Herdman looks for answers as Toronto FC continues to lose

It’s back to the drawing board for John Herdman, who must figure out how to uplift a struggling Toronto FC.

TORONTO — Reality sets in a little more with each passing day, with each accumulated loss for the Toronto Blue Jays, who went 7-15 in a litmus-test stretch against contending clubs and now head out on a nine-game West Coast swing a season-worst nine-games below .500.

Between the struggles, the attrition and the spectre of what the looming trade deadline might bring, this is going to be a difficult month in what’s become an increasingly difficult Blue Jays season.

“We all know and understand that we should be better and we can be better. But you don’t want to try to get it all back at once. You’ve got to keep going and see what happens,” George Springer said Thursday before collecting two hits in a 5-3 loss to the surging Houston Astros that capped a 3-5 homestand. “Our team has a job to do and that’s to play to the best of our abilities and not really be concerned about what lies ahead. The best thing for me, for us, for everybody is to concentrate on the day, hopefully learn something, whether it’s good, bad or indifferent, and when it comes to the future and next year, hopefully we’re in a much better position.”

There really isn’t much more to it than that for the Blue Jays (39-48), who for the next few weeks must focus their energies on leveraging the July 30 trade deadline before beginning a thorough internal audit on how the organization got into this spot and what needs to change immediately after.

All that will play out in time, with each day an opportunity, as Springer said, for some learning, be it for the likes of Spencer Horwitz, who had three hits including a two-run single in the first, Addison Barger, Davis Schneider and Leo Jimenez trying to cement themselves in the majors, for established players like Alejandro Kirk, Bo Bichette and Daulton Varsho chasing their peak level or for veterans like Springer and Kevin Gausman trying to get back to their best.

The Blue Jays begin a three-game series with the AL West-leading Seattle Mariners on Friday before heading to San Francisco and Arizona, two other clubs spinning their wheels, before the all-star break begins.

“You’ve got to pick yourself up and keep going,” said manager John Schneider. “This is a big road trip before the break. We’ve talked about that for the last few days with the guys. You’ve got to pick yourself up and rest on the plane and get ready for another big series. There’s no giving up. There’s no quitting. Not an ideal homestand, for sure. Nothing you can do about it now. Look forward to tomorrow in Seattle and then keep going.”

Chris Bassitt, who’d allowed three runs or less in his 11 previous outings, has been doing that but had a rougher day against the Astros, allowing three runs in the first, plus a go-ahead RBI single in the fifth to Mauricio Dubon that broke a 3-3 tie. He had to navigate a lot of traffic over his five frames by allowing eight hits and four walks, something he attributed to a strong Astros approach against him, and praised the Blue Jays offence for tying the game in the bottom half of the first, giving him time to gather his thoughts and adjust.

The lineup pounced on Framber Valdez with singles by Springer, Danny Jansen and Davis Schneider before Horwitz delivered his first of three left-on-left base hits to bring home a pair. Kirk followed with a double that made it 3-3 before an Ernie Clement liner to third turned into an inning-ending double play. 

They didn’t score again, Jeremy Pena’s solo homer off Trevor Richards in the seventh extended the Astros lead to 5-3 and the Blue Jays watched their playoff odds dip to a season-low 2.4 per cent, as calculated by FanGraphs.

“I don’t think it’s any different than Game 1 as crazy as that is. I don’t think you can think of it any other way,” Bassitt said of how to approach the coming weeks. “Tomorrow you have to win, the same exact thing as Day 1, Day 2 — just win tomorrow, that’s it. If you’re starting to think about all the other stuff, it does not help anything. There’s no benefit to thinking about it. So just win tomorrow. Just make it simple. Anything else I think is just the wrong answer.”

Especially since there are only more questions piling up.

While Yimi Garcia said Thursday he felt good after a side session and planned to make a rehab outing with triple-A Buffalo on Saturday, a Blue Jays bullpen thinned out by injury and underperformance has become a glaring issue. 

An inability to hold close games where they are is compounding the challenge for an offence that’s improving but still not there to carry the load. A seven-run outburst Tuesday led to the only win in four games over the Astros (45-42), who have won 12 of 14 to close in on the AL West-leading Mariners, while the Blue Jays scored nine twice to split a four-game set with the Yankees beforehand. 

Front and centre during that span is Springer, who has hits in eight of his last nine games, going 14-for-30 with four homers, two doubles, 13 RBI and seven runs, prompting John Schneider to push him back up to the leadoff spot.

Getting him back to sustainable performance is essential given how the Blue Jays, as things stand, are eyeing a small-scale sale of expiring contracts to help reset for another run in 2025.

To that end, Springer has worked relentlessly on some mechanical changes that have helped him with “being on time, being able to trust my eyes and make good decisions from a swing decision perspective.”

“I’m more ready to hit, if that makes sense,” he continued. “I’m not trying to do too much, not trying to do anything more than attack the baseball. I was hitting the ball hard and if you don’t see it fall, it’s deflating. But at the end of the day, I’ve been getting with all the hitting coaches and trying to be as mechanically sound as I can be, prepared to hit and go compete.”

Being prepared to go compete is the reality, cold and harsh, of what’s on the table right now for the Blue Jays.

More from Sportsnet

Chris Bassitt has quietly been changing pitch mix for Blue Jays – and it’s working

Blue Jays’ Garcia to pitch first rehab outing for triple-A Buffalo on Saturday

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