From down and out to ALCS: How Jays turned the corner

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The last time the Blue Jays used Thanksgiving Saturday to publicly address the state of affairs was radically different.

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The tire marks on trainer John Schneider's back were still fresh after GM Ross Atkins ran him over with a bus.serving as a huge portion of the blame for the loss and controversial pick in Minnesota.

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The future of the franchise in general, and Schneider in particular, seemed in major doubt heading into the 2023 holiday weekend.

Fast forward two years to Saturday, and the Jays and their manager are in a completely different place, enthusiastically preparing for the club's first trip to the ALCS since 2016.

The team that was in state of disorder in October 2023, licking its wounds after finishing last on the season in October 2024, now just four wins away from its third World Series appearance.

The next stage of that process begins Sunday night against the Seattle Mariners, who aren't all that fresh after their epic 15-inning Game 5 odyssey over the Detroit Tigers in the Pacific Northwest on Friday night/Saturday morning.

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With their No. 1 seed in the American League following a truly impressive 94-win season, the Jays have potentially valuable home-field advantage.

How they got here is quite remarkable given the palpable bustle of the holiday weekend 24 months ago. It hasn't always been easy, and there have been bumps and bruises along the way, but the process is part of the appeal of this hugely popular team.

That being said, on the Saturday afternoon of practice before the start of the series, three key Jays shared strong views on how the ship has been pointed in the right direction.

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MANAGER SPEAKS LAST SEPTEMBER

In a dismal final month of a season that ended in last place and went nowhere, Schneider believes September 2024 was a critical fork in the road back.

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“This is going to sound funny, but last September,” Schneider responded when we asked him to point to a return to respectability. “We were still playing, but not where we wanted to be. I think (that month) gave us an opportunity to dive into some ways to get better rather than have the season end the way you wanted.”

This moment gave the team the opportunity to think and, instead of playing everything out, refocus.

“I think that’s where it all started,” Schneider reiterated. “That's when the interaction with the front office, the staff and the players started. I think we used it as an opportunity for self-evaluation.”

This also moved the matter forward.

“Going into spring training, you kind of felt it. You have confidence in the group. Confidence in the work, the preparation, the people we added and you can see everything unfold in real time.”

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GAUSMAN SAYS OFF SEASON

The almost always outspoken Kevin Gausman has told us in the past that he was “pissed off” after a disastrous 2024 season. He wasn't alone.

While the man taking the ball in Game 1 of the ALCS on Sunday had a tremendous September last year, he believes the tough conversations in the offseason were key.

“It's definitely been conversations that we've had, kind of looking inward at what we need to change, what we think is really missing,” Gausman said Saturday when we asked the same question we asked Schneider.

“But honestly, the biggest thing was probably spring training. I just remember looking back at the first week and a half… I was really excited about our team and what we could become.”

How so?

“I think we really just had confidence in ourselves and the talent and knew that the older guys were looking at some of these young guys and saying they could really take it to the next level.”

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By the way…

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ANOTHER SEPTEMBER VOTE

In addition to his versatility in this area, Ernie Clement is not only one of the most successful players on this team, but also offers an intelligent perspective on the turnaround.

“I think it was a mixture of older guys who were just getting over the loss and saying, 'OK, we need to come up with something new,'” Clement said of the September count. “If we want to be a good team, we need to change something.”

“It was also young guys who maybe weren't able to play every day, switching from the mentality that they're just happy to be here and playing in the big leagues to looking at it as meaningful baseball.

“At the same time, we treated it like meaningful baseball and figured out what we needed to do to win baseball games.”

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Perhaps this is the most underrated moment of all. Some of the players who had far more reps in September than on a competitive team played a central role in this turnaround.

“You have to find a way to make it meaningful, and I think guys like me, Nathan Lux and (Addison) Barger had some really good and really valuable playing time,” Clement said. “We realized that if we wanted to be a part of this, we needed to figure out how to help.

“We had this opportunity and we took advantage of it.”

And here they are in baseball's final four, a stunning season that appears far from over.

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