Bleacher Creatures reward Don Mattingly for destroying Blue Jays' offense from the inside

Former Yankees Captain Don Mattingly has already done some pretty good penance for the all-encompassing, George Steinbrenner's spirit-angering beard he sported in spring training. Before the season, Mattingly shaved it off. Steinbrenner (and Mr. Burns) would be proud.

While Mattingly isn't the Blue Jays' hitting coach, he is their bench coach, serving as sort of a spirit guide for this not-so-young-anymore team. Toronto's thing used to be their young offense, led by nepo babies like Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette and Cavan Biggio. Now, as those players "age out" of being hot young names, the worm has turned, and Toronto's pitching reigns supreme, led by Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios, and anyone who isn't Alek Manoah.

So, how are the Jays going to get back to mashing, fresh off being no-hit and one-hit over the course of a three-game series in Houston? According to Mattingly, they should be aiming to do ... less damage?

Remember, "Do Damage" was the 2018 Red Sox slogan that worked so well. Conversely, "Hit Strikes Hard" was the worst thing that ever happened to the 2022-23 Yankees. Choose your fighter.

Yankees fan favorite Don Mattingly gets Bleacher Creatures cheer after trying to stop Blue Jays from hitting home runs

Keep up the good work, Don. The Jays can bring the bats approximately four series per year, when they play the Red Sox. Maybe a crucial series in September with the Orioles, depending on how the standings shake out. But that's it. Please. Keep 'em as quiet as Shushing Vlad keeps the crowd.

Yankee fans -- and the rest of the AL East -- certainly hopes that Toronto's thumpers somehow remain closer to the 20-homer plateau instead of the even more helpful 30 or 40. Whatever *this* was didn't work on Sunday; though a few fill-in middle relievers tried to make the game closer than it should've been, the Yankees triumphed 8-3 and the Jays mostly scored due to errors and walks.

Prior to Sunday's game, Mattingly was honored by the Yankee Stadium Bleacher Creatures with a resounding, "Donnie Baseball!" chant to wrap Roll Call, something they also bestowed upon him back in April 2018 when he returned as the Marlins' manager. The acknowledgement was certainly due to the respect the Creatures had for his distinguished Yankees career, but we'd like to think it was attributed slightly to this odd quote about stopping the Jays' fearsome bats from doing damage, too.