The Toronto Blue Jays are stuck between a rock and a hard place. After a 9-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants, that hard place feels a little bit more like jelly. The Blue Jays were able to break out, in no small part, due to the contributions of Spencer Miles, Jonatan Clase, and a stuffed dragon. This should be the best Blue Jays news that fans hear all day.
Getting back into the win column isn’t just a one-game thing for the Blue Jays. If Toronto wants a fighting chance to chase down the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees for the top spot in the AL East, it has to string together wins and end losing streaks. Especially because the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles are nipping at their heels.
If the Blue Jays aren’t careful, things could get ugly if another losing streak rears its unwelcome head.
But what’s the deal with this stuffed dragon? Here’s what you need to know about the newest Blue Jays mascot.
Toronto Blue Jays News: A Stuffed Dragon in the Dugout Explained
The Blue Jays have a new mascot in their dugout, a stuffed dragon. This is thanks to hitting coach David Popkins and new assistant hitting coach Cody Atkinson.
Shi Davidi reports the story behind the stuffed dragon.
“Assistant hitting coach Cody Atkinson stopped at a toy store on his way to the ballpark and bought this stuffed dragon, along with a dragon puppet and a smaller toy dragon,” Davidi reported on social media following the victory over the Giants. “The hitting staff wanted something to represent fearlessness. David Popkins suggested dragon.”
“I think it was like 40 bucks for that one, and then the other two things were like 15 bucks each,” Atkinson said, according to Davidi. “Well worth it for eight runs in the first three innings to get a starter out of the game. I mean, I would have spent thousands of dollars if you told me we were going to get the starter out that quick.”
The Power of a Stuffed Dragon
In addition to representing fearlessness, this dragon helped the players loosen up in the clubhouse. This is well illustrated by a story about Vladimir Guerrero and Brandon Valenzuela.
Mitch Bannon of The Athletic shared more about this in a recent story.
“He actually bought three dragons: the one on the stick that Springer ran out to Clase, which lights up and growls when you press its ear, another dragon puppet and a smaller toy,” Bannon wrote. “Before the game, manager John Schneider walked into the batting cage and saw Guerrero and catcher Brandon Valenzuela petting the dragon on a stick. Later, Guerrero was playfully hitting Valenzuela over the head with it.”
It’s obvious that things were tense in the clubhouse. That is for good reason; the Blue Jays hadn’t been able to string together a decent win streak in a while. One game in with this stuffed dragon, and it looks like this is exactly what the doctor ordered.
Jonatan Clase & Being the Unsung Hero
Clase was called up to the Blue Jays on July 1st as a depth outfielder. He started the second game of this Giants series in Left Field. He finished the game with two hits and three RBIs in four at-bats.
Clase delivered the first home run of the game, bringing Sean Keys and Valenzuela home to go up 3-0. However, this isn’t the first time that Clase has come into the lineup and delivered an important home run.
One keen observer on social media harkened back to when Clase did this last year and to what happened afterward.
“June 9, 2025: Jonathan Clase hits a surprise home run, and the Jays go 57-38 the rest of the season. July 7, 2026: Jonathan Clase hits a surprise home run and…” the user wrote.
If this is the only home run that Clase scores this season, it will be worth it if the Blue Jays catch fire. That might be a little easier now that they have a dragon.
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