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Blue Jays’ ‘one game at a time’ mindset perfect for postseason

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On Monday, the Toronto Blue Jays will play their second-ever Game 7 in franchise history. They’ll also do something they’ve done 172 times this year – play a major league baseball game.  

It is a “historical game for the franchise,” in the words of manager John Schneider. And the gravity of the situation isn’t lost to anyone. But the Blue Jays also won’t be approaching it any differently than they would any other game.   

“Yeah, you have to,” said Ernie Clement to reporters after the game. “I think that’s a testament to the preparation we have. You don’t want to say it’s just another game; I mean, Game 7’s awesome. But we’re going to go into it with the same mindset and prepare and just let everything else take care of itself.” 

It’s a common trope of the most successful teams in professional sports. Follow along with any finals run and players expressing that they’re staying in the moment, focusing on one game at a time and not getting ahead of themselves is often a prevalent theme. The most recent major Toronto sports franchise to both win a championship and come back from down 2-0 in a seven-game series, the Toronto Raptors, preached one-game-at-a-time ad nauseam.  

But it’s one thing to talk the talk and another to follow through with results, and Clement has in spades. It’s in only 43 plate appearances this October, but the gritty utility player’s .447 career postseason batting average ranks second in MLB history. It also ranks fifth all-time for batting average in a single postseason, just behind teammate Vladimir Guerrero Jr. The pair also pace the playoffs in hits with 17 and 18, respectively.  

But whether it’s an underpaid underdog like Clement or the face of the franchise in Guerrero, the sentiment remains the same.  

“To us it’s like one game at a time, one at-bat at a time, and tomorrow we’re trying to come and win it,” said Guerrero to Sportsnet’s Hazel Mae during his post-game on-field interview.  

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One pitch taken just off the plate at a time. One brilliant double play. One obliterated postseason grand slam. These moments have added up to staggering October numbers for the Blue Jays’ megastar. Guerrero tied the franchise record for postseason home runs with six, and he hit them all this month. His 1.495 OPS and 291 wRC+ are also the best in Blue Jays franchise history. It’s safe to say Guerrero’s reputation for struggling in the postseason has been left in the rearview mirror.  

Guerrero mashed that sixth home run in Sunday’s 6-2 do-or-die win over the Seattle Mariners, and Clement missed a big fly of his own by a matter of feet. Meanwhile, 22-year-old system-conqueror Trey Yesavage dazzled once again, striking out seven and allowing only two runs over 5.2 innings. His stuff was dizzying at times – he struck out the side in the second inning, inducing multiple comical swings. And when it wasn’t, he got three straight inning-ending double plays, the first two to escape bases-loaded jams.  

Of course, Yesavage took the same workmanlike approach to his successful start.  

“You really need to treat it as if it was a regular-season game mentally,” Yesavage said to the media on Saturday. “You can’t make it bigger than what you are used to and what it is.” 

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Shane Bieber, coming off an eight-strikeout, six-inning start of his own – the longest of the Blue Jays’ postseason – was confirmed as the Game 7 starter Sunday night. Luckily, Toronto’s prized deadline acquisition, acquired with these kinds of high-stakes games in mind, isn’t feeling the pressure. 

“Pretty calm, honestly,” said Bieber when asked how he was feeling in the dugout during his post-game media availability. “This team just has kind of an uncanny ability to stay within themselves. That’s kind of how it feels in the clubhouse, on the plane, in the field. Yeah, it’s been an absolute pleasure to be a part of.” 

Bieber may be the most familiar with the slow, incremental progress required to achieve a hard-to-reach goal, recently recovering from Tommy John surgery and making his return to the majors Aug. 22.  

All the hard work and preparation, all 172 games that came before, have led to this, another game. This Blue Jays team came into the season with modest expectations and got off to a slow start. Now they’ve firmly cemented themselves into franchise lore, putting together a remarkable season one game at a time.  

“I’m just ready to play,” reiterated Clement. “I prepare, and I don’t want to say it’s another game, but for me, I treat it the same as every game in the regular season. I come in ready to play every single day.” 

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