SportsCage MLB analyst Arash Madani explains the reasons why the Toronto Blue Jays are down 2-0 against the Seattle Mariners in the American League Championship Series.
"The fact that the Blue Jays didn't have a base hit after the second inning of Game 1 and didn't have a base hit after the third inning of Game 2, tells you all you need to know. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who had nine hits against the Yankees, three of them for home runs, is 0-for-7 in this series. Look, everything they touched turned to gold in that divisional series against the Yankees, all their moves paid off," Madani said on the SportsCage.
"They're not this bad, but a lot of this is inevitable because of the Mariners' pitching. Yes, the Blue Jays have not stepped up. Yes, the Blue Jays have not delivered. But it's not one of those scenarios where they left runners stranded, etc. They haven't been able to generate anything. This is what Seattle can do to teams, and this is what they continue to do to teams, especially in the second half of the season."
After watching Toronto lose 3-1 and 10-3 to Seattle, Madani wonders what the Blue Jays identity really is and if the American League East Division was overrated in 2025.
"Hear me out on this. With 10 days to go in the regular season, for a week, the Blue Jays couldn't win a game -- John Schneider said the sky isn't falling. They couldn't get anything going. Then they get through the final series of the season to sneak a division title. The Yankees showed us they don't have much, and really, they now come into the postseason with two-and-a-half starting pitchers," Madani explained.
"They have Kevin Gausman, unquestioned ace. They have this unicorn who's fallen from the sky, Trey Yesavage, who Seattle is now caught up on. Shane Bieber, their trade deadline acquisition, the former Cy Young award winner, he didn't get out of the third inning against the Yankees. Maybe those three wins against New York were more of an aberration."
That losing stretch Madani referenced came from September 17 to 24 when the Blue Jays lost six of seven regular season games.
Statistically, Madani pointed out the last team to lose both games at home to start a playoff series was the New York Yankees in 1996 against the Atlanta Braves in the World Series. Recently, in 2023, the Arizona Diamondbacks overcame a 2-0 deficit as the away team in the NLCS against the Philadelphia Phillies to win in seven games and advance to the World Series.
Unfortunately for the Blue Jays, Madani highlighted some Mariners pitchers who haven't faced them yet and could cause more problems.
"It's honestly a lot of what you've seen in the first two games. What has that been? Really strong starting pitching and they haven't even gone with their ace yet. To me, Luis Castillo is the best in their rotation, he's coming up when this series shifts to Seattle Wednesday. They still have [Bryan] Woo in the mix. There's more and more of this coming from a Mariner standpoint, so that's not going away. The other is that they are deceptive, they have deceptive power. You would never think that a catcher [Cal Raleigh] is going to hit 60 bombs," Madani said.
"This is who the Seattle Mariners are and have been: they're going to give you really good starting pitching, they have a lot of power in their bats, and they have a few different guys on the offensive end who can do it for them when their designated hitter is hitting in either the seventh hole or the eighth spot in their lineup. That tells you how good their offence can be."
The Mariners won the American League West Division with a 90-72 record. Seattle defeated the Detroit Tigers in five games before facing the Blue Jays in the ALCS.
"They're pretty good when they're exhausted, this is the amazing part of all this. Don't forget, Game 1 Sunday, Game 2 Monday -- Friday night, they go 15 innings against the Tigers. They use a bunch of their starters in relief, etc," Madani said. "You're saying to yourself on the surface, 'Shoot, the Blue Jays have them right where they want them.' Then the Toronto bats come up and they can't get a ball out of the infield. You're saying to yourself, 'Oh boy.'
The Blue Jays have travelled to Seattle to take on the Mariners on Wednesday for Game 3 in the ALCS at 6:08 p.m. at T-Mobile Park.
