OverDrive - Matheson on the Blue Jays' ALDS domination, Guerrero Jr.'s excellence and Yesavage's incredible performance

Episode Date: October 6, 2025

MLB.com Blue Jays Reporter Keegan Matheson joined OverDrive to discuss the Blue Jays' series lead in the ALDS against the Yankees, the scorching bats in the series and the runs from the team, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s signature moments, Trey Yesavage's incredible performance, the mindset with the lead and more.

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Here's a main man, Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. Look at this cat. Man, does he look good? What a backdrop? What a backdrop? Backdrop. What's happening, Keegan? This is a little nicer than my living room, fellas.

Normally I've just thrown on a dress shirt that I've, like, tucked into some gym shorts. But this is big time, fellas. We're going formal here. Keegan, what was the moment that got you this weekend? there was a lot of runs that we talked about it off the top of the show like it was a perfect weekend for the jays hitting pitching ys savage gosman flattie like what was that one moment that got your attention the most where you just kind of took it in and we're like wow there was a moment guys where i looked over my right shoulder and brian hay as host of overdrive had walked into the press box and something in the air

shifted in there there's these moments you remember guys but i got to go to the vladdie grand slam what Trey Yassavage did. We're going to be talking about that for years. I really believe that, guys, 10 years from now, we're going to be talking about, wow, what a performance, but was it as good as Yosavages back in 2025? Vladdy's still the face of this franchise, though. It's got to be all about Vladie. And his moment, after he did what he did in game one, was incredibly special. Because it's got to be him. If the Blue Jays are going to go on and win the World Series, it has to be Vladie. And for him to come up in that moment after a rough finish to the season, that's special, guys. I've covered Vladdy's whole career.

That's the game I've been waiting to cover. And I didn't know when it would come. It's been ticking and ticking away. But, man, when that ball went out, that's about as loud as that stadium can get with the roof open. That was pretty special. So you talked about all the special moments, and we'll get to Brian Hayes and his entrance here in a second. But, you know, how do they follow it up? Like, you're looking at two perfect games almost.

Now you go down to New York, and Hayes was talking about it. It's an unruly crowd. They're going to probably be pissed. But they might be more pissed with their own team than the Blue Jays. But, you know, what can the Jays do either maybe early in a game or just to set the tone to say, we're not let you back in this series? Yeah, this makes Beaver so, so important tomorrow. Shane Bieber can quiet this down.

Just pitch a clean first inning and let this place relax, turn it into a ball game. Because when you were at Yankee Stadium, guys, this is a big reason they kept Trey a Savage at home. When you are here, you're going to hear some words you haven't heard in a while. You're going to hear some stuff, and that's either going to rain down on the Blue Jays or maybe the Yankees, depending on how this goes. You've got to calm it down. I'm not going to say they need to come out and land a punch and go up 5-0-0. You can't just decide to do that. But they need to play clean baseball early on.

If the Blue Jays boot a couple of ballers around here, you're going to get on top of them. You're going to hear that chant, Bieber, Bieber, Bieber, it happens here, and it's overwhelming when it does happen. I've been here in playoff games where they're chanting the name of the shortstop of the starting pitcher. And it's going to crush a guy. You've got to avoid that off the top. Just let it be a baseball game. And Shane Bieber's the right guy for this. Guys, this is the whole reason that they acquired him.

And if Bieber can go out and clinch against the Yankees, the 3-0 sweep and the ALDS, that's immediately one of the best trades this team's ever made. Just with one win, one game, it's worth everything you gave up. I don't care if Cal Stephen goes on to win the Sight Young next year. You sweep the Yankees and clinch, all-time trade. with Keegan Matheson MLB.com and of course contributor here on Overdrive, Sports Center, JNSC, does it all. He's down in New York at Yankee Stadium. In terms of the mood around the Jays,

how would you compare it today compared to, let's say, Friday? More of a relaxed confidence, I think I'd put it at. It's pretty calm and cool here. Guys, Vladdy said that this was an optional day, but everyone came in. And he highlighted that a difference between now and back in 2223. So you can kind of read between the lines there. Maybe back in the day, optional day meant a few players stayed at the hotel. Now they're all here. Everyone was out in the field doing a bit of something. Maybe they were just throwing catch. Maybe they took Baypee or some ground balls, got some treatment, but everyone was in doing something. The Yankees did not have a workout today, guys. And that surprised me, quite frankly. I thought

they would at least have some rounds of BP, have some guys in doing more than just treatment. but they did not hold a workout today. Just the Blue Jays. It was about an hour. It was quick. And listen, it was not the most urgent thing in the world, but they were here. They were together.

And I like that, frankly, that they did that today. I know New York's a fun place to spend an afternoon. But I think this is the biggest game of your season. Get to the ballpark and get together, and it looked like it should. You mentioned Flattie. Like, it can't be just the Yankees where he plays them and just switches, you know, flips the switch on, Keegan.

Did he make some kind of adjustment? it looks like he was getting under the ball, hitting it the other way a little bit, and it just looked different than that one that went straight down on the ground all the time. Like, how did he make that adjustment? How did he look so good? Because it was incredible what he did, obviously.

Yeah, guys, I think it's a lot like what we saw from George Springer early in the year, where it's not a mechanical adjustment. There's no magic fix in there. A lot of it's just mindset. George Springer last year was defensive. He was trying not to get out instead of trying to get a hit. I think we're seeing that from Vladia, a bit more now and he's not trying to do too much he realizes the team around him is pretty good

i know he doesn't have bobbish yet but this team has other players and what we've seen from vladdie is him just playing free and loose and like a kid guys i i hate to make the comparison or the explanation of when he's having fun he plays well because that just sounds like i don't know what i'm talking about so i'm spewing that out but if there's any player in major league baseball guys it's vladdie i think he should show up dance and joke around do whatever he wants when he is loose and he's taking those big rips like you saw in that grand slam, that's when this stuff happens. That's the player that I covered through the minor leagues

when he was the number one prospect in baseball. He was having a party on the field every single night. Late September, you see Vladdy with kind of that scrunched face and furrowed brow. He's overthinking things. He's frustrated, slamming his bat, throwing his helmet. That's not Vladdy. Vladdy is a one-man party. And we're seeing that again lately, man.

He's having the time of his life. and I think he, even though he's not saying it out loud, no matter how much the New York media is begging him to say it, he loves beating the Yankees. Yes, and they were dying for that, man, the whole story, both nights. Oh, they wanted it. And he wouldn't give them something. And he wouldn't give them it, which was beautiful.

He knew what was happening. He knew exactly what was happening. Are you sure, Vladdy? Are you sure it's not us, Big Mighty New York? He knew that he was not going to give them the satisfaction. It was kind of beautiful to witness. Yeah, it really was. And Keegan Matheson, and you and I were there,

hard-hitting journalists. We were, you know, grinding it out over the course of the weekend. And, um, Trey is Savage after the game. You know, he mentioned the statement he had last week where he said, you know, I'm built for this. And then he thought about it before the game. He's like, if you make a statement like this, you better back it up, you know, and he, he, he more than just backed it up. It was just a phenomenal performance.

And, you know, you look at the way the Yankees, they were so puzzled. Like, they, they had no idea. idea how to catch this guy. You had a great comment in the post game. He said the ball could have been three sizes larger. They still wouldn't have hit it last night. You know, put that into perspective. In terms of the whole season,

everything's broken their way. You know, your savage story and the way he responded and the way he was even emotional after the game. He's been the best story I've covered in years, guys. It's amazing to watch him come up from single A. And, Brian, we talked about this in the post game. I can't make the hockey

your football or NBA comparison here. Like, it's not a guy starting out in high school and ending up in the NBA. There's no comparison to this in pro sports, what he did this year. Starting out in single A against 18 and 19 year olds, high A, double A, triple A, and now the big leagues. Normally, guys, if you're going to see this happen, it's with a crappy team. And he's up for the last two weeks of the years, say, hey, come learn how the big leagues work, come learn what hotels we stay in and how this all works. He's part of an AL leading team that's going for a war.

World Series, and he's going to be a big reason. He might be the best pitcher on this staff right now, which is ridiculous. He's 22 years old. He threw his first pro pitch six months ago. I've never covered anything like this. And what I love about you Savage is his maturity and how he approaches this. Everybody can throw 98, 99. I really do not care about that anymore. Everyone can rip a 90 mile an hour slider and miss bats. Everyone can do that. But you need to be a grown-up, and how you Savage approaches all of this. There's this quiet kind of cockiness that he's really pulling off and he looks at baseball and he's like listen man this is a five-year-olds game i'm really damn good at it and when he made that comment

brian about backing it up that's fantastic he's not hiding behind these pre-planned quotes with this fake moxie this is just who he is he's a natural i think he's a superstar on the making guys i really do i think we've got to get used to this guy in toronto does it get people asking questions like if it got to a game five like does this guy's name come up is the like you just He's the most dangerous pitcher on the staff. Like, would they think about this guy or what? I think you've got to, and I think that's part of the beauty of taking him out a little early. He was in the high 70s pitch count, guys.

And from my dollar, man, nothing in baseball in the postseason beats the starter coming back on short rest. It's this heroic ride-in. And you've seen it over the years, like Madison Bumgarner was that great example with the Giants for years, coming back on short rest, pitching that eighth or ninth inning. I don't know anyone else I'd rather. do that than Trey you Savage. Let's say this goes to a game five, hypothetically. A couple things go wrong this week. You're tied to two, two in the eighth, ninth inning. Trey is Savage. Man, who else is going to come in and strike out the side? Who were you going to bet on

over Trey you Savage right now? That is a really short list. I don't know if it's a list at all right now, guys. No, I don't think it would be, I don't think it is. I mean, I think he's, he's pitched his way into that conversation with what he did yesterday and the whole approach down the stretch. And again, if you're a Blue Jay fan and the Blue Jays, you're hoping it doesn't get to that point, just reset for the championship series and figure it out from there. But I do, you know, everyone was happy in that park yesterday. I got to think Ross Atkins, Mark Shapiro, we're looking at that because that was going to be the Scherzer start, right? That had the potential to be the Max Scherzer start.

Not only did they go to Scherzer and say, you're not even on the roster, but a 22-year-old who showed up a month ago is going to pitch effectively, your spot. I'm almost still in awe with the fact that the Jay's made that decision. Clearly, it was the right decision not only to pitch you Savage there, but to keep Scherzer off the roster. But now that the dust is settled, like what do you make of that decision? And where do we see this going with Scherzer in the future, if at all? Guys, I wonder if three years ago they would have made that decision at all. I don't think they would have. I think two or three years ago they would have carried Max Scherzer and done this

differently. I think this right here represents what's changed with this organization. And from the top down, a lot of this has been with John Schneider. He's spoken about this very well, I think, but really top down. In this organization, they've done some important things, which is always looking at yourself, talking about what you screwed up, and fixing it. And this is a decision that I think shows the new Blue Jays, is chasing upside and chasing what you want to happen right now. Max yours is a Hall of Famer. And you just took a 22-year-old rookie who has pitched for six months in pro baseball over him. I know the numbers.

I know a lot of stuff pointed to that, but that's not as easy a decision as we make it seem once it's already made. I don't think they would have done that a few years ago, so I really commend them for doing that. And setting up the rotation like they did, they set Trey up for success here. And this is just a massive success story, this whole organization this year.

To start him out in Singley, this was a plan. He didn't just surprise people. They had this plan. And back in April, I bet you they would have said there's a 1% chance, this works out. But man, the front office, Joe Sclafani and the player development group, man, a ton of credit. Unbelievable. All right, buddy. Well, you look and sound like a modern-day Lloyd Robertson down there. You're crushing it, man. It's just incredible.

Wow. Keeping them fooled, fellas. You're crushing it, man. We can't thank you enough and enjoy New York, and hopefully it's a quick trip. But if it's not, then maybe we'll see you on Friday night. Great stuff, and we'll do it again soon. Thank you for this. all righty fellas take care we'll talk soon there he is kegan matheson mowb.com joining us here on the maple

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