3 important things we learned about the Blue Jays this weekend against the Red Sox

For the first time this season, the Toronto Blue Jays have managed to sweep one of their divisional rivals in the Boston Red Sox. Going into the weekend series, the Jays were actually a dismal 8-23 against AL East opponents, so definitely many weren’t expecting such a result for sure.

But aside from finally being able to get over the hump in winning within the division, there were three other positive things that we learned from the Jays’ weekend dominance over the Red Sox.

The Blue Jays can actually do fine without Bo Bichette

Back on July 31st, when star shortstop Bo Bichette went down with a knee injury running the bases, many have feared that Bichette will probably be out for a while, and with that, the hopes of the Jays making the postseason would take a huge hit. After all, he had been the Jays’ main offensive leader for most of the 2023 season with his hitting prowess, so his void in the lineup would definitely be hard to replace, even with the recent acquisition of Paul DeJong.

Subsequently, the Jays had an uninspiring series against the division-leading Baltimore Orioles following Bichette’s injury and it appeared that his loss was in full effect on the team going forward. Fortunately, in the follow-up series against the Red Sox, the Jays have proven that this notion was moot, as they broke out big time offensively and handled the Red Sox in convincing fashion.

This was important to note, because it showed that the team could actually work hard together to make up for the loss of a star player in helping the ballclub to success. Since practically every ballclub will encounter their issues with injuries in inopportune times, the way how the Jays showed they could manage with them bodes well for the team heading into the stretch run.

The Blue Jays have late-round, homegrown talent be a difference maker for the ballclub

In the past, the Jays have had many homegrown MLB players that ended up making a huge impact with the ballclub. This included the late Roy Halladay, Marcus Stroman, Vernon Wells, Aaron Hill, Alex Ríos, and the more recently Bo Bichette just to name a few. However, the common trend among all of these elite talents was the fact that they were all drafted in the very early rounds, or in the case for the aforementioned players they were all drafted in the first round from the MLB Draft. As a result, it has been a very rare instance for the Jays to have a late-round bloomer that eventually made it to the big leagues and have a significant impact with the team … perhaps until now.

Chosen in the 28th round from the 2017 MLB Draft, Davis Schneider has suddenly become the unexpected hero coming out of nowhere for the Blue Jays. After being selected and called up last Friday by the Jays to start the series against the Red Sox, he has had one of the most spectacular MLB debuts that one could imagine of with the team.

In the series, Schneider went 9-for-13 for a .692 batting average, 1.887 OPS, 417 OPS+, with three runs scored, two home runs, and five RBI, while leading the Jays’ offensive attack. Obviously, he won’t be able to sustain this kind of production for the rest of the season, but it one took a careful look at his approach at the plate, he is a great contact hitter with good plate discipline. He may have the power to keep gunning for home runs, but instead, he could hit according to the situation presented at the plate, grinding out important base hits to drive in the necessary runs to keep the momentum going. Albeit that it may just be a small sample size, but it is this kind of approach that will make him successful no matter what role he ends up playing for the Jays down the stretch when they eventually get back to full health.