TORONTO – The Toronto Blue Jays are out of the running for the playoffs, but the club is still trying to put some value on its remaining games by evaluating the young players on the roster who are, in some capacity, auditioning for roles on the 2025 squad and beyond.

Although Toronto’s four-game victory over the Los Angeles Angels, which ended 8-2 at Rogers Centre on Sunday, has no significance for the standings, coach John Schneider was nevertheless pleased with his club’s performance in the last four games.

“They played really well, from the starting pitcher to the at-bats, the power, pretty good defense and even the little things like baserunning. Will (Wagner) gave it his all from first base to second base. They hung in there. It’s not easy to knock someone off the field at any time of year, so it’s a good feeling for the young players, but really for everyone. It’s nice to go out and play good baseball.”

The Blue Jays will now move on to Boston and Minnesota to face teams battling for the playoffs, but before they do, let’s look at four takeaways from the Blue Jays.

Bowden Francis joins the Blue Jays’ near-no-no club

Currently, Dave Stieb is the only Blue Jays pitcher to throw a no-hitter, but for eight innings on Saturday, it looked like Bowden Francis would join him.

Francis didn’t get a hit until the ninth inning against the Angels, but with three outs to go, leadoff hitter Taylor Ward hit a solo home run to center field, ending Francis’ chance at a historic win. Still, Francis’ eight innings without a hit were the Blue Jays’ longest no-hit streak since Brandon Morrow threw 8 2/3 innings without a hit against the Tampa Bay Rays on August 8, 2010.

The Blue Jays are one of three teams, along with the Rays (Matt Garza, July 26, 2010) and the Colorado Rockies (Ubaldo Jiménez, April 17, 2010), that have only one no-hitter in franchise history.

But the Blue Jays had some near-wins, compiled here by Keegan Matheson of MLB.com.

Before throwing his no-hitter against Cleveland on September 2, 1990, Stieb had flirted with a no-no three times – including in back-to-back starts in September 1988, when he fought off no-hitters with two outs in the ninth inning. On August 4, 1989, Stieb nearly threw a perfect game against the New York Yankees, but with two outs in the ninth inning, he allowed a double, ending his chance at a historic game.

Roy Halladay nearly threw a no-hitter in just his second MLB appearance on September 27, 1998, against the Detroit Tigers. The rookie was one out away in the ninth inning when Bobby Higginson hit a solo home run to end the effort. The next near no-no came more than a decade later, when Morrow struck out 17 Rays batters but hit a single off Evan Longoria with two outs in the ninth inning.

Chris Bassitt has been hyping up teammate Francis since spring training, so it’s no surprise that the veteran right-hander wanted to celebrate Francis’ eight-inning, one-hit performance.

During Sunday’s broadcast on Sportsnet, Francis was interviewed mid-game by commentators Dan Shulman and Joe Siddall from the dugout. During the conversation, Bassitt entered the camera frame behind Francis and held up a sign that read, “15 innings, 2 hits, 20 Ks. Hittable + nothing special.”

For immediate release: pic.twitter.com/nv14BCD4pz

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) 25 August 2024

The stats refer to Francis’ last two starts against the Angels, while the message is a cheeky nod to comments Ward made after Saturday’s game. The Angels outfielder was asked what made Francis so tough after he held them hitless until Ward’s solo home run in the ninth inning.

“I really don’t know,” he told reporters, including Julia Kreuz of MLB.com. “You know, I thought everything was hittable. Maybe he made better pitches for other people. A lot of people talked about his split and how that was the case. But personally, I didn’t think it was anything special.”

Bassitt disagreed. The Blue Jays manager was asked about Bassitt’s message after the game.

“Chris and Kevin (Gausman) in particular have taken Bowden under their wing. And I love it when the guys support each other,” Schneider said. “And I think Bowden’s results against Anaheim speak for themselves.”

Rotation gets a breather

For the second year in a row, the Blue Jays’ rotation was led by veterans Gausman, Bassitt and José Berríos, who each made 26 starts. But with no starters up for grabs in the standings, Schneider said the Blue Jays will try to give their starters extra rest for the remainder of the season if possible.

“If we can use the regular players on an extra day in the future, I think we would be happy to do that,” said the manager.

Last week, the Blue Jays moved all of their regular starters back a day, using reliever Ryan Burr as the opener before Ryan Yarbrough took over as the leadoff hitter for five scoreless innings in last Thursday’s 5-3 win over the Angels.

As the schedule stands, there will likely be at least one more rotation in which the regulars throw with normal rest time, but otherwise the club will give its regulars additional rest by taking advantage of scheduled days off and using other pitchers who can handle a lot of innings, such as Yarbrough, on certain days.

“You take any break you can get, no matter what,” Gausman said when asked if the extra rest was welcome this time of year. “I think also we’re trying to look at Yarbs and look at next year, that sort of thing. I think it’s a great opportunity for him and it gives us a day off at the same time.”

In September, when the roster expands to 28 players, the Blue Jays could also opt to add promising right-hander Jake Bloss to the team and resort to a six-man rotation in the final month.

Bloss, acquired from the Houston Astros in the Yusei Kikuchi deal, has made three starts with the Buffalo Bisons, pitching 9 2/3 scoreless innings with eight strikeouts and five walks. The Blue Jays were in no rush to call him up, but with rosters expanding in September and the Blue Jays needing a sixth starter, it looks like he could be headed to Toronto next week.

Squad expansion

Bloss appears to be a strong candidate for a September call-up, but there is still one more spot in the squad up for grabs. Schneider said the club has “a pretty good idea” of who it is targeting, but added that “that could change in a week.”

Who are the main candidates?

Acquired from the Seattle Mariners at the trade deadline, Jonatan Clase is an outfielder who brings an element of speed that the Blue Jays’ roster lacks. In 19 games with the Bisons, he has only posted a .211 batting average and .612 OPS, but this is also an opportune time to take a look at him alongside many other young players since there isn’t much at stake at the MLB level.

Nathan Lukes recently returned from the injured list after a thumb injury and has played in 12 of 37 games since August 10. He was the underdog in spring training and the Blue Jays could decide to reward him with a month in the major leagues now.

Meanwhile, Alan Roden has been shining in Triple A lately. The 24-year-old outfielder has a .357 batting average and a 1.039 OPS in August. He has caught the attention of the organization, and Schneider recently said, “The conversations about him have been really good.” But unlike the other two players mentioned above, Roden is not on the 40-man roster, which is an obstacle.

(Photo of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bowden Francis: Cole Burston / Getty Images)