Jays fans should be encouraged

Team ends tough season on high note

As much as you can tie a bow on a 162-game season that included 95 losses, your 2019 Toronto

Blue Jays were at the Rogers Centre on Sunday afternoon to do just that.

There was Justin Smoak, the last legitimate member of a team that just three years ago was prepping for the post-season, likely saying goodbye to the Toronto fans for good and doing so in style.

There was an enthusiastic crowd of 25,738, a number modest enough to reflect another stark decline in overall attendance. In three short years, fans have shown enough displeasure in the product to watch owners Rogers Communication squirm through a plunge that has seen its overall gate cut almost in half.

There were positives as well, with a series win and first-year manager Charlie Montoyo likely breathing a sigh of relief that it’s all over while offering a generally upbeat assessment of his youthful team.

Let the record show that an

8-3 win over the Rays allowed the Jays to finish with a 67-95 record, leaving the team 28 games below .500 and 36 games behind the AL East champion New York Yankees.

It was the fewest number of wins by the Jays since they had the same number in 2004.

However, winning two of their final three saved this team from having its lowest full-season win total since the 53 recorded 40 years ago in 1979.

The long off-season ahead will be filled with some measure of optimism fuelled by youth being served and a future that is almost certainly brighter.

“I’m happy how we ended up, how we played after the all-star break with the schedule we had,” said Montoyo. “I think it’s awesome how we played against the good teams. I’m really happy about that. Really happy.”

Specifically, Montoyo was pleased with the opportunities presented and tests passed by the young and talented group he managed in his debut. Though Bo Bichette (concussion) and Vlad Guerrero Jr. (right knee) weren’t in the lineup for the final weekend, the way the young Jays core played in September was indeed encouraging.

“Just the schedule we had after the break — to commute and have that record?” Montoyo said.

“That means we played well. I’m proud about that.”

There’s plenty to dissect on the Jays carcass, of course, and a long off-season to do it.

Montoyo offered his take on a number of areas on Sunday, including the play of Guerrero

Jr., who was electrifying at times while learning the ropes.

“I think great. The problem was the expectations were too much,” Montoyo said. “It’s not fair. He’s 20 years old. To hit .270 with 15 home runs, that’s not bad. It’s just that every time he goes to the plate people expect him to do something great.”

And how about Smoak, who will become a free agent this summer and almost certainly won’t be back with the Jays? As much as he’s struggled this season, Smoak had a pair of doubles, receiving a standing ovation both before and after the second one.

The crowd that stuck through this sluggish season certainly appreciated it and let Smoak know how they felt about him. It was the type of moment that was commonplace three years ago when 3,392,099 attended games at the dome in the 2016 season compared to the 1,729,491 final number from the just completed one.