the first round whenever they made the playoffs the past few years.

This year, it appears they have taken a different approach, with defence being a major focus on their success. The Leafs acquired the likes of Jake McCabe and Luke Schenn to help shore up and toughen up their defence for the Cup run, whereas the Jays added the likes of Daulton Varsho and Kevin Kiermaier to enhance their outfield defence, hoping for similar success for a potential postseason run of their own at the season’s end.

Having the Right Mix of Core and Character Players

The current Leafs’ core is built around Auston Matthews, a perennial MVP candidate who is relied on heavily to carry the team when needed, and Mitch Marner, who excels almost at everything and could also be an MVP himself, whom were homegrown talents. John Tavares is included in this list as well after he was acquired to be the veteran leader on the team. The Jays’ core is built around Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (their perennial MVP candidate and often expected to carry the team) and Bo Bichette (who consistently excels almost at everything approaching MVP levels, except maybe defense for now), and George Springer, acquired to be the veteran leader on the team. 

The Leafs also brought in players like Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari, who brings with them tons of leadership and postseason experience, with O’Reilly successfully hoisting the Stanley Cup. Whereas the Jays did the same in getting Brandon Belt and Kiermaier, who tend to lead by example and who have had their own successful runs in the postseason as well, with Belt being a major part of two World Series championships.

In addition, the Leafs have players like goalie Ilya Samsonov, whose interesting quips in post-game interviews help capture the love of the fans.

Similarly, the Jays have players like Alek Manoah, who sticks up for his teammates no matter what, capturing also the love of the fans and the city.

With the current similarities in their style of culture and play, it’s no wonder they fully support each other in their winning ways, as it’s almost like they are watching themselves on their way to success. Hopefully, by the end of the Jays season, we will be seeing the Leafs do the same and cheer on heavily for the Jays’ own postseason run as well, and that both can bring home the biggest prize of all. Either way, Toronto fans definitely will have a lot to cheer about, both currently right now and beyond.

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