The Stagger into October

The playoff-bound Blue Jays were once riding high atop the AL East, but a punchless 10-day spiral, a combination of frustration, panic, tough calls and poor internal decisions, now sees them tied with the confident Yankees heading to the Final Four games. Decisions like Berrios to the bullpen, Bieber pushed back a day, Bassitt to the IL, Manoah cut loose after 14 months of intense rehab from elbow surgery, multiple ejections, gloomy dugout views, umpire blaming and more. The final out of the Wednesday game seemed typical, with Alejandro Kirk thrown out at first base from right field on a 104.1 mph one-hopper to Wilyer Abreu. Griff and Mal talk strange roster decisions, disappearing offence, the new ABS Challenge System for 2026, tributes to Kershaw (Dodgers) and Arenado (Cardinals), historic collapses and more. As well, the boys try to bounce back with this week's NFL Picks. Exit Philosophy will return on Monday with a special recap of the last weekend of the season. INDEX: 0:00 Intro 0:35 Kirk ends game thrown out at first 3:09 Expos History of 9-3 outs at first 6:01 Implications of Jays-Yankees final four 9:26 What happened to Jays rotation 15:00 The DFA of Alek Manoah 22:14 Controlling own fate … to now 26:14 Wherefore the Jays offence 29:54 Riding a hot bullpen, minus Berrios 39:52 In Hoff we trust 41:42 Clayton Kershaw and Nolan Arenado 45:36 Ranking Historic Collapses - Tigers, Mets 48:20 The '87 Blue Jays collapse 51:58 The Ball-Strike Challenge in '26 54:54 NFL Picks Week 4 ---- Get the video version of "Exit Philosophy" and "Conversations with Griff" on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ExitPhilosophy ---- For the full catalogue of Richard Griffin's work, including weekly Blue Jays/MLB columns, a weekly MLB Power Rankings column, exclusive conversations with some of the game's greats, past and present, and the Exit Philosophy podcast, visit https://www.griffsthepitch.com/