Chapter 1: What did Ben observe during the Blue Jays' series at Tropicana Field?
It's at the Letters for Wednesday, May the 6th, 2026. Arden Swelling here with Ben Nicholson-Smith. Our producer is Christian Ryan. Thanks so much for listening. I'm in Toronto. Ben is at the Trop. And Ben, you have just witnessed three games at the new Tropicana Field. New roof, new turf. New dirt, new everything because the entire place was waterlogged and damaged beyond belief.
Your review on the scale of 20 to 80 when it comes to ballparks for the new Tropicana Field is what?
Well, good to talk to you, Arden. And we have a lot to get to. We have a lot to get to. Now, I'm going to have to ask a clarifying question to your question. Are you saying as a media member or as, you know, as a fan, as someone who loves baseball and just wants to experience the vibes of the building? Because my answer would be different depending on how you want to frame your question.
Well, you're speaking to one media member and untold amounts of fans. So I think I'm outnumbered here. So I'm going to go with the crowd, the fans.
Chapter 2: What reasons for optimism exist for the Blue Jays this season?
They want to know how you would feel from that perspective.
From a fan perspective on the 20 to 80 scale, I would probably put it at, let's say a 40 below average. I think the vibes are not that great. Now you do get the guarantee of a game being played because the roof is on, it is attached, it is looking stable. That is what we love to see here. And, you know, it's you certainly are going to have a good access because there aren't a ton of fans here.
So you're going to have a good view. You're going to be able to see what's happening. But I just think you're not going to come close to the ambience. Now, from a media perspective, everything operates smoothly. You don't have weather delays and it's. very comfortable and actually somewhat quieter than some of the ballparks that you go to, like a Dodger Stadium or a Chase Field.
Chapter 3: How will Addison Barger’s return impact the Blue Jays' roster?
And so I actually find it a little easier to just kind of lock in on the game. But I think from a fan standpoint, there are many, many ballparks that I would recommend visiting from an ambiance perspective ahead of this one.
But the Rays just swept the Blue Jays in dominant fashion. They're second place in the American League East or in the American League period. So one of the better teams in baseball. Surely there is a raucous and boisterous environment supporting this incredible product that is being put on the field.
You know, Arden, you'll be shocked to know that in fact, there is not that much support and this team is good, but it is, it's, it's remarkable. They've never really drawn that many fans. And I know you say that tongue in cheek, but yeah, this is a, This is a team that is playing really, really well. They have some good pitching.
But man, I mean, the Jays at the same time, like they got to find ways like they got to find ways to hit. It's it was a tough series to watch from that standpoint when you go three games and you score four runs. I mean, it's you're not going to win many games like that. You're not going to be a playoff team like that. And they know that. But it was it was a tough watch at times.
So the, you think about like the 20 to 80 scouting scale, just for people who need to like anchor this a little bit, like an 80 would be like a Bradley Zimmer speed or Chandler Simpson speed actually would be an 80. And then the 20 speed would be Alejandro Kirk. So you're putting it at a 40, which would be what, like Kazuma Okamoto speed, George Springer with a, with a broken toe speed.
That's kind of the equivalent of what the trop is playing as right now. Exactly.
I think that that's that's a good comp.
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Chapter 4: What are the current challenges facing the Blue Jays' offense?
It's below major league average because major league average speed is what I mean, Johan Rick Ponyongo, something like that. He might be a little below average, actually. But Dalton Varshow, I would say, is probably about big league average.
yeah he's yeah maybe a tick above but he's in that neighborhood at this point in his career so yeah i think that's that's your average this is this is a little below um where where would you rank the drop i mean i haven't been there
I was there back in the day, but it's all different now. They changed it. It's very similar, though. It's very similar. They just rebuilt the same thing. They were like, it was perfect before, and we're going to make it true to form once again.
It's very, very similar. And I'm sitting here right now. It's very peaceful at this moment. St. Petersburg's been great. I saw a bunch of dolphins swimming in the bay, so no complaints personally. But yeah, this is a Blue Jays podcast.
And from the standpoint of the Blue Jays, I'm sure they have some reservations about what happened at the Trop because they played some of their most frustrating baseball of a frustrating season here.
You know that big fat insurance check that we got from the natural disaster that happened on our stadium right into our pocket? We're just going to rebuild this stadium as is. Unbelievable. But it isn't stopping the Rays from sweeping the Blue Jays, outscoring them 12-4. The Blue Jays have not scored in their last 13 innings.
Meanwhile, the Rays have allowed three runs or fewer in 13 straight innings.
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Chapter 5: How do injuries affect the Blue Jays' performance this season?
So a Blue Jays team that is not scoring very much ran into a team that is not allowing very many runs and turned out that was a pretty good combination for the Blue Jays to get swept at the end of a long road trip and head into the off day five games below 500.
You can look at the offense in a few ways here, right? Because you can say, okay, they're injured. And there's definitely truth to that. The absence of Alejandro Kirk is being felt pretty seriously. George Springer came back, but he's hitless since coming back to the lineup from getting that foul ball in the toe in Minnesota.
You still have Addison Barger on the sidelines, although he's coming back Friday. So they are down a few players. But also... they have guys that are not hitting to their full potential or close to it. And Vlad Jr. is in that discussion. We haven't really seen Jesus Sanchez heat up. At times, it kind of looks like a two-man offense with Pignango going off, with Kazuma Okamoto continuing to hit.
They are just not getting enough production elsewhere. So they have to find results clearly. Had some really interesting conversations with players here about what that looks like. And what form that takes. But at 16 and 21, like they have they had built some momentum and then you go on a two and five road trip. You lose a lot of that momentum.
And now that task in front of them is looking just about as big as it has looked at any point this season.
I've got Ben Nicholson Smith's game column right here in my inbox.
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Chapter 6: What are the implications of the Blue Jays' current standing in the league?
Placeline St. Petersburg, Florida. And he quotes Max Scherzer within it. Quote, it's not just going to happen. We're not just going to go out there and go on a crazy winning streak. We have to go make that happen. The rest of the league doesn't just lose on purpose. You've got to go do it. beat them?
Do you feel like the Blue Jays are not doing enough to make wins happen and perhaps are just sitting back and expecting that at some point this season, much like last season, they will just come together and start winning?
I wouldn't say that I have a strong feeling on that one way or the other. I do love that quote from Max Scherzer. I think that it sums everything up. And I think that it's really important that the players on this team have that mindset. I'm not sitting here thinking that, oh, they're being too passive or, oh, they don't care enough or they somehow have.
you know, let this opportunity slip past them because of a deficiency of giving a crap. That's not what I'm trying to say. But when Scherzer said that, I thought that was just a perfect summation of where they are. And I think that they need to build on that attitude. And you can't expect that just because something happened a year ago or,
Chapter 7: How does the return of key players influence team dynamics?
X number of years ago that it's going to happen again. The Jays want to be in the playoffs, have the talent to be in the playoffs again. But as things stand now, there is some real distance between where they are and where they need to be. So to Scherzer's point, they have to go and make that happen.
They have to go and find ways to get that extra base, to get that extra count leverage, to get that extra mile per hour on the fastball, whatever it is that they need to be doing. to individually bring their game to a higher level, then that can collectively add up to four and three weeks instead of two and five weeks. And, you know, that's that's what I think they need to be focused on.
Here's what I know. The Blue Jays hit nine home runs on their seven game road trip, five of them. off the bat of Kazuma Okamoto. Good thing that guy was on the trip and performing. And they also had a batting average under 250 and an OBP just north of 300. So that means that they aren't slugging and they are hitting a bit, but not prolifically.
So either you got to be like a mixture of hit and slug, or you have to be a whole lot of hit or a whole lot of slug. Like, that's how you're going to score runs and get above five, six runs a game and consistently win in this league. And I think that right now the Blue Jays are not doing either consistently enough or in enough volume.
Like, they're doing just not enough of either side of the hit, slug, teeter-totter, and therefore they really are out of balance.
Right. I mean, it's just not a good offense right now. It has not been a good offense to this point in the season in really the significant measures that you're going to look to. And so, you know, it's it's not a disastrous offense. But again, like you need to make up you need to be better than average at something.
If you're going to if you're going to make the playoffs, you need to you need to make your mark somewhere. And again,
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Chapter 8: What does the future hold for the Blue Jays based on recent performances?
It hasn't been the rotation because there are tons of injuries going on there that we can get into. So you'd love it to be the offense. And for the season, they have been below average. The power hasn't really been there. Aside from Okamoto, they haven't had players who are just creating that separation.
creating that breathing room with enough consistency and so this is this is where they are and i i think springer's going to be better i think kirk is going to be better obviously once he comes back we're seeing some flashes from from others i think vlad jr is going to be better i believe in these guys individually but and i believe that they're going to be better as a collective
But it's just at this moment in time, they have cost themselves. And, you know, to be 16 and 21, to be swept by the Rays, like it's the time is ticking and the job is a big one to come back from being five games under 500. It is surmountable, but it's a big job.
After Okamoto, Myles Straw and Johendrik Pignango are probably the Blue Jays' best hitters right now. Do you agree with that?
Like as far as how they've been producing?
Yeah.
Yeah, I think Pignango and Straw as far as what's actually been happening. I think those guys on a nightly basis for the last week, they've been the ones who have been doing the most.
Yeah, it's going to be tough when you're like bench, outfielder, defense and speed specialist and the guy who was called up from AAA a week ago are your best hitters outside of one other guy.
It's going to be tough to win when you're not getting more production from really core pieces of your lineup, such as Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who was obviously hitting tremendously well for the first five, six weeks of the season. But now he goes into a mini slump and it's extremely noticeable because there's no one else picking up that slack.
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