The Toronto Blue Jays are fighting for a spot in the playoffs. With tough teams like the Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, and Houston Astros, they’re close but the competition is fierce. But with a strong final month, it may be possible that this iteration of the Blue Jays roster finally puts everything together.
Pitching
This is the best the pitching has been for the Blue Jays in a long time. Going back even in their best years in 2016 when they had some of their franchise-defining moments, the pitching this year outshines that year. With their 3.73 ERA that’s 2nd in the league, this staff is poised to do well in a postseason run.
It hasn’t always been sunshine though. The pitching did struggle early in the year and with some fresh faces, it was challenging to keep them constant. Alek Manoah has had a terrible year after his All-Star performance last season that led him to be a Cy Young favorite this year after being number three in voting last year. This made him go back to Florida to train and go through the minor league teams just for a chance to come back up. Sadly, he hasn’t been able to stay and is currently in Buffalo for what seems to be the rest of his season.
Despite that, the Blue Jays roster has five of some of the most capable starters in all of the MLB. They have a strong five, starter roster with Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios, Chris Bassitt, Yusei Kikuchi, and Hyun Jin Ryu.
Some are new additions and others have stepped up to the plate. Kikuchi is having an opposite year compared to Manoah where he is struggling, Kikuchi is having what could be a career year for him, posting career bests in ERA, FIP, WHIP, Band BB/9. Ryu returned after Tommy-John surgery and has proven that he can still throw pretty well.
With Jordan Romano back and the additions of Jordan Hicks and Genesis Cabrera to the Blue Jays roster, the bullpen could be a formidable opponent as well.
Hitting on the Blue Jays Roster
The fatal flaw of the Toronto Blue Jays is their offense. It has been really inconsistent to the point where they will struggle to get 10 hits in a series but will get 10 runs in a game right after. While they have shown that they are talented, sporting a 6th best 108 wRC+, they do need to be more consistent,
Luckily, Davis Schneider has exploded in the league and a lot of other Buffalo Bison callups have been challenging the older players for their spots.
Last Few Series
The struggle will be the last few series. Teams like the Colorado Rockies and Oakland Athletics aren’t the issue. The issue is about teams that they have constantly struggled against this season like the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays. Their record within their own division has been 12-25 and if they want to make the postseason, they’ll need to outperform that across their final games of the season that feature 15 against AL East opponents.
While the Yankees are struggling to consistently win compared to the last time the Blue Jays played against them, it’s still not a walk in the park for a team that struggled against division rivals this whole season.
Add onto a Rays team that has been playing strong and is known for their strong pitching, it seems like it’s going to be one of the hardest series for the Blue Jays who can’t leave anything on the table this last month.
It would be a shame if the Blue Jays didn’t make the playoffs. They have one of the best teams since the 2016 iconic team. Their goal right now is to secure a spot in the playoffs but with the last few series, it’s going to be a team effort with everyone improving to make sure that happens.
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