OverDrive - Dempster on the Blue Jays' postseason sights, Guerrero Jr.'s decline and the Yankees' ceiling

Episode Date: August 17, 2026

MLB Network and Marquee Sports Network Analyst Ryan Dempster joined OverDrive to discuss the Blue Jays' chase towards the playoffs, the AL East becoming an arms race, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s rough season, the lowered home run totals, Yankees' ceiling for the season and more.

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Bell, connection is everything. Let's head to the Maple Toyota hotline, where longtime Big League or MLB Network, Markey Sports analyst, Ryan Dempster joins us. What's up, Brian? Hey, guys, how we doing? We're doing all right, man. We're doing all right. The Jays are hot.

The city of Toronto is starting to vibe again with regards to its baseball team. I'm curious. Are you buying this Blue Jays resurgence here in the month of August? I buy any team that all of a sudden just decides to get hot because we've seen it, the blueprints in the right in front of our face, how many times have we seen teams just come out of nowhere down the stretch? Like a horse in a derby or, you know what I mean? It's like we always talk about all the big bad teams that are in first,

but eventually somebody comes out of nowhere, and you've got to be playing well at the right time, and the Blue Jays are starting to do that. Can they keep that going up to them? But definitely ask them some excitement down the stretch here. Ryan, we're trying to figure out who the Blue Jays should be scared of in this wild card race. So when I read you the list of the Orioles, the Rangers, the Twins, the Guardians, the Mariners,

they're all within three games of one another. The Blue Jays, I think, have a reason to be a team people are scared of. But who else? What other team sticks out in that that you're waiting on to make a bit of a run here? Well, I think Baltimore is scary in that sense, because they're a team that everybody, I think that was kind of the hope going into the season was you signed Pete Alonzo. you make a trade for Taylor Ward. You think you're putting yourself in this position to go out there and compete.

It's just been terrible for them. And now they're playing well, too. And, you know, Pete was just named player of the week. And Gunner Henderson swinging it well the last week. And go down the list. And all of a sudden they found themselves right in this thing as well. So, yeah, I think just given the fact that they're going to play them, you know, six times down the stretch here, there's a little bit to be.

And scared not the word, I don't think. You're scared of no one at this point. You're just playing the best baseball you can every day. But they're definitely a team that I think is kind of mirroring what the Blue Jays are doing right now. Our guess is Ryan Dempster. Ryan, your career high in strikeouts in his season, 209. You also had a 208 strikeout season later in your career. Dylan ceased after his start yesterday, six straight seasons with 200 plus strikeouts.

Just how impressive is that from your perspective? Yeah, I just say his whole career I mean what he's been able to do You know he's gone through Whether that's you know being traded to the White Sox And then you get traded again And then a free agent You go to another team

And a lot of moving around And he's just continued to go out there and evolve He's unconventional with his arm actions A little bit different He's got some funk to him with that shore arm But this dude is nasty man He strikes out so many guys He strikes out really good

Big League hitters all the time. And I thought it was a great time when they got him. You know, it's a lot of years and a lot of money. But if you're going to compete in the playoffs and have a chance to win a World Series, you need guys with number one type stuff and who can pitch like one.

And he has both the stuff and the makeup and moxie to be that front line rotation guy they're going to need for years. So, yeah, what an impressive feat and to do what he's done that many years. I know how hard it is to strike out 200 guys in one year and to do it six years in a row is incredible. Ryan, we obsess about playoff standings.

I mean, already it's August 17th. And we're talking about the standings every day, tracking them every night. But I'm always amazed when I'm talking to players after games when they tell me that we're not trying to fixate on that. Where's the truth in that? Because I know you've been in clubhouses and playoff races. Are some guys obsessing over it?

Do some guys try to ignore standings completely? Like, how does that conversation happen behind closed doors? Yeah, to be really honest, It's funny you ask that question because I was thinking about this back, like when I looked at teams and when you get on these runs where you're just winning and you're so focused on your team and what you're doing that day. And it's something that always gets asked. Well, you know, you've got this many games.

Cool, dude. All you focus on is that day. And I was trying to think like in 2013, I didn't even know who was playing well in the NL because we were in the American League East and you're competing against those guys and you're just focused on you and your team that you really don't score board watch

until the last week of the season. I mean, you can. There's peaking that goes on, but at the end of the day, it's still the 40 games left or 38 games left, whatever it is you got. You've got so much baseball left and you just got to control today.

And when you can stay present like that, you're going to be better personally, so individually you're going to have better performances. And then as a team, the wins just start to roll together. When you start going, hey, if we just do this and someone so does, you're focusing on all the wrong things. Just control what you can control. And I think a lot of guys, they do just kind of let that go.

Ryan Dempster, our guest here in the second hour of overdrive. Today is the anniversary, the one-year anniversary, Ryan, of Vladimir Guerrero Jr's last regular season home run at home, which is absurd. Again, it doesn't make any sense how that's possible, but it is. and now Vlad's on the seven-day concussion aisle after getting a knee to the head over the weekend was dealing with concussion-like symptoms. We'll see when he returns. But when he does return, what, if anything, can he do to salvage his season? Like if he could somehow help carry this team into the playoffs,

would that be enough to have the fan base forget about some of the other lack of production that he encountered over the course of the season? Yeah, it's hard when you're a superstar. I've been on teams with superstars, and they live to a different standard than we do as the common player. And I say that being a guy who, yes, there were times I was an altar, and there were times I was an ace of a pitching staff and all that. I'm talking about elite players that are the marquee player of your team,

and he just signs that huge deal. He goes out and has a massive postseason, and all of these things happen, and you're like, oh, you know, it's only a matter of time until he gets, and it just hasn't offensively, especially from a power standpoint, gotten going. And, you know, OPS is way below his career average, 150 points below that. It's just been a struggle. I don't know. Never been in his locker room this year.

Haven't talked to anybody on his team. I know how guys don't like to let people know when there's something maybe physically going on. To me, this seems like maybe a physical issue. Lack of power seems like a physical issue and not a mental. This guy knows how to hit. He knows how to play the game of baseball. And when you lose a little bit of power as a hitter, it could be a risk, could be a ribs, could be a lower back.

You don't know. We don't know. And so, you know, it's kind of hard to explain what's gone on as far as a production standpoint. And you hope that this is an anomaly and not the norm because if it is become the norm, then you're like, wow, we gave $500 million to this guy. That's part of taking that contract is you've got to produce every year. part of your responsibility. Whether you like it or not, when you put on the dotted line, you're not just getting paid for what you did. You're going to get paid for what you're

supposed to do. Ryan, the Blue Jays themselves, without Vladdy hitting for power, haven't done much of that at all. Number 29 in baseball, only the Brewers have fewer home runs, but that also shows that the Brewers are still doing something right. Now, do you think that the Blue Jays can ride this approach into the postseason, which is all about contact? Or do you think they need that thump, which is really what made them special last year. I think you need some thump in the postseason. I know what you're saying about the Brewers,

and they are vicious like that, and they do score on the regular runs, you know, 10 runs in a game, but we didn't, you know, we didn't hit any homers. When you get to the postseason, you're starting to face better teams, better pitching, better defense. And so you're going to have to clip somebody every once in a while.

You can't just string together three hits in a row against, you know, Sunny Gray. You can't string three hits in a row together, you know, against elite pitching. It's just hard to do. And so that's why it's the base hit before the big home run that pays off. And it

is strange. Two guys in the team with double-digit home runs, and we're almost in September, it's bizarre. And if you would have gone on the season, said, hey, guys, Akamoto's going to have twice as many homers as anybody on the team. Everybody's been like, dude, what kind of drugs are you smoking?

That just doesn't make any sense. And that's what's crazy about this game. Sometimes we want to try and figure it out. So we go to every angle we can. We look at every piece of video, and we find every piece of data and analytical thing to try and justify what's happening. Sometimes it just doesn't make sense.

To me, the Blue Jays and their home runs, especially in that ballpark. We've seen it so many times. It's such a great place to hit. The lack of power in home runs doesn't make any sense. And it's weird, you know, and you're missing guys. The lack from Vladie, Addison,

barger being out where you don't have that power. So yeah, it's just strange that it's happened this way. Ryan, it's hard to rival an offense as bad as the Blue Jays have been for the vast majority of the season. I will say the Yankees over the course this weekend definitely rivaled what the Blue Jays were putting out there offensively. It was not a very imposing lineup. And I know Judge is out.

I know Bellinger's about to go on a rehab stand. But what is your assessment of the Yankees? Do you view them as a legitimate threat in the American League and perhaps to win the world series? you get Aaron Judge back, you're a legitimate threat. I think with Aaron O'Iran Judge's a completely different team. So they're the opposite of the Milwaukee Brewers. It feels like all they ever do is either hit home runs or strike out.

They don't generate a lot of offense through grinding out at bats. They have a few more guys that do that a little bit more, but it's just a team that offensively, they're pitchable. If you make your pitches, you can get them out. They have guys that make you pay for mistakes, especially in that ballpark. you know, they are scary when you can put out Max Fried and Derek Cole and Plitler in a series. Well, yeah, I mean, you're really good.

And Bednar's done an unbelievable job in the night for them throughout the course of this season. But they're beatable. I don't think they're this big, bad, mighty team without Aaron Judge in that lineup. Ryan, fantastic to catch up with you as always. We really appreciate the time. And next time we chat, I'm sure we'll have some more clarity on the Blue Jays push for the playoffs. Thank you for this. Yeah, it's exciting, man.

I hope they continue on their winning ways and you playoff baseball back up in Toronto because we saw how incredible that was last season. Amen. Thank you, Ryan Damster. The newest tracks. Let's go. New music.

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