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In the battle to secure full-time jobs for the 2025 season, the two Blue Jays who have emerged are Bowden Francis and Spencer Horwitz.
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And not far behind is Ernie Clement. The trio has separated itself with the season drawing to its conclusion.
Following Saturday night’s four-hit, two-homer performance by Horwitz, it would be foolish for the Blue Jays not to find a role for his left-handed bat.
He started at first base in Toronto’s 9-5 win over the host Atlanta Braves as the Blue Jays snapped a four-game losing slide and starting pitcher Jose Berrios earned his sixth successive victory.
The Jays will be in the market for a left-handed power bat, regardless of what plan the club has in store for Horwitz, who can also play second base, even though he does not profile well at the position.
Horwitz led off the second inning with a 420-foot solo homer to centre against the Braves’ fine young right-hander, Spencer Schwellenbach.
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The score stayed at 1-0 until Horwitz came up for a second time, this time leading off the fourth, and drilled his second dinger of the night — and 11th of the season — this one landing one foot farther into the centre-field seats.
He doubled off the wall in his third at-bat, narrowly missing a third homer, and wound up going 4-for-5 with three RBIs and three runs scored.
Clement, for his part, was 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Changes await this winter, but at least a handful of the players auditioning have provided management with options.
Starting pitching isn’t an issue, but the Jays’ bullpen needs a complete makeover. In the home half of the seventh, Ryan Burr worked around a walk as did Genesis Cabrera in the eighth. But in the ninth, with the Jays up 9-1, right-hander Luis Frias made his Toronto debut in the lowest of leverage situations. He imploded, allowing four runs on five hits and forcing the Jays to summon Brendon Little to get the final two outs.
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GREAT NATE
The sample size is quite small, but when given an opportunity, Nathan Lukes has responded.
Like many of the players hoping to make an impression, Lukes has shown flashes. The 30-year-old outfielder was rewarded for his recent play by serving as the Jays’ leadoff hitter Saturday night.
He hit the first pitch he saw into shallow centre field but was robbed on a great diving catch by Braves’ Michael Harris II.
When he faced Schwellenbach again, with one out in the third inning, Lukes rapped out a single, the first of three hits on the night for the 30-year-old reserve outfielder.
AROUND THE BASES
Something was amiss with Berrios, at least when he faced the Braves in the home half of the first inning. It appeared he was not feeling well and even drew the attention of the Jays’ medical staff in the dugout once the inning was officially retired. No official word was immediately available, but it seemed Berrios was suffering from some form of blurred vision. Speculation aside, whatever was ailing the veteran it didn’t affect his pitching given the quality of his outing … In the home half of the third, Luke Williams was awarded with a leadoff hit, but truth be told, it should have been an error charged to Will Wagner, who came across the bag at second base to secure the ball, but his throw to first was off the mark. While Wagner has shown he can hit by recording his sixth multi-hit game in the win, his defensive flaws have been exposed, beginning with his arm strength, though he did make a nice fielding play in the eighth … The Blue Jays exploded for 17 hits on the night with Addison Barger being the lone starter not to get one …
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