This season, the Blue Jays just keep finding new ways to surprise us. Whether it was their strong run earlier in the year or this sudden slump over the past couple of weeks, they’ve been anything but predictable. And a big part of their struggles has been tied to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Fresh off that massive $500 million deal, he’s been slumping hard, hitting just .229 with a .552 OPS and no homers in his last 13 games. And the man himself acknowledges.

“We’ve just got to win games. Win games. Obviously, we haven’t been playing like we were playing, and we haven’t been hitting like we were hitting. We’ve got to get back to that and start winning games,” Guerrero remarked. And his manager is not pleased either. Reportedly, after dropping the first two games to the Red Sox and letting the Yankees erase their six-game gap to pull even with them, manager John Schneider had a pretty straightforward message for Guerrero heading into the series finale.

“He needs to turn it loose. He needs to try to hit some balls hard and not say I need to get a hit,” Schneider asked Guerrero on the eve of the series finale against the Red Sox.

Things aren’t exactly looking great for the Blue Jays right now. When there were 12 games left in the regular season, the Blue Jays had a comfortable five-game cushion over the Yankees in the AL East. But now, after eight games, that cushion is gone. The two teams are tied at 90-68 after Wednesday night’s action.

As per the schedule, Toronto wraps up its series with the Red Sox on Thursday before facing the Rays in their final home stand. What else?

The margin for error is basically zero. Every slip-up opens the door wider for the Yankees.

So, with Guerrero still struggling at the plate, Schneider made one more public plea to his star, because if the Jays drop even one more game, New York could take control of the division.

The Blue Jays are now betting their hopes on Bichette

Guerrero’s slump is not the only thing weighing the Blue Jays down. Bo Bichette’s absence might be an even bigger factor.

Since Bichette’s absence, Toronto has gone 8-8 in 16 games, averaging just 3.63 runs per game. Compare that to the 5.01 runs they were putting up across 142 games before he went down, and it’s clear how costly it is to be missing a guy who was slashing .311/.357/.483 over 139 games!

The timing couldn’t be worse, with the lineup already stuck in an offensive rut. Still, Schneider sounds cautiously optimistic.

“No real change. Some progress, which is good. Just kind of day-to-day with him. I’m hoping sometime soon you have a significant update in the right direction,” shared the skipper about Bichette.

Earlier in September, the Jays had ruled out a regular-season return for Bichette. But now, with their AL East lead completely gone, shrinking from five games on September 16 to a tie on September 25, his presence for the postseason feels absolutely crucial.