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Chapter 1: What impact does the recent slump of Toronto's starters have on the bullpen?
It's at The Letters for Monday, June 22nd, 2026. I'm Arden Zwelling, joined as always by Ben Nicholson-Smith and our producer, Christian Ryan. Thanks so much for listening, Ben. I am fresh off the road trip through Boston and Chicago, and people by now will have heard your story.
Solo episode following the Red Sox series prior to the Cubs series which the Blue Jays played only two games in they lost the first one getting absolutely molly whopped and then in the second one had a spirited comeback late so a lot happened there. I just have one thought that I want to share on the Boston series since I didn't get to share it on the last episode.
And I will share that right now and then we can move on to the Cubs and what's going forward. And look, does this have something to do with the way that the Red Sox played in that series? Sure. They were not at their best. The Blue Jays caught them at a great time.
swept them they're playing very poor baseball does this have something to do perhaps with uh the food poisoning bout that you and I were just discussing uh prior to us recording um which I was carrying throughout that Red Sox series perhaps maybe that colored uh my view of things a little bit but I just want to say right here and right now that I have not yet witnessed a team
up close this season that was both as hard to watch and just as palpably filled with bad vibes as the red socks and that was my takeaway from three days at fenway park
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Chapter 2: How does Shane Bieber's return affect the Blue Jays' pitching rotation?
Yeah, well, you know what? Food poisoning or not, that's not a great baseball team. And whether you're watching them feeling great or watching them as you were in a state of slight discomfort to great discomfort, yeah, it's a team that's making too many mistakes. It's a team that you look at the quotes coming out of them. And I read a couple of them on the solo episode from IKF.
Trevor Story had some interesting lines. Sonny Gray did. It's like they know it's crumbling around them.
Chapter 3: What insights can we gain from the Luis Urías acquisition?
And you can only fire the manager once. They already played that card. You can't fire Alex Cora again. So the vibes are not good. It's not a team that has a ton of offense despite having some good pitching. And yeah, it's looking like the Boston Red Sox are going to be sellers in the next month or so.
yeah I feel like you can relate to this because it's something that you only get like when you're up close with the team and you see them on the field and you see like what they're up to before games and you see how they're interacting with each other between innings or in the dugouts or sometimes even in game like honestly the lasting image to me from that series was Sonny Gray and Wilson Contreras uh
colliding essentially at first base on a play and then not even acknowledging each other afterwards like just completely colliding and just walking away without saying a word um it's just unfathomable the bad vibes that are emanating from that team and it's just it's totally subjective but it's something that you do notice when you're close uh that close to a product like that um it's
the complete opposite of what we witnessed with the Toronto Blue Jays last year and for much of this year as well like I can tell you the mood in the clubhouse on Saturday after they had probably like their toughest loss of the season on Friday or one of was as upbeat and positive as I can remember it was rookie coffee run day so you had like Spencer Miles and Neil Hendrick
Pinyongo and Charles McAdoo going across the street in Boston to Starbucks in full uniform to order these like big extensive elaborate coffee orders and then they all brought them back into the clubhouse and they were catching grief and from everybody for if they got an order wrong or if all like what do you light whipped like were you kidding me it's just like that type of thing um
All that type of stuff was going on. Max Scherzer's piano was in the middle of the clubhouse.
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Chapter 4: How are recent outfield deployments influencing the team's performance?
And Marie Clement was upset that he couldn't do his crossword on the table because Scherzer's piano was there. And he was giving him grief about that. Honestly, the vibes were amazing for having just gotten their brains beaten in not 24 hours later. And the Red Sox, just the complete opposite in terms of vibes, in terms of feel around the team. And it was just impossible not to notice.
was um was anyone playing the piano no i didn't see the piano being played but the thing is huge it's massive interesting interesting interesting um do you know who ordered what from um from starbucks The amount of coffees and beverages and like pastries and food. There was a lot of chirping about Venmo going around and about who was going to be paying for what.
So I don't know who ordered what, but I just know that there was a lot that was ordered.
Once you're in the major leagues, doesn't one person just pick up that tab? Like how much could it be?
There's some people in the Blue Jays clubhouse who probably could have picked up that tab more than a few times over. I would think so.
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Chapter 5: What factors are contributing to George Springer's recent hot streak?
But I also wonder if part of the initiation is that the rookies have to pay for it or perhaps are made to think that they're paying for it. And then they get reimbursed later. Because if Max Scherzer was just ordering it on his Starbucks app and they were just picking it up, well, that would kind of defeat the whole thing.
The whole point is that they have to go around and take all the orders and keep track of them and then go over there, dictate this extremely lengthy list of very particular orders to the barista, and then come back and deliver the orders to their rightful orderees. So...
it's interesting stuff now we'll get back to the blue jays in a second but what would the art and swelling coffee order be i'm pretty boring at starbucks man like i like the dark roast black and i like a uh an americano black with a fourth shot of espresso in it fourth shot and if it's particularly hot outside i will get that iced yeah no that's a good call what about you
Yeah, I would probably go similar boring like double espresso if you just need the caffeine. You don't want to be carrying something around all day or a nice little drip coffee, a little Pike Place if you if you want to carry something around and maybe have it with you for.
Chapter 6: How is the bullpen being affected by the starting rotation's performance?
An hour or so while you get some work done. So yeah, it would be hard to mess up, I would think. So in any case, hey, that's good for the vibes of the Blue Jays. And I think rightfully so. I mean, as frustrating as the season has been, as frustrating as that Friday game was, it is... a lot of back and forth.
They have managed to recover from some of these poor performances in the way that they did on Saturday. They're still in it as we record this here on Monday, June 22nd. They are in a playoff position. So there's no reason for despair. I don't think anyone should be especially proud or thrilled of how the season's gone to this point because essentially the possibility of a bye has gone from
hey, this is pretty intriguing to that's an extreme long shot and that's not a good thing, but they're in it. So despairing and hanging their heads low is not going to get anyone anywhere.
Might as well have some fun and see if they can build on where they're at now, which is 38 and 39, a chance to go to 500 with Dylan Cease on the mound for the series opener against the Astros and holding off the Athletics and the Twins for that third wildcard spot. I mean, I think they're a better team than the A's. I think they're Definitely a way better team than the Twins.
Rangers and Astros coming to Toronto this week.
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Chapter 7: What strategies are being considered for the upcoming important homestand?
Both of those teams are within striking distance of the Blue Jays. So that lends some intrigue to this next week here. But they're in a solid spot, which is weird to say, but is objectively true.
Yeah, the Finnegrast playoff odds are 53.1% this morning on June 22nd. So a little bit better than a coin flip, which when you're below 500, you'll take those odds. And it's really just like an indictment on the rest of the American League that you can be below 500 and have better odds than not of qualifying for the postseason. But such is the way the 2026 has gone.
And we'll see how the rest of it goes. And we'll see if any of these teams are able to qualify.
emerge and separate themselves i mean you mentioned the astros who are in town for three uh early this week and like it is worth noting this is one of the american league's best teams over the last month um so today is june 22nd since may 22nd the best records in the american league are the new york yankees at 16 and 9 and then the houston astros at 17 and 11.
uh and the mariners after that at 16 and 12. so this is a team that has some very good starting pitching as you are going to see uh with hunter brown beginning here on monday it's a team that has the best player in the american league this season
in jordan alvarez who is like leading baseball and slugging and ops and he's got 40 extra base hits already um they're a sound defensive team they have the fewest errors in the al this year and their bullpen of late has been pretty solid the best bullpen era in the american league since may 15th so that's for over a month now is the houston astros at two seven one
So while the Blue Jays have a better record than the Astros, I do think that Houston has been playing a lot better than just about anybody in the AL this side of the New York Yankees for the last month. And if they're able to sustain that going forward, you're going to see them bumping up to three, four, five, six games above 500 and beginning to separate in that wildcard race.
Yeah, it's a good team, and I think their record is where it is for a few reasons, but they've had significant, significant injuries, and that's definitely contributed. Where you're talking about Altuve has been out. Yanner Diaz has been out. He's back now, but he's missed a lot of time.
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Chapter 8: What are the implications of the Blue Jays' playoff odds as the season progresses?
Hunter Brown, of course, has been on the sidelines. So there's talent on this roster. I don't think they're the powerhouse team that they were for years.
years and years at the end of the 2010s and heading into this decade but they're still a good team and you know you're facing like you said hunter brown lambert burrows that that's it's a pretty good trio they don't get to face mi who has been very very up and down well i mean it depends on what day i know he's been better lately but i don't know
I think you'd actually still want to face him, to be honest, and just like roll the dice that he's horrible. But he has been better recently.
Yeah, righty that throws 95 of late. You look at the outings, he's pitching a lot more like himself. Some of those blow-ups were earlier this season. He was really good against Cleveland his last time out. Good results against the Athletics, against the Brewers, who were a great team. Good results against the Rangers. But your point is well made. And in Hunter Brown...
The Blue Jays are going to be facing someone who has zero runs allowed in his last 15 innings pitched against the Blue Jays. That's tied with Ranger Suarez for the longest active scoreless inning streak against the Blue Jays. In baseball, Hunter Brown also has the second lowest career batting average allowed against the Blue Jays among active pitchers who have faced at least 50 batters.
111 the Blue Jays have hit against Hunter Brown in his career. So if they are able to get to him on Monday, it will be the first time that they've been able to get to him in multiple looks here in his young career. Because look, he's good against everybody, but he's been really good defensively. against the Blue Jays.
So the offense is going to have to pack a lunch and be ready to go to work here on Monday.
For sure. I mean, this is going to be a stretch for the Jays where they get this off day, right? On Sunday with the rain out in Chicago. So that kind of resets them and gives them a mini break here. But Right after that mini break, as so often happens in baseball, it's like, here we go. And now it's a whole bunch of games without really much of a break.
And as these games unfold, they're going to have to figure some things out on the fly, especially on the pitching staff with Shane Bieber slated to come back Tuesday, make his season debut pitch in the major leagues for the first time since the World Series. And figure out what happens with Patrick Corbin and Spencer Miles, too. The bullpen is ongoing. You never really figure it out.
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