3 Blue Jays most to blame for epic failure in the Wild Card Series

To say that things didn't go according to plan for the Blue Jays in the AL Wild Card Series would be a massive understatement. It's been a season full of sky-high potential but limited followthrough, and these WC games against the Twins are a perfect example of that.

To the dismay of us all, the Blue Jays fell way, way short in this series, losing two games to none against the AL Central-winning Twins. While Toronto out-hit Minnesota in the first (and second) game, Royce Lewis became Kevin Gausman's father and singlehandedly carried the Twins to victory. Once the Twins secured the victory, it snapped their historic 18-game losing streak in postseason play.

Game two was much more drama-filled, even if it ultimately resulted in the Blue Jays failing to score a single run. This one will forever be remembered as the day that manager John Schneider yanked José Berríos way too early in his start and it led to a Jays loss. More on that in a bit.

Beyond that, it was just a matter of some of the team's top contributors going ghost mode on the team. Multiple offensive stars were held hitless, there were some horrendous baserunning blunders, and there were also a handful of pitchers that weren't able to match their regular season success on the game's biggest stage.

At the end of the day, the Twins were just the better team, fair and square. On paper, it has consistently felt like the Blue Jays were the better club, but it quickly became all about execution and only one of these teams properly executed in big moments. For the Twins, this is the club's first postseason series victory since the 2002 campaign.

Next up for the Twins? The NLDS, where their opponent has yet to be determined. For the Blue Jays? Time to go home and work on an improved 2024 campaign that should feature a very different looking team.

Let's reflect a bit on the disaster that was the Wild Card Series.

Here are the 3 Blue Jays most to blame for their Wild Card meltdown.