Chapter 1: What injuries did the Blue Jays avoid after the recent game?
It's at the Letters for Sunday, May 24th, 2026. Artem Zwelling here with Ben Nicholson-Smith. We have a whole team of producers on this one that we are recording right after Sunday's Blue Jays loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-1. Here at Rogers Centre, we're in the Fan 590 studio.
broadcast booth and we are joined by show ali andrew adams and tom young thank you to all three of them for helping us out with putting this thing together fitting it into our busy schedules because it's 17 and 17 for us too ben not just for the blue jays
That's right. I think this is the first time we've had more producers than hosts. Really feel like we're in the big leagues right here.
Chapter 2: What are the implications of Dylan Cease's injury for the pitching rotation?
But yeah, lots to get to as people are, the kids are running the bases here at Rogers Center and they didn't see a win today. It goes forever. The kids running the bases? Thousands. It's endless.
Chapter 3: How is Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s injury affecting the team?
Thousands and thousands and thousands of kids.
What time is it? It's 4.15. The game ended like over an hour ago and they're still going.
It's, hey, it's not every day you get the chance to run the bases on a major league field.
So we have a lot to get to. We had a lot to get to, like coming into today. And then two of the most integral pieces on this team come out of the game with injuries. Honestly, it's probably the best possible news for both for Dylan Cease and
Chapter 4: What are the Blue Jays' options for replacing injured players?
It's some cramping in his left hamstring. Blue Jays calling it mild left hamstring discomfort. He's going for an MRI. Sounds more precautionary than anything, but his next start is up in the air. He said he wants to make it. John Schneider was noncommittal.
Chapter 5: How has the Blue Jays' offensive performance been against elite pitchers?
I mean, this is just in the wake of the injury. He hasn't even had the MRI yet, so we'll see. And with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., He he gets x-rays after getting hit by a 92 mile per hour sinker on the inside of his right elbow. Sounds like it just caught him in a weird spot where his entire arm went numb all the way down to his fingers.
And I think that's why there was so much alarm around it happening at field level. But he gets an x-ray. It comes back negative. John Schneider saying it's even a possibility he plays on Monday. So like just from from how it looked then, it's hard to imagine any like matrixing those bullets any better than the Blue Jays did.
Right. If your starting point is the moment that Vlad Jr. is walking through the dugout, turning into the tunnel, considering where we were then, it's taken a couple of really positive turns.
Chapter 6: What adjustments are being made to the Blue Jays' batting order?
considering where we were at the start of Sunday, not good on either front. And so I guess it depends on where you set the parameters on this one. Yeah, it sounds as though Vladimir Guerrero Jr., you know, for him to be in a position where he might actually play Monday to not have a fracture, that's massive. And as for Dylan Cease, I still think we're in the unknown here.
And within that unknown... there is this possibility that it actually won't be that worst-case scenario, that he actually will make that next start, in which case we can all breathe that sigh of relief for the Major League Strikeout leader. This is obviously such an important player for the Blue Jays. And as of now, I think we're kind of still in that in-between for Dylan Cease.
Yeah, it's interesting that it's cramping yet he's going for an MRI, right? So like when you go for an MRI, like there is some uncertainty there. Like if it was just cramping and he just like got an IV and felt better immediately afterwards, you would think, okay, we don't really need to go into the MRI machine right now.
So that's like the one thing that gives me pause and makes me want to hear a bit more about this from John Schneider and the Blue Jays and sees himself on on Monday night. But like we're we're clearly talking about one of the most durable pitchers in the game, like leads baseball in starts since the beginning of the 2020 season.
Chapter 7: What role is Johandrik Pignango playing in the team's success?
I mean, this is a guy who does not miss starts. So if he misses his next one, it's actually going to be a pretty exceptional circumstance.
Right, exactly. And we saw he was dealing with it in that fifth inning, started to feel a little bit of discomfort, stayed in initially to retire Spencer Horwitz and just an amazing play by Ernie Clement, and then decides, okay, this is uncomfortable enough that it's time to come out of the game.
So clearly listening to himself, and again, from what the Blue Jays are saying, describing it as mild, it seems like, hey, that's actually not too bad. So at the same time, with both of these cases happening, There's that initial moment where you feel the discomfort and then the adrenaline slows down. Then they get some testing, they'll sleep on it and then they'll just no more.
So some, you know, it's entirely possible that this will end up being absolutely nothing on either case. And that's a great thing. But as of now, we still don't totally know that.
So my expectation of Vlad is almost just that he sits out Monday because you just give him the day just to relax. Look, Cosmo Okamoto can play first base.
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Chapter 8: How can the Blue Jays improve their performance as the season progresses?
He can move some guys around. Lenny Nsoso at second, and you stick Ernie at third, and Jimenez at short, and off you go.
However, I was just down on the field with our colleague Shai, who went and talked to Vlad, and we just did our TV stuff after the game, and he mentioned that Vlad told him, and I'm sure that Shai will have reported this by the time this comes out, so I hope I'm not scooping anything here. Let's hope not. I think you're safe. I'm sure that it'll be up by then.
He said, like, Vlad told him that he had a similar incident prior. Like, he was hit in a similar spot last June in Cleveland and came out of the game. And then the next day he was in the lineup and got two hits. So maybe he won't have the day off. Wow.
we'll see uh Vlad was also telling him like he still can't fully extend his elbow and like it's still he's still dealing with quite a bit of discomfort in there like just think about the worst funny bone um impact possible right 92 miles per hour in that spot losing sensation down to your fingers um yeah it's probably not going to feel great right afterwards but um Vlad said he was going to take it day by day and like speaking of guys who don't miss games right I mean Vlad
Only Matt Olson has played more games of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. since he came into the league. So this is, again, a guy who is regularly like 156 plus. So it's remarkable that it was those two individuals just because of like how important they are to the Blue Jays from like a wins above replacement standpoint. And then just how durable they've been over the last five years.
And look, in both cases, they would be extremely hard to replace. And that's almost always the case for players that are this good. But in both cases, we're talking about a depth chart for the Toronto Blue Jays that has been eroded in those areas, right?
In a best-case scenario, everyone's healthy situation, if Vlade needs to miss, let's say, a few games, okay, Okamoto goes over to first, Barger plays third, no big deal. Well, guess what? Addison Barger is making progress, but he is not healthy. He is not ready to play in a major league game on Monday against the Miami Marlins. So that wouldn't have been an option.
And Shai and I in the press box were looking up Riley Terada's stats and Charles McAdoo's stats. And hey, is Lenny and Sosa going to play a bunch of firsts? And then that's where the relief when there is no fracture. So presumably this, you know, in a scenario for Vlad where things don't go great, it's a couple of days rather than a few weeks, hopefully.
But the same can be said of Dylan Cease where you look at, hey, best case scenario, the Blue Jays entered this season with a so-called surplus of starting pitching. Not the case anymore.
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