The Current - Will the Blue Jays make it back to the World Series?

Episode Date: March 27, 2026

Baseball is back! After a shorter-than-usual off-season, the Blue Jays return to the Rogers Centre, kicking off the MLB season. So what does the team have in store, and what challenges lie ahead as the team eyes a return to the World Series? Acclaimed Blue Jays announcer Dan Shulman and his son Ben, also a play-by-play commentator, but for radio, walk us through what we can expect.

This message comes from Viking, committed to exploring the world in comfort. Journey through the heart of Europe on a Viking longship, with thoughtful service, destination-focused dining, and cultural enrichment, on board, and on shore. With a variety of voyages and sailing dates to choose from, now is the time to explore Europe's waterways. Learn more at viking.com. ABC podcast. Hello, I'm Matt Galloway, and this is the current podcast. Spring has indeed officially sprung. Whether the weather in your area admits that, that's another thing.

But if your crocuses are beginning to sprout, your cherry blossoms are in full bloom, or your lawn is still buried in snow, have I got some very good news for all of us, no matter where we are in this country. Major League Baseball is back, and that means the Toronto Blue Jays are officially kicking off their 50th anniversary season later today at home. and the players are excited for what's to come. First home run, I'm going to go to George. Springer. George Springer. First pitch of the year. Springer.

George. George Springer. That guy can be George Springer. Let's go Springer. We're going to go George Springer first about of the season if he's leading off. George Springer. Game one. Lead off at bat.

First batflip? Vladdy. Vladdy. Vladdy. Vladdy, for sure. Bladdy. Bladdy. Vladdy, Bladimir.

Vladimir. Go Vladdy again. Vladdy. Vladdy. Bladdy. Me. First highlight reel diving catch. Dalton.

Varsho. Delton Barso. Ooh, I'm going to say Dalton Varsho. Daltun Varsho. D'Urschau. Probably our guy, Dalton Varsho. Seems to normally have. Here's a drive to deep center.

Well, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Alejandro Kirk, Dalton Varsho, George Springer, and Ernie Clement, sharing some of their predictions. for their team's upcoming season. And those calls you heard? That's the iconic voice of Dan Shulman, who brings us Jay's games on Sportsnet. While Dan's giving us a play-by-play for the TV broadcast, his son Ben calls the games on radio.

Dan and Ben, good morning to you both. Happy opening day to you, Pia. Good morning. How excited are we? We are always very excited. Opening days like a holiday in our family. It always has been. and I know it's like a holiday for a lot of Blue Jay fans,

so I won't speak for Ben, but I know he feels the same. We're both excited to get going. Yeah, it's also the start of a very busy time for you guys work-wise as well. I should just point that out. 162 games is a lot of games to work at. No doubt. I mean, it's 162 in something like 186 games,

but wouldn't have it any other way. It beats working for a living by a long shot. Okay, so you've both been to a lot of opening days. Dan, more for you, just because of time served. But opening day is a special thing every season. But Dan, what do you think the atmosphere is going to be like today, given where this team is, coming off the World Series last year,

and so on and so forth? I think it's going to be great. They're going to raise an American League championship banner tonight, Pia, as you know. And although everybody listening to this show and everybody who watches the Blue Jays wishes they could have taken it one step further and beaten the Dodgers and won the World Series, I still think last year is a year to be celebrated. The team was incredible and they fought down to the last pitch of game seven in extra innings of the World Series.

And I think a lot of people are going to be very loud and somewhat emotional when they raised that banner. I mean, there have only been two seasons in the first 49 that ended better than last year did. They were right there at the very end and I think it'll be a great environment tonight. So, Ben, let me ask you this at the end of last season. You know, I was there for the last game in the dome and I was pretty sad for. a number of days after that, as were many Canadians. And yes, we were proud, but yes, we were sad. So how have you regrouped in the off season?

Like for yourself, because you must have been sad too. Sure. I mean, you know, it was really cool to be a part of such a great run. And you all obviously really sad for the players and coaches specifically because you see the work that they put in and thought that that would end in a championship. I mean, the literal answer is I probably slept for about a week after the season because it was a tiring play. layoff run. And, you know, the cool thing about baseball, especially during the season, but even the

off season, it moves on pretty quickly. And so I totally understand and feel, you know, for fans who are still feeling it. But for me, as soon as free agency started and started to find out what players might be joining new teams or who might be coming back or not, I just kind of shifted my focus there and started looking ahead to 2026. Get some rest and then regroup and get back on that horse. huh? Oh, yeah. Okay, so the team is somewhat the same. It has changed. We've got all these new players. Our pitching has been really beefed up. Dan, how are you looking at this year's team? I think they, on paper, look really, really strong and probably definitely stronger than they looked at the beginning of last season. And in my opinion, stronger than they looked at the end of last season.

Now, that doesn't guarantee them more than 94 wins or winning a World Series or anything. But the big loss, obviously is Bo Bichette. He is somebody that, you know, everybody had watched over the last seven years, a tremendous hitter, Bichette now with the Mets, but they brought in Kazuma Okamoto, who's going to play third base. I think he's had a really good spring, and he looks like a very good Major League player to me. They've brought in Hesu Sanchez, a left-handed bat with power, who they think they can help get to another level. And then as you said, Pia, they've beefed up the pitching. They lose Chris Bassett, but they signed Dylan Cs, who arguably, maybe in arguably, was the best available starting pitcher on the market.

He will start game two tomorrow. They signed Cody Ponce, who had some time in the big leagues a few years ago, was the MVP of the Korean Baseball League last year. They brought in Tyler Rogers, who's a very unusual pitcher, a submariner. He's one of the better set up relievers in baseball. There's no question they have more depth on the pitching side. And I think that's going to help them because things always happen over the course of a long season.

So, Ben, I gave your dad the easy question. What's, you know, all the good things about this team? So let me give you the harder one, which is what are the challenges for this team? Yeah, you know, I think one challenge, at least to start the year is, you know, making sure that all of their current pitchers stay healthy and stay on schedule. They have a lot of depth right now in that spot, but it's being tested because three different pitchers, Trey Savage, Shane Bieber, and Jose Burrios are all starting the year on the injured list. So I think that's one challenge.

for them. And then, you know, Boba Chet being mentioned, maybe not replacing him one for one, but they're going to have to find a way to be a productive team without Boba Chet, which is not something the Blue Chays have had to do since 2019. And he's one of the best players in baseball. So it's not going to be one person, I think, or even the two guys, Okamoto and Sanchez, who got brought in. They're going to have to find a way for their entire team to collectively, you know, put together enough to replace him or at least supplement. and losing a player of that talent. While they have certainly the group to pitch better than they did last year,

they're going to have to do a lot of work to hit as well as they did last year because they were the fourth high-scoring team in all of baseball. Okay. This message comes from Viking, committed to exploring the world in comfort. Journey through the heart of Europe on a Viking longship with thoughtful service, destination-focused dining, and cultural enrichment. on board and on shore. With a variety of voyages and sailing dates to choose from,

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for research, because it's more than what we do. It's our raison d'être, University of Montreal and of the world. So this is also the Jay's 50th season. Dan, you and I are old enough to remember. We were sentient in 1992-93, the World Series back-to-back, obviously close to a third last year. Ben, I have no idea if you were sentient at the time. I have no... I was not. Okay, great. So let me then put this to Dan. 50 years in, where does this franchise stand in the baseball world? Is Canada getting the respect it deserves? Well, first of all, on a personal level, I think it's notable, 50 years. I mean, as you say, it makes me think about my age because I was at that first game in April 7, 1977. I've got the program from that game, and I have memories of 1977. I went to exhibition stadium. a ton. So do they get the respect they deserve from south of the border? I'm not sure they do. I think sometimes oftentimes the Blue Jays are a little bit overlooked, but, you know,

everybody here knows that they have a wonderful history, two World Series championships in 92 and 93. I think the team is doing some really nice things. They've set up an exhibit on the 100 level out by right field with a lot of the historical stuff from this franchise, a lot of memorabilia and kind of old-style-looking TVs, constantly running loops of highlights from days gone by. And I think there is a lot to be celebrated. And I know the team has a ton planned for this year, the 50th season. And I'm hoping we're going to see all kinds of stars from the 80s and the 90s come back and throw out a first pitch and get a huge round of applause.

And maybe even hopefully a bunch of guys from that, the original team back in 1977. I think it's a proud history. And maybe it's because I've literally, you know, been here my entire life. and have experienced it from being a tenure rolled up until this moment as a broadcaster so. But I know there are going to be a lot of things that I think especially the younger generation is really going to enjoy this year. You know, I got to say I interviewed Joe Carter during the World Series run. And I've interviewed a lot of amazing people in my broadcasting career. But boy, oh boy, that was some special for me.

So I'm looking forward to those guys being part of the 50th anniversary. Ben, one of the things about baseball is like, okay, let's just leave the Dodgers aside for a minute and some other historical examples, but it is really hard to make it all the way to the World Series sort of back to back or in a cluster of years. Does this team, with the changes as it had, have the chance to go all the way again, or maybe expectation, I should say?

Yeah, I mean, you know, I think they expect a lot of themselves. So they don't tend to at least publicly put expectations that are so definitive. They put broader, like, we want to compete, we want to play the right way. But I think there's an expectation, from the outside that they are competing as much as they were last year, if not even more, considering the roster that they've assembled for this year. But you highlight a good point.

It is not easy to do what the Blue Jays are hoping to do. The best example is probably about 10 years ago just over that when the Kansas City Royals lost in a heartbreaking fashion in the 2014 World Series and then won the World Series the next year in 2015, notably beating the Blue Jays, and that Jose Batista led team along the way. But it's not something that's replicated very often. There are a lot of teams that made great runs to the World Series recently

that have not been back or some of them have not even been close to coming back. And I think that's part of what motivated the Blue Jays to add to their roster because it's not as simple as you had a great team last year. If you run out the same team this year, you're going to be as good. The Blue Jays are going to have to keep getting better because now people are going to look at them as the team they have to give their best shot to their most scouting and devote the most time to trying to beat. Okay, so I have to ask you both about you both being in the same business.

It's pretty cool and you're both really excellent at what you do. You work just so people can get a bit of a visual at Roger Center. Some people still call it Skydome. You're both there. You're in different booths. You're calling the game one for TV, one for radio. Ben, this is your third full-time season calling Jay's games. What's it like?

What's it like both you being there? Are you competitive with each other? Do you listen, watch each other after? What do you do? Ben, you want to go first or second? I'll go first. I'll go first. It's not competitive.

I think that's a competition that I would lose quite handily right now, if I'm being honest. But it's fun. I mean, we hear each other broadcast less than most people hear us broadcast, just because we're doing it at the same time. But, you know, there's a definite collaboration there in terms of, you know, if we are preparing for an upcoming series and see an article or hear a story or something like that that might be interesting it'll get passed along um for myself to him or or vice versa and so we get that you know we we you know we have a dinner every once in a while in the cafeteria before the game there's

there's some time for sure and and it's really cool i mean in this industry in general uh with the hours and at times the travel schedule it's often more difficult to see your family we obviously have the exact opposite of that. So it's been fun and it was especially meaningful during the playoff run last year too when some lifelong memories were being made. Yeah, and I think on the dad's side, Pia, you know, you appreciate this more and more every year as your children get older when they become adults of their own. You love still having them in your life to a certain as much as you can, obviously.

It's not like when they were little kids. So the fact that Ben and I do see each other down at the ballpark all the time is very fun for me. I try to never crowd them like. If he's talking to a player, I never go over because who wants, like, geeky old dad wandering in on a conversation. So I try to give him a space. But as Ben says, we text all day long because we're living the same life.

And you asked about competition. And first of all, I think he kicked my rear end a few times in October with some of his calls. He absolutely nailed them. And he's got a younger vocal cords. So he got to a level that I can't always get to anymore. But one of the fun things, I'll tell you one of the fun things, There's a show on MLB Network called QuickPitch, which is just kind of like a compilation of highlights from every game. And they could use TV or radio from either team, depending on what's going on.

And I actually love it as a dad. Like if I'm watching the show, it loops in the morning. I tape it at night. It loops in the morning. And I might be sitting there at 8 in the morning watching it. And I know there's a big call coming up. And if they use his, I actually love it when they use his call. And, you know, we'll playfully text back and forth a little bit about that.

Like, you beat me three to one on QuickPitch today, something like that. So it's all good stuff. Love it. Okay, I got to let you guys go. But real quick, we heard that tape at the beginning from social media from the Jays, the players saying who's going to get the first homer and the bat flip and all those things. So real quick, who's getting the first homer? I'll say Kazuma Okamoto, if that's funny. I know George Springer was ever was a lot of guys' answers. So I'll mix it up and say the new signing. I'll go Addison Barger just to mix it up a little bit too. Okay. Batflip. Are we all in on Vladdy? Oh, yeah. Yeah, why not? All right. It's been a real pleasure. I really enjoy so much listening and seeing you, Dan, but listening to both of you. I think your coverage is just phenomenal. I know I speak for a lot of Canadians when I say that. We're really excited about getting this season underway. So thank you both for getting up early and talking to us. Thanks for having us. Thank you. Dan and Ben Schulman are both play-by-play announcers for the Toronto Blue Jays. You can hear and sometimes see Dan on the Sportsnet television broadcast and hear Ben calling the game.

on the radio. Nothing like listening to good old baseball on the radio. This has been the current podcast. You can hear our show Monday to Friday on CBC Radio 1 at 8.30 a.m. at all time zones. You can also listen online at cbc.ca.ca. slash the current or on the CBC listen app or wherever you get your podcasts. My name is Matt Galloway. Thanks for listening. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca.ca slash podcasts.