The Toronto Blue Jays lost the second game to the Tampa Bay Rays, and the credit goes to a 5-run fourth inning that took away the game from the Jays. Max Scherzer started the game and had up 7 ERs in his 4 innings. However, more than Scherzer, the blame is on the Jays outfielder Jesus Sanchez. His costly misplay at the bottom of the fourth inning blew up the Jays’ chance, and former catcher Caleb Joseph feels Sanchez shouldn’t even be in the lineup.
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“Unless he’s gonna hit 40 homers for me, he can’t play in this game. He can’t be in the lineup, and you have to have good defense out there because that’s how they’ve been winning,” Joseph said via Blue Jays Central with Jamie Campbell.
At the bottom of the fourth inning, the Rays had their bases loaded, with Scherzer on the mound. Richie Palacios hit a routine, shallow fly ball. Sanchez charged in but bizarrely took his eyes off the ball to look at shortstop Andrés Giménez. The ball dropped completely untouched 10 feet to his right, gifting the Rays two runs. The egregious fourth-inning blunder caused starting pitcher Scherzer to visibly crash out and rage on the mound. The misplay opened the floodgates for a five-run inning, with all seven of the Rays’ runs in the game ultimately being charged to Scherzer.
No wonder Scherzer was not looking pleased with the development. He let out an audibly loud “F***!” after Sanchez flubbed the play. “That’s not acceptable,” Scherzer said after the game. “I’m a team guy; I don’t sit here and point fingers and talk about other people’s mistakes. I talk about my mistakes, and I’m accountable.”
“Today wasn’t the best day for him,” manager John Schneider added. “I’m sure it’s a play [Sánchez] would have liked to have made… He kind of looked like he kind of didn’t see it. Or saw it and didn’t see it. You’ve got to check with him on what he saw.”
It could be a reason that the degree of difficulty for Sanchez was raised with the height the fly ball went to. The Blue Jays’ $6.8 million outfielder was trying to find a white ball against a white roof, a task further complicated by the bright Florida sun. However, as per Joseph, Sanchez fumbling in the outfield is nothing new. This is just adding up to his woes in the Jays’ outfield.
The Blue Jays’ outfield woes are far from over
In the first inning of the same game, Sanchez misread a Junior Caminero fly ball. He chased it into foul territory before it bounced fair on the warning track behind him for a ground-rule double. Sanchez is not a 40-homer slugger either, compounding Joseph’s concerns.
“As an outfielder, you better hit 40 homers, and he’s not hitting 40 homers, ” Joseph added.
The Blue Jays are currently standing with a 62-66 record and 15 games behind the Rays. Thus, with chances of securing a wild card berth decreasing with time, the 2025 World Series runners-up need to pick up their pace. The only positive sign was how their offense tried to get back into the game after the horrible fourth inning. They added 4 runs in the fifth inning and another 1 in the sixth, but trailed by another run till the end. Alejandro Kirk scored a solo homer in the fourth, but that was not enough.
Sanchez has scored 8 homers so far this season. And adding up his defensive miscues, Joseph is uncertain about his future with the team. But with Jonatan Clase yet to return from his 10-day IL, the Jays may have no other option than to continue playing Sanchez. Clock is ticking, though, for the Blue Jays.