TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays snatched a series win over the Chicago Cubs on Thursday. The 2-1 victory came on the back of seven efficient innings from Max Scherzer and a clutch late-game blast from Vladimir Guerrero Jr., with both players in the midst of their season’s best stretches.
The Jays held the second-best offence in baseball to just six runs across three contests, expanding their American League East lead to five games. Here are four takeaways from the series and key decisions Toronto will face in the coming days.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s second-half surge returns
Guerrero leaned against his locker ahead of a late-July contest, expressing a quiet confidence. He’d hit just one home run in the previous 16 games, on pace for his fewest in a full season.
“The home runs are going to come,” he said at the time. “And I know when they come, they’re going to come a tonne.”
Since then, Guerrero has seven home runs in 20 games — a 56-homer full-season pace. He’s hit .367 in that stretch with an OPS over 1.100. On Thursday, the franchise slugger launched a two-run shot to left field, scoring Toronto’s only runs. He paused for a moment after connecting with the pitch, holding his bat up in obvious celebration. The homer came on a curveball on the outside edge of the plate, but there was no struggle for Guerrero to reach it.
“To be honest with you,” Guerrero said through team interpreter Hector Lebron, “I saw that pitch right down the middle.”
Guerrero’s recent run is a mirror of his second-half surge from 2024, when he hit .376 with a 1.127 OPS after the All-Star break. That late-summer success was a footnote in a 74-win season, with the team already out of contention. This year, on a team fighting for a pennant, Guerrero’s ascendance holds real meaning.
An impending roster decision
George Springer cleared concussion protocol Wednesday and joined the Buffalo Bisons for a brief rehab assignment. He could return to the big leagues as early as Friday, John Schneider said.
Whenever Springer is ready, the Jays are faced with a difficult decision. With Andrés Giménez healthy and optionable players like Joey Loperfido and Davis Schneider flourishing, there’s no obvious demotion. For the last few weeks, the Jays manager noted these sorts of choices often have a way of working themselves out. But Springer is nearly back and no move is clear.
How about a double 105.8 MPH off the bat of George Springer!? 🚀 @BlueJays pic.twitter.com/HdHNoTbrpW
— Buffalo Bisons (@BuffaloBisons) August 15, 2025
“I think it’s a good problem to have,” Schneider said. “But you probably know you’re going to disappoint somebody at some point.”
If the Jays want to keep every player in the organization, they’ll send down Loperfido or Schneider. But both hitters have an OPS over .820 and are batting over .295 in August. Other options at the end of Toronto’s roster are Myles Straw and Ty France, though both would need to be designated for assignment. Straw is well-liked in the clubhouse, a defensive whiz and a key part of Toronto’s small-ball success. France, acquired at the deadline, is hitting .343 in 11 games since joining the Jays.
Perhaps a lefty-masher like Schneider becomes the undeserved casualty. After Saturday’s scheduled contest against southpaw Patrick Corbin, the Jays are expected to face six-straight right-handed pitchers. But there is no easy choice and, so far, the decision has not worked itself out.
Home run issue persists
Scherzer carved through five innings on just 50 pitches, dotting first-pitch strikes to 10 of his first 11 batters faced Thursday. In many ways, he was flawless — except for one pitch. The veteran starter left a curveball in the middle of the zone in the sixth inning, and Michael Busch slammed it into the right-field bleachers. It was Chicago’s only run.
The Jays overcame that homer thanks to Guerrero’s two-run blast. The long balls haven’t held Toronto back from a first-place record, but they’ve persisted as an undeniable trend. Blue Jays pitchers are fifth in strikeouts. They’ve allowed fewer walks than average and are top-10 in hits allowed. But the team entered Thursday’s finale with the fifth-most homers against this season. Since the trade deadline, Toronto’s starters have allowed 12 homers in 12 games.
“When we self-assess every couple weeks,” Schneider said, “the home runs allowed is kind of always a glaring thing.”
The Jays have been “banging their heads” all year, Schneider said, trying to solve the homer issue. It’s really the one weakness for an otherwise solid staff. Early on, they attempted altering pitch sequencing. They’ve asked catchers to adjust glove placement, hoping to lead pitches to the edges of the zone.
The diagnosis, Schneider said, is missing down the middle. Toronto’s pitchers want to be the aggressor, Kevin Gausman said, and those early strikes come with a cost. Pitches in the zone are easier to hit.
The Jays pitchers aren’t particularly nasty, either, thriving more on deception and location. They rank 24th in Stuff+, so the margin for error is lower. They can sequence and deceive all they want, but ultimately, managing mistakes is key.
Trey Yesavage pitching during the 2025 All-Star Futures Game. (Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)Trey Yesavage’s path to a big-league debut
Last season, 37 rookies debuted in September, with seven joining 2025 playoff teams. Five pitchers came up in the final month for October-bound squads, and all but one pitched postseason games in relief. Yesavage could do the same for this year’s Jays.
Guys like Cleveland’s Erik Sabrowski and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Edgardo Henriquez were minor-league relievers who pushed up into big-league bullpens last year. But Detroit’s Jackson Jobe is the best comparison for Yesavage.
2024 postseason rookie pitchers
PitcherTeamIPERAPlayoff IPPlayoff ERA
Guardians
12 2/3
0.00
5 1/3
1.69
Guardians
8 2/3
0.00
3
3.00
Dodgers
3 1/3
2.70
5
7.20
Tigers
4
0.00
1 2/3
16.20
Jobe debuted in his third full professional season, while Yesavage is knocking down the door in his first. Like Yesavage, the Tigers righty jumped three minor-league levels last year, skyrocketing up prospect rankings before entering Detroit’s bullpen on Sept. 25. Jobe owns elite stuff, with at least three plus pitches. He appeared in two regular-season games and two playoff contests.
There’s a balance between urgency, development and logistics for the promotion of top prospects like Yesavage. On the one hand, the Jays don’t have an open 40-man spot, and he technically wouldn’t need to be placed on the roster during the offseason. The righty is 22 years old in his first professional season, with just 20 minor-league outings. He lasted just 1 2/3 innings in his Triple-A debut Thursday, allowing two runs on one hit and four walks.
He’s also rapidly adjusted to every minor-league level, even after early bumps. Reaching sky-high to hurl 95 mph fastballs, he has the sort of funky delivery that could confound big-league hitters seeing him for the first time. Like Jobe, Yesavage could join a playoff push and make an immediate impact. But he’ll have to earn the spot.
(Photo: Jonathan Hui / Imagn Images)