Aug 19, 2026 · 54 min · 14 segments
The Blue Jays are right back in it. Arden and Ben marvel at the team’s success (0:11) and discuss how they can keep it going (6:42) before discussing Brett Bateman and the rotation (32:59). This…
Arden ZwellingHost
Ben Nicholson-SmithHost
I can't say I saw it coming, but I've been saying all year, as has everyone, that the AL is so mediocre and flat this year that it wouldn't be crazy if [chuckles] the Blue Jays went on a little run and got themselves back into it.
So I don't know that I truly believed it and really thought it was going to happen, but I've definitely been saying that it's a possibility.
Um, I think the Toronto Blue Jays', uh, coaching staff and players hoped that it was coming.
The front office prepared for the possibility that it was not, in fact, coming by selling at the trade deadline.
Talking to a lot of Blue Jays fans, you know, there wasn't a lot of optimism, if we dial the clock back three or four weeks, that this would happen.
But here they are, and so now they have this massive opportunity in front of them.
They are objectively in a pretty good position to make this thing very interesting all the way to the end.
If not, you know, pass the Texas Rangers and take a wild card and see what happens in the playoffs.
They sold, and yet this opportunity is very real in front of them right now.
You and Shy were with Hazel in Houston, and it was, uh, me, Jamie, and Madison on the desk, uh, in Toronto.
It was like, yeah, we got another minute to fill, so, like, Jamie just kind of like threw out a, a generic question.
And I remember I s- I-- my response was something along the lines of, "You know, the Blue Jays, like, they aren't out of it.
[chuckles] They could still do something here." That's why, uh, you hear Ross Atkins talking about how it was important to them to have Shane Bieber and Knox Scherzer and George Springer still around, and to stay relatively competitive for this year.
And I feel like as I was saying it, I could just hear the groans of a nation, like, in the back of my head [chuckles] as-- and maybe, like, groans from even around the studio as I was saying it.
And yeah, like I said earlier, I'm not sure I truly believed it, but I-- this is the scenario.
I can't say I saw it coming, but I've been saying all year, as has everyone, that the AL is so mediocre and flat this year that it wouldn't be crazy if [chuckles] the Blue Jays went on a little run and got themselves back into it.
So I don't know that I truly believed it and really thought it was going to happen, but I've definitely been saying that it's a possibility.
Um, I think the Toronto Blue Jays', uh, coaching staff and players hoped that it was coming.
The front office prepared for the possibility that it was not, in fact, coming by selling at the trade deadline.
Talking to a lot of Blue Jays fans, you know, there wasn't a lot of optimism, if we dial the clock back three or four weeks, that this would happen.
But here they are, and so now they have this massive opportunity in front of them.
They are objectively in a pretty good position to make this thing very interesting all the way to the end.
If not, you know, pass the Texas Rangers and take a wild card and see what happens in the playoffs.
They sold, and yet this opportunity is very real in front of them right now.
You and Shy were with Hazel in Houston, and it was, uh, me, Jamie, and Madison on the desk, uh, in Toronto.
It was like, yeah, we got another minute to fill, so, like, Jamie just kind of like threw out a, a generic question.
And I remember I s- I-- my response was something along the lines of, "You know, the Blue Jays, like, they aren't out of it.
[chuckles] They could still do something here." That's why, uh, you hear Ross Atkins talking about how it was important to them to have Shane Bieber and Knox Scherzer and George Springer still around, and to stay relatively competitive for this year.
And I feel like as I was saying it, I could just hear the groans of a nation, like, in the back of my head [chuckles] as-- and maybe, like, groans from even around the studio as I was saying it.
And yeah, like I said earlier, I'm not sure I truly believed it, but I-- this is the scenario.
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