Eric Hosmer Interview: ' Blue Jays are legit, remind me of 2014 - 2015 Royals'

First and foremost a bad clubhouse just feels like it's cliqued up and everything is individualized. The winning clubhouses you can tell, with a 162 game schedule you have to find any type of motivation, and that can come from anywhere, in the form of a plane ride with the boys, bonding with each other and it seems like Springer is the guy that brings that whole group together. Vladimir Guerrero Jr and Bo Bichette make others around them better. I tell you what the Blue Jays can beat you in many ways, that Toronto club's offense the way they show athleticism on a baseball field, if the bats aren't working today, they can beat you on the bases, defensively and athletically. They can beat you in many ways and are a fun team to watch, and I have been watching them a lot in this second half"

"You're not going to matchup star versus star, so you really just can't try to beat them that way. Youve got to find other ways to beat them, the Dodgers don't hold runners on so maybe you beat them on the basepaths, drop a bunt down here and there, get a hit and run going which I see the Blue Jays do quite often. Those guys can play baseball and they see the the right time to push those buttons, especially from the role guys. And I hate to be that guy you know but they remind me of our 2014 Kansas City Royals team. The Jays have superstars, where as we didn't really have any, we just knew how to play the game and beat you in many ways. The Blue Jays have the stars and they can beat you in many ways even when the bats aren't there that night.

"They certainly do, they went out and got Bieber at the deadline, I love Bieber, I hope he can remain healthy throughout the postseason and they have a couple of wildcards that will be interesting to see what they do. Obviously Hoffman is their closer, but something I've Always teased is Mad Max. If we were able to see him in a relief role or maybe even a closing role, with all due respect to Hoffman and Max I don't know who you would give the ninth inning to or who would be more comfortable but Mad Max has had so many innings, he has so many miles on that arm. To get him up and going for 200 innings is a hard ask especially in the post season having him up every 4 or 5 days is tough. So I would love to see him come out for the eighth or ninth, he has that Mad Max mentality, high energy for a closer. You guys could get the lights and fire going for him, when he runs out of the pen that would get him fired up for the ninth inning."

"You just feel it every single night and you know it's legitimate when you're going through all your pregame meetings, scouting reports and the formula you've been using allows you to win night after night. If you keep executing your formula you know you are going to win. Which gives you confidence in your abilities and your teammates abilities. And that's with you're starting staff, offensively and we can play the defense that you know we can while finding a way to execute 4-5 runs that's a good enough standard to win each and every night. It feels like that's where the Blue Jays are at, you can see the confidence and that if they play their game they're going to win the majority of these nights and they are."