Three new Blue Jays made sure their arrivals couldn’t be ignored

It was as good of a start as the Toronto Blue Jays could've hoped for from three of their newest players. In their 5-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies that became a nailbiter at the end, the Blue Jays got into the win column thanks to the contributions of José Soriano, Brett Bateman and Matt Waldron. Two of these guys weren't even on the roster two days ago.

They all came to the Blue Jays representative of the incredibly hard puzzle that MLB GM's have to try and put together in order to create a winning ball club. What Ross Atkins did in that role for the Blue Jays over the last seven days was piece together three very different moves that congregated towards a victory on Saturday night (Aug. 7).

In Soriano, they were acquiring a "win-now" pitcher who can also help in the future. He won't hit free agency until after the 2028 season. At 27-years-old and in his prime, Soriano cost the Blue Jays three prospects to pry him away from the LA Angels. But with Toronto intent on bolstering their rotation with an eye on competing for a playoff spot next season, the Blue Jays weren't willing to let the opportunity slip away to get Soriano into the Toronto clubhouse asap.

Against the Phillies, Soriano allowed two runs (one earned) in 4.2 innings pitched while issuing three walks and three strikeouts. He faced a high leverage moment in the fifth after walking Bryson Stot and giving up a double to Justin Crawford. That put the tying and potential go-ahead runs in scoring position with the top of the order due up. But Soriano struck out Kyle Schwarber for the first out, then retired Trea Turner by sitting him down as well to end his night.

In Bateman, the Blue Jays gave away veteran Kevin Gausman to acquire him from the Chicago Cubs. The 24-year-old left-handed outfielder had never played a big league game until Saturday night. Plucking him out of the Cubs system was a move that was geared at not only getting a very nearly ready major league calibre player, but similar to Soriano, a guy that could have an impact on the team for the next few years. That impact came much earlier than anyone could have anticipated. Less than a week after the trade deadline, Bateman was in the big leagues.

He very nearly joined a small list of Blue Jays who have homered in their first big league at-bat when Bateman smashed a double off the top of the wall in left for his first major league career hit. He would finish the night going 1-for2 with two walks.

Finally, in Waldron, the Blue Jays picked him up to give them a little bit of depth in a bullpen that has been beat up lately. It’s not a headline grabbing move by any means, but it’s these kinds of moves that can make a major difference down the line.

Waldron came in the eighth and was the only Blue Jays reliever to pitch a clean inning. Three up, three down with one strikeout. Every other reliever walked more batters than the struck out so Waldrons efforts paid huge dividends late in the game.

Blue Jays still have a lot to overcome in 2026

The win is the Blue Jays’ ninth in their last 15 games. That comes off a four game losing streak (Jul. 19-22) and they haven’t lost back to back games since that point.

However, they are still seven games below .500 (55-62) despite being just 3.5 games back of a wild card spot. It’s going to take a crazy run for the Blue Jays to actually get back into contention with six teams to leap over. But the Boston Red Sox, have shown this season that crazy runs can happen. They have won nine in a row and are 32-5 since the end of June. If the Blue Jays need any motivation, looking to their division rivals is a good start.

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