Tim KurkjianOct 24, 2025, 07:00 AM ETCloseSenior writer ESPN Magazine/ESPN.com Analyst/reporter ESPN television Has covered baseball since 1981
CloseSenior writer ESPN Magazine/ESPN.com Analyst/reporter ESPN television Has covered baseball since 1981
Straw, like Clement, is considered a “glue guy.” Straw appreciated the compliment, but said, “We have 10 of those guys on this team.” Schneider said, “This is the tightest group I’ve ever been around.”
The game glove that infielder Ernie Clement uses was purchased a few months ago on eBay. “Mine was getting worn, so this one looked good on eBay, so bought it,” he said. “I have to wear a glove underneath my glove because this glove is so old, it has no padding in it.” Even with a glove purchased on eBay, Clement is a terrific defender. He is an AL Gold Glove finalist at third base and as a utility player. He personifies the flexibility of the Blue Jays, an elite defensive team that moves several players around the infield, and has others who play infield or outfield equally well. Clement can really throw on the run, and his transfer on the double play from second base is lightning fast. He has 18 hits and only two strikeouts in 42 at-bats in this postseason in which he has shined as a damn good player. His aggressive hitting approach comes from Coach Pitch when he was 6 years old. “We got three pitches per at-bat,” he said. “My dad would say, ‘You’d better swing.”’ Clement also happens to look exactly like a young Aaron Boone. “I’ve heard that,” Clement said, smiling. Boone said, laughing, “So have I. I’ll have to meet him someday and tell him that this [his face] is what he has to look forward to someday.”
Reliever Louis Varland will pitch whenever you give him the ball. His preference would be to pitch every day. He pitched in 10 of the 11 postseason games for the Blue Jays. He started as an opener against the Yankees in Game 4 of the AL Division Series one day after pitching in relief. “He would have pitched nine innings if I would’ve let him,” manager John Schneider said. That competitive nature comes from his time as a high school wrestler in Minnesota. Varland wrestled as a freshman at 106 pounds and 160 pounds as a senior. His junior and senior year in baseball, he played at 185 pouonds — he would lose 25 pounds to make weight for wrestling, then gain it back for baseball. “I would lose 20 pounds in a week,” he said. “I did it the unhealthy way. We’ll just leave it at that.”
Pitcher Max Scherzer remains an extreme competitor at age 41. “He found out that I played basketball,” said Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt, who was a great high school basketball player. “So Max told me, ‘We’re playing one-on-one. And we’re playing full court.”’ Bassitt laughed and said, “Max, I’m not playing full court one-on-one with you.” Scherzer started the critical Game 4 of the ALCS against the Mariners, becoming the first pitcher to start a postseason game for six different franchises. He hadn’t pitched since Sept. 24. No one had any idea what he was going to give them, so, of course, he gave a sturdy 5⅔ innings. Schneider went to the mound to check on Scherzer in the fifth inning. “I’m f—ing good!” Scherzer barked at Schneider. “Let’s f—ing go!” Schneider said with a smile, “I was scared,” then added, “you should have seen the conversation we had between [the fourth and fifth innings]. I asked him if he was OK. He said, ‘What, are you f—ing kidding? Get the f— out of here!” The next day, Schneider’s comments were relayed to Scherzer. He smiled, half-embarrassed, half-proud, and said, “I just can’t help it.”
Addison Barger swings the bat as hard as any player in the game, and his plan is to do so on every pitch. He takes relentless batting practice every day. His nickname is “Bam Bam,” but it comes from the name of his mother’s dog, not how hard he hits a baseball. He plays third base and right field — more Toronto defensive flexibility. “He has the best throwing arm of any third baseman I’ve ever seen,” Clement said. In an 8-2 victory in Game 4 in Seattle, Barger’s tremendous throw from right field cut down Josh Naylor at third base for a crucial third out in the sixth inning. “He threw 98-99 [mph] in high school,” Schneider said. When I asked Barger if he could throw 98-99 mph today if he were asked to close on the mound, he laughed and said, “I’d throw 100.”
Ace Kevin Gausman has one of the best split-fingered fastballs of any pitcher in the game, but the grip on that pitch can occasionally cause a blister so Gausman usually doesn’t throw his split during his bullpen sessions between starts. “That’s rare,” Bassitt said. “But he is so comfortable with the grip, he doesn’t need to practice it.” Gausman pitched in relief in the clinching Game 7 against the Mariners. “I can get loose in a hurry,” he said before the game. “I grew up in Colorado. It was cold. To get warm, and to get loose quickly, I would put hot stuff all over my body. It really worked, but when you I started to sweat, whoa.”
Utility man Davis Schneider is an above-average defensive second baseman and an above-average defensive corner outfielder. He doesn’t look like a baseball player with his mustache and thick glasses. But he is the personification of a baseball player. He hits every day with Barger, his buddy, and he swings almost as hard as Barger does. “He was almost released three times in the minor leagues,” Schneider said. “But he kept on fighting. He just figured it out.” He’s not the only Blue Jay player who figured it out.
Schneider is superstitious. Before Game 6, he walked to the ballpark. “I either drive or walk,” he said. “I walked yesterday. We won. So I walked again today.” When asked if he ran into any fans on the street, he said, “Yeah, a few. They all said, ‘Good luck.”’ Then Schneider smiled and said, “Last year, when we weren’t very good, I drove to the ballpark all the time.” Buck Martinez, a former major league catcher and former Blue Jays manager who has broadcast Blue Jays games for 15 years, said that Schneider reminds him “of Bobby Cox in 1985,” the year that the Blue Jays started to win.
The Blue Jays win because of an elite defense, good starting pitching and an offense that led the major leagues in batting with a .265 average. They changed their offense approach this season: use your “A” swing every time, or don’t swing. “Sell out,” Schneider said. “Or don’t swing.” In the postseason, the Blue Jays hit .296; the rest of the playoff teams hit a combined .218. They put the ball in play better than any team in the major leagues. “The major league batting average on balls in play is .300, that’s all you need to know,” Bassitt said. “In the game today, striking out is OK. Not here. For us, it’s not OK to strike out.” In the postseason, the Blue Jays struck out 65 times compared to 108 by their opponent. They struck out every 6.1 at-bats. All other teams in the postseason averaged a strikeout every 3.4 at-bats. The Blue Jays scored 71 runs and struck out 65 times. The last team to score more runs than they had strikeouts in 11 postseason games was the 2007 Red Sox, who won the World Series. And that’s why the Blue Jays have a fighting chance against the mighty Dodgers.