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Blue Jays bringing revamped identity, culture into 2023 season
The Home Run Jacket is a thing of the past as the Blue Jays adopt more of a “been-there-before” attitude.
DUNEDIN, Fla. – There’s a new regime in Toronto.
Gone from the Blue Jays are Teoscar Hernández and Lourdes Gurriel Jr.; in are Kevin Kiermaier, Brandon Belt, and Chris Bassitt, among others. The average age on the roster shot up over the winter – a sign things were going to change.
This offseason, the Blue Jays forged a new identity as the pieces and personalities quilted together. It started at the top with manager John Schneider. Blessed with a fresh start and last season’s postseason calamity behind him, Schneider wants his players to sharpen the finer details.
“[We’re] playing loose, but maybe not as loose as before,” said closer Jordan Romano, ready to start his fifth season with the Blue Jays. “Even on the backfield, practice has been really good. It's been high energy. You mess up a rep, you’re back out there again. It's not a lot of just messing around. It's really focused.”
Through the additions of veteran players and seasoned coaches, the Blue Jays have crafted a singleness that everyone buys into.
“I think if you just look at our team the last couple years, [there’s] talent on paper,” Schneider said. “It's all there, whether it's offensively, defensively, [or] pitching. I think the next step for this group, or any group that's trying to win a World Series, is just being very, very attentive.”
Romano mentioned how Don Mattingly, hired as the Jays' bench coach this winter, has helped drive that message home. As Schneider puts it, Mattingly’s presence adds a pinch of credibility to the club’s new detail-oriented attitude that only “Donnie Baseball” can provide.
“It's nice to kind of add on to what I'm saying with him saying the same thing,” Schneider said. “And then just believing in it; just believing that this is a difference-maker.”
Together, Schneider and Mattingly have set the tone – and the players have been receptive. But when you stuff a bunch of passionate baseball personalities together for one season, the dynamic heightens. Like a mosaic, each veteran adds a dash of what they think a good club feels and plays like, and if everything works, voila, a World Series contender is born.
Take Kiermaier, for example. He leads with non-stop energy, much to the shock of his Blue Jays teammates, who were surprised he’s not jaded after years of grinding in the big leagues.
