The first regular season series of 2024 is in the books and everything seems fine.

The two games the Jays lost to the Rays featured completely explainable issues, in that the Jays’ pitchers made some bad pitches and the Rays, as a good hitting team, took advantage.

The two games the Jays won over the Rays featured quality pitching performances from Berríos and Gausman, and offense clicking with big contributions from Springer, Guerrero, and Turner respectively. George provided two homers over the first two games, and Vlad hit an absolute moonshot in the first game, which after his 2023 campaign where power was put into question, was a welcome sight.

There was even the first bench-clearing “conversation”. Having missed the game, I wasn’t sure of the details, but Génesis Cabrera was suspended three games and fined after pushing Rays infielder José Caballero during the seventh inning. There was yelling, and Caballero got in Cabrera’s face (who was backing up at third), but shoving a dude is probably going to earn a suspension.

What does any of this mean? Do the Jays have a shot? Well, the Rays seem pretty good. The Yankees are 4-0 after a weekend sweep of the Astros. The Orioles are likely to be very good and the Red Sox will also be there.

Time will tell how long “fine” will work.