NEW YORK -- When you play all the right notes, bullpen games can be beautiful things.
**1\\. THE SAVIOR: Spencer Miles**\n\nIt was here, in Game 4 of the 2025 ALDS, where the Blue Jays pulled off a near-perfect bullpen game. Thursday’s was a gem, too.
After Braydon Fisher (1 1/3 IP, 4 K) and Adam Macko (1 1/3 IP, 2 K) set it up, Miles took the bulk role and ran with it once again. Miles has been the unexpected hero of this pitching staff, helping to stabilize this rotation that’s without a true “fifth starter” while Max Scherzer and Shane Bieber rehab on top of the season-ending injuries to both José Berrios and Cody Ponce.\n\nMiles gave the Blue Jays 4 1/3 innings of shutout ball, allowing just two hits and a walk while striking out six. It’s starting to look like the Blue Jays have hit the Rule 5 jackpot. Now, you’re watching a young pitcher’s confidence grow in real time.\n\n\"It definitely helps. Just getting back out there, especially inning after inning, knowing I can go multiple ups for 4 1/3,” Miles said. “Throwing strikes, and right now, I’m focusing on strike one and using my sinker. That’s kind of my ‘get out of jail free’ card right now and I’m using my curveball, as well. All of my pitches.”
**2\\. RULE 5 GEM: First impressions**\n\nWhen the Blue Jays selected Miles in the Rule 5 Draft last December, most people had the same reaction … “Who?”\n\nA 25-year-old with 14 2/3 pro innings who had never pitched above Single-A, that’s who.\n\n“I did the same thing. When you’re coming off the year that you just had and you’re taking a guy in the Rule 5, my initial thought was, ‘This guy must be pretty \\[freaking\\] good,’” manager John Schneider said.\n\nSomewhere in the Blue Jays’ front office, there’s someone who was “first” on Miles as the Blue Jays worked through their options ahead of the Rule 5 Draft, and that person shouldn’t have to pay for a dinner for the rest of 2026. You can already tell that the Blue Jays are tempted by the idea of converting Miles to a full-time starter, too. That won’t happen immediately, and Miles won’t be touching 100 pitches this season. But next spring? That could be a different story.\n\n“It looks the part, right?” Schneider said. “It’s a repeatable delivery and he holds his stuff. He’s got some pretty good weapons. He’s got a good idea how to pitch. That all goes into it, but you’ve got to do a lot of homework on a guy like that with that kind of background.”
**3\\. SUMMER OF GEORGE? Springer heating up**\n\nSo much of the focus has been on Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s early power outage, but