{"id":582843,"date":"2026-04-05T01:26:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T01:26:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/582843\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T01:26:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T01:26:13","slug":"blue-jays-frustrating-week-continues-with-sloppy-loss-to-white-sox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/582843\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Jays’ frustrating week continues with sloppy loss to White Sox"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO \u2013 About an hour after Saturday\u2019s game ended, Tyler Heineman<\/a> stood by his locker in a quiet visiting clubhouse at Rate Field.<\/p>\n

The Toronto Blue Jays<\/a> had just lost consecutive games to the Chicago White Sox, a far inferior team on paper, and Heineman, normally the team\u2019s backup catcher, had figured prominently in both losses. He wiped tears from his eyes as he spoke.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last two games, those losses, they’re on me,\u201d he told Sportsnet. \u201cYou can sugarcoat it any way you want and say there’s other things going on, but they’re on me.\u201d<\/p>\n

A costly baserunning mistake by Heineman and a subsequent throwing error did figure prominently in the Blue Jays\u2019 6-3 loss to the White Sox. But while Heineman was willing to accept full responsibility for the two defeats it\u2019s unfortunately not that simple for the Blue Jays.<\/p>\n

An underwhelming offensive performance contributed to the loss as did another poor showing from Brendon Little<\/a>, whose grasp on a roster spot appears to be slipping. It was, unfortunately, a team effort.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re eight games into the season and we’ve had some games that scream \u2018not us,\u2019\u201d said manager John Schneider. \u201cWhen we play (like) us, we are good. So, we\u2019ve got to get back to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Blue Jays are now assured of series losses against both the Rockies and White Sox and what appeared to be a forgiving week on the schedule has largely been squandered.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s been some things that are magnified,\u201d Schneider said. \u201cThe more you dwell on it and the more you say \u2018woe is me,\u2019 the worse you’re going to get. They’re very well aware of the standard that is set here and the expectations that we hold and what we think is important. And when you don’t hit those, we’re going to have to have some more conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Big picture, yes, this is a talented group with a respectable 4-4 record and 154 games remaining. But this has still been an exceptionally difficult week, especially since injuries to Cody Ponce and Alejandro Kirk<\/a> are further testing the Blue Jays\u2019 depth, with Kirk officially hitting the injured list due to a fractured left thumb Saturday.<\/p>\n

Midway through the sixth inning, the Blue Jays looked to be turning the momentum around. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.<\/a> had just homered to give the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead, but Little entered the game and immediately got into trouble.<\/p>\n

Miguel Vargas doubled off Little to lead off the sixth and the next hitter, Munetaka Murakami, hit a no-doubt home run to centre field. Two batters later, Colson Montgomery hit another home run, extending Chicago\u2019s lead.<\/p>\n

Little has now allowed more earned runs than outs recorded in three of his five appearances this season. More than half of the total hitters he has faced have reached base \u2014 often on hard contact. And while he\u2019d ideally neutralize left-handed hitters, both hitters to homer off him Saturday bat left-handed.<\/p>\n

The case for optioning him to the minors to revisit his mechanics and build some confidence has never been stronger.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to figure it out,\u201d Schneider said when asked about the reliever. \u201cWe\u2019re going to try to put the best team out there every single day, so we\u2019ll definitely sit down and talk about it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Otherwise, the Blue Jays\u2019 pitching was strong Saturday with Lazaro Estrada providing four scoreless, hitless innings. And after narrowly missing his first home run of the season in the fourth inning, Guerrero Jr. hit a no-doubter into the left field bleachers in the sixth.<\/p>\n

Still, the Blue Jays cost themselves a chance for further damage from Guerrero Jr. in the seventh when Heineman was caught trying to advance to third on a sacrifice fly. Making the third out at third is a baseball no-no, especially with a hitter like Guerrero Jr. on deck.<\/p>\n

“It’s just the wrong play,” Heineman said. “It’s inexcusable.”<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t do that,\u201d Schneider added. \u201cIt\u2019s as simple as that. Heineman knows that. Everyone in the dugout and everyone in the stands probably knows that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later, Heineman’s tough day would continue as he threw a ball into shallow left field during a rundown, allowing the White Sox to add two unearned runs. He said afterwards that his errant throw late in Friday\u2019s game weighed heavily on him Saturday.\u2028<\/p>\n

\u201cI just need to find a way to not let this stuff snowball,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I just got to take ownership of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before the game, the Blue Jays placed Kirk on the injured list with a fractured left thumb, an injury that will sideline him for weeks to come. A visit with Dr. Thomas J. Graham Monday will help determine next steps and timelines for Kirk, who\u2019d ideally avoid surgery.<\/p>\n

Considering his impact on the team\u2019s offence and pitching staff, the loss of Kirk will be significant for however long he\u2019s on the sidelines, but the Blue Jays are hoping Brandon Valenzuela can help minimize the impact of his absence alongside Heineman.<\/p>\n

Acquired from the Padres for Will Wagner last summer, the 25-year-old Valenzuela hit 15 total home runs in the minor leagues last year while earning a reputation as a strong defender. With Kirk playing at the World Baseball Classic this spring, Valenzuela got plenty of time with Blue Jays pitchers, which should help him transition smoothly at the MLB level.<\/p>\n

All told, rival scouts consider Valenzuela\u2019s skillset MLB-ready. More to the point, the Blue Jays do, which is why he\u2019ll start Sunday in the series finale with Eric Lauer starting.<\/p>\n

When the emotions calm down a little, 154 games will still remain on the schedule. To make sure they take full advantage of them, the Blue Jays must collectively find a way to play a cleaner game.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose mistakes cannot happen,\u201d Schneider said. \u201cWhether it\u2019s April, October or November. Those mistakes can\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHICAGO \u2013 About an hour after Saturday\u2019s game ended, Tyler Heineman stood by his locker in a quiet…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":582844,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-582843","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=582843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582843\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/582844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=582843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=582843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=582843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}