Guests: Los Angeles Angels outfielder Kevin Pillar and infield coach Ryan Goins, Blue Jays prospect pitcher Jake Bloss

This week in Deep Left Field, we catch up with a couple of former Blue Jays who are now working together on the west coast. Kevin Pillar talks about contemplating retirement and Ryan Goins, already onto the next chapter of his baseball career, looks back on his days as Pillar’s teammate on those great Toronto teams of 2015-16. Also, we introduce you to right-hander Jake Bloss, the only piece of the Yusei Kikuchi deal who has yet to appear with the major-league team. For now.

Guests: New retiree Joey Votto, Blue Jays starter Bowden Francis, Jays infielder Will Wagner, Cincinnati Reds infielder Santiago Espinal 

This week, we share highlights of the impromptu scrum that Joey Votto did at Rogers Centre just hours after announcing his retirement from baseball. Also, we sit down with reigning American League player of the week Bowden Francis, introduce you to hot-hitting rookie Will Wagner and catch up with a beloved former Blue Jay, Santiago Espinal, who was in town with his new team.

This week, on the 200th episode of Deep Left Field, we catch up with some of our favourites. Kevin Kiermaier talks about the mess the Jays continue to find themselves in, his poor season, the injury to Isiah Kiner-Falefa, the DFA of Tim Mayza and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s all-star nod. Mark Budzinski gives his thoughts on the tough road ahead and how the coaching staff works to help the team stay positive and try to turn things around. Marcus Stroman looks back at his time in Toronto and how he’s changed since then.

Guests: Canadian stars of stage and screen Ryan Bondy (“Book of Mormon”), Sandy Jobin-Bevans (Second City, “Just Like Mom and Dad”), Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (“Kim’s Convenience,” “The Mandalorian,” “Avatar: The Last Airbender”)

The Toronto Blue Jays are about to hit the halfway point of the season and, despite snapping a seven-game losing streak on Tuesday, things are not going well. We have convened a panel to discuss what has gone wrong, why it has gone wrong, how we feel about it and how it can be fixed (...if it can even be fixed). Including great stories about a “Kim’s Convenience” tie-in to Edwin Encarnacion’s wild card walk-off in 2016 and the Great Shohei Ohtani Private Plane Watch!

The Blue Jays have been swept in back-to-back series. They’re playing their worst baseball with the most important week of the season beginning Monday – three games at Boston and then four at home against the first-place New York Yankees. With the team taking on water, literally and figuratively, it was time for an emergency bonus episode of Deep Left Field!

We take your comments and questions: Should the Blue Jays sell, and if so, who? Retool or Rebuild? Should Ross Atkins be the one to oversee the changes? Who is really in charge? What to do with George Springer? Was Orelvis Martinez cheating or did he make an innocent mistake?

These questions and more answered on this special bonus episode!

Guests: Blue Jays DH Justin Turner and infielders Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Spencer Horwitz

This week in “Deep Left Field,” we talk to the resurgent Justin Turner, who has shaken off a terrible month of May to get back to his normal self in June. We catch up with Isiah Kiner-Falefa for his thoughts about the team’s current predicament and having to take over at shortstop with Bo Bichette on the injured list, and chat with Spencer Horwitz, who has done nothing but hit — and at a new position — since his call-up to the big leagues a fortnight ago.

What would you like to hear on Toronto Star podcasts? Let us know in this survey and you can enter to win a $100 gift card.

Guests: Blue Jays broadcaster Buck Martinez, former Jays farmhand (and son of Tom Cheek) Jeff Cheek

This week, we honour Tom Cheek, the forever voice of the Toronto Blue Jays, on what would have been his 85th birthday. We remember the Hall of Fame broadcaster with stories and memories from Buck Martinez, who Cheek pushed toward a post-playing career behind the mic, and Tom’s youngest son, Jeff. We also look at the Cavan Biggio trade and preview Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Weekend.

What would you like to hear on Toronto Star podcasts? Let us know in this survey and you can enter to win a $100 gift card.

Guests: Former Blue Jays pitcher Jason Grilli, Jays’ associate manager DeMarlo Hale

This week in “Deep Left Field,” we get Jason Grilli’s thoughts on the surprise (and welcome) retirement of Angel Hernandez and check in with DeMarlo Hale for his assessment of the Blue Jays through one-third of the season. Also, thoughts on Hernandez’ legacy, such as it is, as well as Alek Manoah’s injury and the Jays’ City Connect uniforms!

What would you like to hear on Toronto Star podcasts? Let us know in this survey and you can enter to win a $100 gift card.

Guests: Blue Jays centrefielder Kevin Kiermaier, Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash, Jays fan Liz McGuire

This week in “Deep Left Field,” we hear from Kevin Kiermaier on the Blue Jays’ rough first couple months of the season, including the virus that tore through the clubhouse and what he believes we’ll be seeing from here on out. We also catch up with former Blue Jay Kevin Cash, now the most-winning manager in Tampa Bay Rays’ history, and we check in on Liz McGuire, who garnered international attention after being hit in the forehead by a 110-m.p.h. foul ball off the bat of Bo Bichette.

What you would like to hear on Toronto Star podcasts? Let us know in this survey and you can enter to win a $100 gift card.

Guests: Blue Jays 2B/LF Davis Schneider, former Jay and current Minnesota Twins pitcher Jay Jackson, Blue Jays mental skills coach John Lannan

This week, we sit down with Davis Schneider, who has been one of MLB’s best hitters since coming to the big leagues last August, catch up with old pal Jay Jackson to see how he’s doing with a new team and to get an update on 10-month-old J.R., and introduce you to John Lannan, whose job it is to help out the Blue Jays between the ears.

What you would like to hear on Toronto Star podcasts? Let us know in this survey and you can enter to win a $100 gift card.

Guests: Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Geddy Lee, lead singer and bassist of seminal Canadian rock band Rush

This week in Deep Left Field, we are joined by honest-to-goodness Canadian rock royalty. Geddy Lee is here for an in-depth conversation about baseball and the Blue Jays, two of his great loves.

We remember Jays history and discuss what went wrong this year, what he thinks of the current front office, and the renovations that forced him to move back a couple of rows at Rogers Centre. We also talk about his music, his family, his bandmates and more. Geddy’s book “My Effin’ Life” is currently available wherever finer books are sold.

Guests: Once-and-future Blue Jays pitcher Aaron Sanchez, Dodgers reliever (and former Jay) Daniel Hudson plus your e-mail!!!

This week in “Deep Left Field,” we dip into the mailbag to hear your thoughts on what’s been an incredibly frustrating couple of weeks in Blue Jay land, then we talk to two pitchers traded by the Jays on the same day back in 2019, Aaron Sanchez and Daniel Hudson. They’re both trying to bounce back from a rough last few years, and Sanchez is getting the opportunity to do it back in the Jays’ organization, having signed a minor-league deal this week.

Guests: Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano and starter Kevin Gausman, Los Angeles Dodgers/Baseball Canada slugger Freddie Freeman

This week, we celebrate Markham’s own Jordan Romano joining the 100-save club, check in with Kevin Gausman for an in-depth look at the Blue Jays’ disappointing first month of the season and catch up with all-star Freddie Freeman, who honours his late mother by suiting up for Team Canada.

What you would like to hear on Toronto Star podcasts? Let us know in this survey and you can enter to win a $100 gift card.

As Shohei Ohtani weekend comes to a close, we answer your questions about where the Blue Jays stand one month into the season. What’s wrong with the offence? Should Vladdy be given a few games off? How safe is Ross Atkins? What about the hitting coaches? Do clutch players exist? Are the Jays at risk of losing their fan base? All these and so much more!

Guests: Blue Jays starter Alek Manoah, outfielder Joey Loperfido

On a special Monday bonus episode of Deep Left Field, and his insight into what’s been a miserable season for Bo Bichette. We also get to know one of the new guys acquired by the Jays at the trade deadline – Joey Loperfido, one of three players who came over from Houston in the Yusei Kikuchi deal.

Blue Jays President and CEO Mark Shapiro met with the media this week – for the first time since spring training – and we break down what Shapiro had to say. He touched on the Jays’ lost season, the future of Ross Atkins, what the Jays need to do to get back to being contenders and more. We analyze what Shapiro said, what he meant, and what that means to a fan base that seems to have lost faith in the front office and the direction in which they’ve taken the team.

Guests: Blue Jays starters Chris Bassitt and Kevin Gausman, Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Kevin Kiermaier

We move into August with the Jays having dealt away nearly one-third of their big-league roster, including Kevin Kiermaier, who gave us his last 1-on-1 interview as a Blue Jay before being traded to L.A. You’ll hear his thoughts on a season gone sideways, his impending retirement and what he’ll take from his time in Toronto. Also, Chris Bassitt and Kevin Gausman join us to talk about how tough it is to go through trade deadline limbo on a team that’s out of the race and where the Jays go from here.

Guest: Toronto Star Baseball Columnist Gregor Chisholm

In this special bonus episode of Deep Left Field, we recap the Blue Jays’ comings and goings at the trade deadline that just passed. The Jays traded eight members of their major-league roster and got back 13 minor-league prospects (plus one 32-year-old big-league reliever). How did they do? Did they do enough? Has Ross Atkins saved his job? We answered those questions and more with The Star’s Gregor Chisholm.

Guests: Blue Jays catcher Danny Jansen, starting pitcher Yusei Kikuchi

With the trade deadline looming, the Blue Jays are sellers for the first time in five years. Two of the most prominent free-agents-to-be, Danny Jansen and Yusei Kikuchi, who are very likely to be traded, join us to talk about what it’s like to be living with the uncertainty of where they’ll be playing next week, how they’re managing to stay focused and what playing in Toronto has meant to them.

Guests: Former Blue Jays first-round pick and top prospect Travis Snider

In a special episode of Deep Left Field, we focus on mental health. Travis Snider joins us to discuss his career and why he wound up being a journeyman big-league outfielder as opposed to the can’t miss superstar that he was projected to be. Snider talks openly and honestly about mental health, the fragility of confidence, the weight of expectations – both his own and those placed upon him – and how to avoid the roadblocks that prevented him from fulfilling his potential on the field.

With the Blue Jays fighting against heavy odds trying to get back into a wild card race as they head toward the all-star break, we talk to a couple of former Jays about their all-star experiences back in the day. Tom Henke (1987) and Marco Estrada (2016) made the all-star team once each as Blue Jays and they get together to share their stories about being a part of the midsummer classic.

Guest: RUSH frontman and Blue Jays fanatic Geddy Lee

The Blue Jays are on the eve of their American League division series against the New York Yankees, which begins Saturday afternoon. We talk to the Jays' most famous fan, the lead singer, bassist and keyboardist from the legendary Canadian rock band Rush, who also happens to be a massive baseball geek.

Geddy Lee shares his thoughts on the Blue Jays' worst-to-first season, how much fun he's had watching the team and how large a part of their success all the unsung heroes have been.

We also look at the ALDS match-up with the Yankees and open up the mailbag at deepleftfield@thestar.ca!

Guests: 2025 Blue Jays MVP, Rookie of the Year and Unsung Hero

We don't want to spoil the surprise for you, so as the Jays' American League division series draws ever closer, check out this episode of Deep Left Field to find out who the players, coaches and other uniformed personnel voted as their end-of-season award winners.

We're joined by the MVP, who got 45 of 53 votes cast, Rookie of the Year, who got 48, and Unsung Hero, who ran away with an award for which 14 different players received votes, truly symbolizing this year's Blue Jays, for which there seemed to be a different hero every night.

As we continue with our far-more-frequent-than-usual episodes through the post-season, remember that the Deep Left Field mailbag is always open. If you want to get your comment or question onto the show, send an email to deepleftfield@thestar.ca!

Guests: Blue Jays starter Max Scherzer, left fielder Davis Schneider, reliever Tommy Nance

The Blue Jays are getting set for a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers, who have the best record in MLB, and they'll go into it just half a game behind the Detroit Tigers for the best record in the American League.

Bullpen questions abound, and we discuss those on this episode of Deep Left Field, and also welcome Max Scherzer to the podcast for the first time. The 41-year-old, Cooperstown-bound starting pitcher is showing glimpses of the pitcher who won three Cy Young awards every time out and we discuss his comeback from three months missed with a thumb injury. We also try to get him to compare this Jays team to the three teams he's played on that have been to the World Series, but he's not looking past his next start.

Davis Schneider homered twice Wednesday night and has been red-hot in the month of August, batting .341 with an 1.123 OPS. He joins the show to talk about his turnaround and to sing the praises of his roommate, Ernie Clement, and of Joey Loperfido, who is likely to move back in with them shortly.

And 34-year-old Tommy Nance, who has a 0.90 ERA out of the bullpen in 17 appearances, discusses his long and winding path to the big leagues, his flourishing in his role with the Jays and how excited he is to be part of a September pennant push for the first time in his career.

Guests: Blue Jays top prospect Trey Yesavage, Gold Glove centrefielder Daulton Varsho, rehabbing Jays starter Alek Manoah 

This week in Deep Left Field, we head down to the farm and talk to right-hander Trey Yesavage, the Jays' first-round pick last July, as he prepares to make his debut with the Buffalo Bisons - the fourth team in the Jays' system for which he has suited up in this, his first season in pro ball. The 22-year-old has allowed just 45 hits and notched a whopping 134 strikeouts in 80 2/3 innings this year at Dunedin, Vancouver and New Hampshire combined. He'll start for the Bisons on August 14 and the big leagues will be the next stop. That final promotion could very well come as soon as next month.

We also chat with Alek Manoah following a disappointing rehab outing in Buffalo. The former all-star and Cy Young finalist is recovering from reconstructive elbow surgery and in the first Triple-A start in his rehab assignment, lasted just an inning and two-thirds.

Also, Daulton Varsho joins us to talk about watching from the sidelines as the Jays built the best record in the American League and then picking up right where he left off, power-wise, when he rejoined them.

The Blue Jays spent the weekend in Los Angeles almost getting swept by the defending World Series champions and the drama was so far through the roof that a bonus episode of Deep Left Field was required so we could all process it.

From the high of a club-record 45 runs scored over three games in Colorado to just two runs combined in the first two games at Dodger Stadium and just two more through the first seven innings of the series finale, questions were starting to pop up about the Jays, despite them having the American League's best record.

A Sunday loss would leave them with only five wins in their last 14 games - three of them against the worst team in the game. Was the air starting to come out of the balloon? Was the Jays' record a mirage? Can we actually not have nice things in Toronto?

Home runs by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Addison Barger gave the Jays a late lead, but closer Jeff Hoffman gave it right back with a bases loaded walk, then walked three more in the ninth after Ernie Clement went deep to give the Jays yet another lead.

Mason Fluharty, the youngest pitcher on the staff, had to bail Hoffman out, and did he ever.

We go through all of it for you here in Deep Left Field - what happened, what it means, and who does what going forward as the Jays move into the final 43 games of the season.

Guests: Blue Jays rehabbing pitcher Shane Bieber, Buffalo Bisons catcher Brandon Valenzuela    

Two of the Blue Jays' trade deadline acquisitions have yet to make their debuts with the big club, and you'll meet them both this week in Deep Left Field!

Shane Bieber spoke after his first rehab start in Buffalo, in which he threw five innings against the Syracuse Mets, allowing two runs on five hits with a walk and six strikeouts. You'll hear his comments about how he felt, the whirlwind that sent him from Cleveland to Toronto to Buffalo in three days and what he thought of becoming a Blue Jay.

Brandon Valenzuela was acquired in a head-shaking trade with the San Diego Padres, straight up for Will Wagner. The 24-year-old catcher made his organizational debut, catching Bieber in that rehab game, and we caught up with him afterward. The Mexican native discussed meeting Alejandro Kirk, catching Bieber - he said he's never seen anything like it - and the unexpected trade that put him on the road to a potential big-league debut in Toronto.

You'll also hear all about the overwhelming, record-setting series sweep in Colorado as well as a short treatise on run differential, since the Jays added 39 runs to it this week!

Guest: Toronto Blue Jays Manager John Schneider

The Blue Jays continued to extend their lead in the AL East this weekend by taking three of four from the Detroit Tigers, in Detroit. With the best record in Major League Baseball and the MLB trade deadline coming July 31, Deep Left Field is going to have updates every day throughout. We'll start this Trade Deadline Week with our conversation with Jays skipper John Schneider.

Guests: Blue Jays infielder Ernie Clement, pitchers Jeff Hoffman and Eric Lauer

As the Blue Jays prepare to play in the American League Division Series for the first time since 2016, we take you back onto the field in the wake of their division-clinching win Sunday.

Ernie Clement is the poster boy for the Jays' cast of unsung heroes and versatile contributors, and he joins us to talk about his multiple roles over the course of the season and how his flexibility was once again put on display by playing three different positions in Sunday's season finale.

Eric Lauer may have saved the season by stabilizing the pitching staff when he was called up at the end of April, and he had the ball in his glove when the season ended, stepping on first to retire Tampa Bay's Jonathan Aranda for the final out. He talks about bouncing back from a 2024 in which he got released by two major-league organizations and wound up pitching in South Korea, and what he's doing with the ball from the 27th out.

Closer Jeff Hoffman was on the National League East champion Philadelphia Phillies last season, who also got a first-round bye, and we talk to him about what the Jays will do with five days off and how the break could affect them in the next round.

All that, plus we open up the mailbag at deepleftfield@thestar.ca for your questions and comments!

Guests: Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette, Toronto Star baseball columnist Gregor Chisholm

The Blue Jays are American League East champions.

They clinched the division with a 13-4 mauling of the Tampa Bay Rays at Rogers Centre Sunday, giving them the AL East crown for the first time in ten years. It was the first time they'd clinched at home since 1993.

We talk to injured shortstop Bo Bichette about his season, the comeback from last year's last-place finish and what his status is as the Jays enter a five-day break before taking on either the Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees in the American League Division Series.

Gregor Chisholm stops by as well, to discuss Game 162 and how it felt like a microcosm of the season as a whole, as well as the odd path the Jays took to the division title, having to win their final four games of the season following an ugly run of six losses in seven games