The Toronto Blue Jays have a new clubhouse mascot, and it isn't a person. It's a stuffed dragon, and right now it might be the best thing in the building.
The dragon showed up around the dugout this week, and the offense woke up almost immediately.
Toronto put up nine runs Tuesday night, its biggest output in a stretch that had been ugly more often than not.
Jonatan Clase hit a home run and drove in three, while Ernie Clement went 2-for-4 with a double in the same game the dragon made its debut.
Baseball players are creatures of habit, and creatures of superstition too. A hot streak gets credited to anything nearby, a stuffed animal included.
Patrick Corbin got the win on the mound, allowing just one earned run, and the bullpen shut the door from there.
None of that has anything to do with a plush toy sitting near the bat rack. And yet, try telling that to a clubhouse that just snapped out of a rough stretch.
Why silly rally props stick around when teams start winning
Baseball clubhouses are superstitious by nature, and a stuffed dragon fits right into a long tradition of odd objects getting credit for real production.
It's a little like a golfer who won't change his socks during a good round. The logic makes no sense, but nobody wants to be the one who breaks it.
Does a stuffed dragon actually move the needle for a team sitting at 43-49 and third in the American League East? Of course not.
But baseball is a sport where players will hang onto anything that feels like it's working, and right now Tuesday's rout is exactly what they're pointing to.
Toronto is 20th in baseball overall and still has real work to do, dragon or no dragon.
The Blue Jays play the finale of their series in San Francisco this afternoon, and if the offense keeps hitting like Tuesday, that dragon isn't going anywhere.
Should the Blue Jays keep the stuffed dragon around as long as the offense keeps hitting?
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