We are less than a month into MLB spring training this season, and the Toronto Blue Jays have already began to heat up and have gotten off to quite an impressive stretch of winning these last few weeks. There were many questions surrounding the Jays entering spring training, from if we would see a bounce back season of ace starting pitcher Alek Manoah, to what the team would do to fill the holes left by players who departed the club in the offseason, notably Whit Merrifield and Matt Chapman. While some questions may have been answered like Toronto signing third baseman Justin Turner to replace Chapman, fans of the team and around the league remain unsure of how the Blue Jays will perform this upcoming season.

The first game the Jays played in spring training happened on February 24, against the Philadelphia Phillies and turned into a slug fest that ended in a final score of 14-13 in favor of the Phils. Despite the large run total in their very first game, no home runs were hit for the Blue Jays, The first long ball hit in the spring for the Jays came the next day when Toronto took on the New York Yankees and catcher Alejandro Kirk sent a solo home run over the left field wall.

All Systems Go 🚀

It's Captain @alejandro_kirk's first #SpringTraining blast! pic.twitter.com/5gwOiRpLVn

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) February 25, 2024

Although Kirk came in big at the plate, the Jays still ended up losing to the Yankees 12-6 marking back-to-back losses to start spring training. At the end of February The Blue Jays had a record of 2-4 and had a run differential of -10, a no doubt underwhelming start to the spring and certainly reinforced any doubts that fans had about the team going into the start of the year. However, as we all ripped our calendars to a new month the Blue Jays had their sights set on making March the time to step up and get back to their winning ways. Nevertheless, Toronto continued to slump at the beginning of March as well, losing three in a row to start the month and four in a row stretching back into February. Finally the team kicked off the start of their recent success when they defeated the Detroit Tigers on March 7, and after winning the next two Toronto extended their first winning streak of the spring to three straight games. Whilst they did lose some momentum by tying and losing both games of a double header against the Baltimore Orioles, Toronto caught fire and won their next four games in a row! As of March 14, the Jays have won their last seven out of ten games with a run differential of +30, a remarkable turnaround from the beginning of the season and Toronto looks like an entirely different team as of late.

PROSPECTS RISING:

A main factor for the Blue Jays’ success during spring training this season has surprisingly come from rookies and future prospects inside the club’s farm system. The team announced that this season they would introduce their inaugural “spring breakout roster”, a lineup comprised solely of prospects and players from the team’s minor league affiliate clubs that would get the chance to play against the Yankees on March 16. Some names on this roster include young players who experienced some time in the major leagues last season like Spencer Horwitz, and upcoming prospects that fans will be excited to see like Manuel Beltre and Arjun Nimmala.

Your first look at the future ⭐️
 
Presenting our inaugural #SpringBreakout roster for March 16th’s matchup with the Yankees 👀 pic.twitter.com/rULhgYGT3t

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) March 7, 2024

Throughout the Blue Jays’ run so far this spring, the young prospects that have been added in and out of the roster have been major contributors and key pieces to the team’s success. Pitching has been a strong point for Toronto for the last few years as they have acquired multiple star level arms to their rotation, bullpen, and farm system. While their major league pitchers may have been impressive so far, like Chris Bassitt striking out nine batters in a game and Jordan Romano being dominant as always, the prospects have shown out and put on incredible performances that have led the team to multiple wins. The first instance was when top prospect and future star left-handed pitcher Ricky Tiedemann took the hill for the first time in a Blue Jays uniform and make his spring training debut. In his debut, Tiedemann looked good only allowing one run in 1 1/3 innings pitched and had his fastball reach 95-96 mph consistently during his outing en route to a win. Another prospect pitcher who has been quite prominent for the Jays this spring training is Nate Pearson who has had short stints in and out of the majors for a few seasons now and continues to be a valuable arm for the team now in spring training. In four games so far, Pearson has pitched 4 2/3 innings with a 0.95 ERA and racking up five strikeouts displaying his bread and butter fastball that he’s managed to top at over 100 mph. Finally, the last notable pitcher who has had the spotlight in spring training this year and put on a show whenever he gets the ball has been prospect reliever Bowden Francis. Francis so far has played in three games this spring, and currently has pitched eight innings tallying ten stikeouts with a 1.93 ERA. In his most recent outing on the mound, Bowden threw an impressive six shutout innings en route to a 5-1 Blue Jays win over the Minnesota Twins.

However, pitching has not been the only thing that has helped get the Jays on a roll lately, as the young bats have also been a big piece and have sparked the offence for the whole team. The main culprit behind the Blue Jays’ hot bats this season has definitely been Ernie Clement, who along with Spencer Horwitz spent some time last season together on the Blue Jays big league roster with fellow minor leaguer Davis Schneider who all impressed fans by hitting for great numbers in their limited time on the team. Clement this spring has played in ten games as a middle infielder, and has had an insane triple slash with a batting average of .423 and slugging percentage of .731 combining for a 1.175 OPS. Overall, the young stars and future of the Blue Jays have gotten the opportunity of a lifetime by playing in front of fans and front office this spring training, and their contributions have been a big reason why the team has gotten off to such a strong start.

BRIGHT SEASON ON THE HORIZON?

The Blue Jays have heated up recently in the spring and hope they can ride the momentum and continue their win streak for as long as possible. Now although this is only spring training and the games have no real impact or importance on the regular season, it is promising as fans to see the team find their footing and string together win after win now expecting better things to come when the games start to count. Will this hot streak now carry over to the regular season and beyond? My guess is probably not, but being able to watch the prospects show off their skills and let new teammates mesh together with the team and build chemistry has definitely been a high point and a good thing to take away from spring training regardless of the final record.