TORONTO – There is a disconnect between the outsized attention on the many narratives surrounding this series with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the far more important realities of the moment for the Toronto Blue Jays. 

Sure, it’s a rematch of last fall’s epic World Series, featuring two rivals who compete across all areas of the market as well as on the field, each considered a title contender again this season. 

But not even two weeks into the season, the Blue Jays are in significant duress, forced into roster improvisation due to injury and usage churn, compounded by uncharacteristically sloppy play and a flu circulating the clubhouse. Given that, clinging to last year and framing this as anything other than a difficult series at a bad time misses the point, as right now the defending American League champions are simply riding out a troubling stretch.

“That's how it works – over the course of 162 games, you're never going to have everything go right,” George Springer said before a 14-2 Dodgers drubbing in which the Blue Jays got only two innings from Max Scherzer before shifting into survival mode. “There is going to be somebody grinding through something both on and off the field, guys are going to go down. You're not going to play as well as you would like to all the time. What makes this team good is the ability to respond and to absorb the ebbs and flows........

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