Blue Jays feel 'sense of urgency' ahead of 2024 season

The Toronto Blue Jays are motivated to finally break through in 2024 after consecutive early playoff exits the past two seasons.

"This group is hungry," Blue Jays manager John Schneider said Thursday, according to Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun. "There’s guys that definitely want to do more things than we did last year. There’s definitely a sense of urgency to do more."

The Blue Jays were swept in two games by the Minnesota Twins in the wild-card series last season, leaving them winless in six games during three trips to the postseason over the past four years.

The franchise had a relatively quiet offseason after emerging as a strong candidate to sign Shohei Ohtani. Toronto added veteran Justin Turner, utility player Isiah Kiner Falefa, pitcher Yariel Rodríguez, and brought back Gold Glove outfielder Kevin Kiermaier on a one-year deal.

Schneider said the team spent the offseason looking back at some of the reasons why it fell short in 2023.

"Whenever you fall short of a goal, you look at yourself in the mirror and say, 'OK, what can we do differently?' That’s kind of been the majority of what we’ve been talking about this whole winter," Schneider said, according to Sportsnet's Shi Davidi.

One of the the Blue Jays' strengths in 2023 was the performance of the starting rotation. Their starters finished third in the league in ERA, despite 2022 AL Cy Young finalist Alek Manoah struggling to the tune of a 5.87 ERA over 19 starts.

Schneider is expecting a motivated Manoah during spring training as he tries to solidify his spot in the team's rotation for 2024.

"Every sign that he’s been showing off the mound right now has been pretty nails," Schneider said, according to MLB.com's Keegan Matheson.

The Blue Jays' first full workout is set for Feb. 20. They will open up Grapefruit League play on Feb. 24 against the Philadelphia Phillies.