BOSTON — George Springer let off a little smirk and pointed to his teammates near the third-base line.
His point was unmistakable. Even before he spoke, the message had already been delivered.
"I'm playing for the guys in our locker room," the outfielder said this week during a three-game set against the Red Sox. "I'm playing for our city. Our fans. I'm not playing the game for numbers or whatever that may be. I want to play to win."
The pain of the Blue Jays' Game 7 heartbreak is no longer raw. But the scars remain. That loss to the Dodgers isn't something the club will ever overcome. But rather an experience it will -- or has -- learned to carry.
This season, even after sweeping the lowly Red Sox following Thursday's win, has been a reminder of baseball's unforgiving nature. How a championship can be within reach, only for failure to reveal itself as its closest relative. How, in the aftermath, the Blue Jays were forced to start over. A clean slate. And with that slate came the necessary evil of doing it all again. To struggle again. To endure again. To fall again. To hurt again. To feel pain again without any guarantee the Blue Jays will ever reach that peak.
Toronto has gradually climbed this season, going 16-11 over the last month to improve to 37-38 overall and put itself in wild-card position. But it hasn't come without obstacles. Injuries have sidelined key contributors throughout 2026. Shane Bieber has been on the injured list since March with elbow inflammation. Addison Barger has yet to play because of a similar ailment. Both are expected back soon. Springer, meanwhile, hasn't emerged unscathed either, battling through his own share of nagging injuries.
Players have underperformed, too. Most notably, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who hit just his fourth homer of the season Thursday.
"I think he's earned the right to know his adjustment and what he needs to feel," said Blue Jays hitting coach David Popkins. "There's a lot of noise that comes with that, too, like, 'Hey, he's not hitting for power.' Then you start to try to hit for more power, and all of a sudden things might be opening a little sooner, you're not hitting the brakes the same way, and you're trying to create lift instead of letting the lift happen naturally."
With 87 games remaining, there is no panic for the Jays. Last season taught them too much for that. It taught them about success and failure. About the mettle required to navigate a six-month season. About triumphs and, equally, defeats.
"A lot of those guys were on the biggest stage baseball can offer," manager John Schneider said. "So, I think it helps to slow down some situations here in the regular season, but I think it also reminds everyone that we're still OK. You know what I mean? It's like the expectations are a little bit different because of what we did last year, but there's still a lot of baseball left."
The Blue Jays have an opportunity to gain ground before the All-Star break. They'll face a stretch of opponents that, much like them, have fallen short of expectations, including the Astros, Rangers, Mets, Giants, Cubs and Padres.
"I think everybody who tasted that last year wants to get back and is really hungry to get back," infielder Ernie Clement said. "So I think with how things have gone, and how we haven't got a whole lot of bounces go our way. We've had some injuries."
Last year's heartbreaking loss, one that left grown men crying inside the clubhouse and in the bowels of Rogers Centre following Game 7, still lingers. Not as a source of regret, but as a point of reference, even though the pain will forever linger.
"I mean, we're still very much in it," Clement added. "So, I think nobody's panicking here. So, we're just, you know, staying the course and weathering the storm and trying to get on a roll here."
The run will need to come soon. But in a watered-down American League, one isn't out of reach. The Blue Jays will lean on experience. Lean on the lingering agony of a postseason run that ended just two outs shy of a World Series title.
"We believe that we can play better, the way we know how to play," Springer said. "And I think you're starting to see that we're playing better collectively."
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