Necessity Is the Mother of Invention
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What is the current state of the Blue Jays as of May 2026?
Welcome to At The Letters for May 12th, 2026. Ben Nicholson-Smith here with you, joined by Shai Davidi. Shai, I sat alongside you for the Blue Jays Angels series at Rogers Center in the press box. We've been talking a lot of baseball in the last few days, but we're about to do a little bit more of that. So thanks for joining and hope you're doing well this morning.
Yeah, definitely. A pleasure as always. And always fun when we can transfer some of those press box conversations onto ATL.
Exactly. That is the vision here. We are going to get into the Jays' fifth starter spot. I mean, that is really one of the big questions around this team. Of course, we'll touch on the Addison Barger situation as well. Might not go... into such depth there just because we're recording this on the morning of Monday, May 11th, and we'll probably learn more by the afternoon. And we don't want to bore everyone with thoughts on a topic that they're better versed in than we are right now. But we will take stock of the Jays. There are 40 games in as we record this, discuss some of the bigger questions surrounding this team, whether it's Vlad Jr. 's power, the overall health of the team. So we definitely have lots to get to.
But man, shy, like the the really fascinating thing to come out of Sunday's game was how the contrast developed between Eric Lauer and his struggles and Spencer Miles and his three highly effective innings. So what did you make of that contrast?
Yeah, definitely a compelling story from Sunday. And I think your caveat about things being dated is a really valid one because I feel like this has got the potential to be a pretty big news week from the team in multiple directions. And this storyline is certainly one of them. But... let's just take a step back and just look at spencer miles in a vacuum for a second because you've got this really intriguing rule 5 pick great stuff because of health issues has made just 15 appearances in pro ball if you're including arizona fall league and What are you going to do with this asset? And he's got the potential to have a starter's mix. He could potentially repeat his delivery enough and turn over a lineup.
But the dude just hasn't pitched. And this is such a unique Rule 5 case and a really fascinating roll of the dice. And so the Blue Jays have gotten him down. Through to early May thus far on the big league roster, he's found a way to contribute. He's had some pretty important outings. He's had some nice moments. And then in he comes on Sunday as the opener against what the Angels do to stack a lineup of righties. And just mows through them for the most part. You know, he did have the leadoff double that he worked around and got out of, but it's three innings without a run allowed.
What challenges are the Blue Jays facing with their fifth starter spot?
It's in a lot of ways exactly what the Blue Jays had hoped for, best case scenario. And then they use another bridge reliever in Tommy Nance to get to... eric lauer eric lauer starts with the lefty you know in a pocket that should be good for him and by the time his first inning of work is over a one nothing lead has turned into a 4-1 deficit and the blue jays end up in a loss and so eric lauer has been for weeks now trying to work through some velocity issues trying to work through some delivery issues it hasn't gone well for him obviously uh and the contrast, as you mentioned, is just there. And if we zoom out a second and apologies for this being such a long answer, but you also have to think about the wider context for this fifth starter spot, right?
So a week and change ago, we were talking about Jose Barrios' imminent return into this spot. On Tuesday, he's going to visit Dr. Keith Meister for a follow-up on his elbow. And after experiencing two outings with down velocity and some soreness in the elbow and an MRI that showed some changes around the injury, which doesn't sound very good. Shane Bieber continues his very deliberate and measured buildup and isn't on the horizon. Max Scherzer just got a cortisone shot in his right forearm. And that's going to take some time.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the current state of the Blue Jays as of May 2026?
0:06–3:11
2
What challenges are the Blue Jays facing with their fifth starter spot?
3:11–7:33
3
How are Spencer Miles and Eric Lauer impacting the Blue Jays' pitching strategy?
7:33–12:42
4
What adjustments are the Blue Jays making with their pitching staff?
12:42–13:00
5
How is Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s performance affecting the Blue Jays' offense?
13:00–17:33
6
What factors are contributing to the Blue Jays' offensive struggles?
17:33–22:37
7
What insights did David Singh provide about the Blue Jays' identity?
22:37–37:47
8
What are the prospects for the Rays in the 2026 season?
37:47–1:20:07