2 areas where the Blue Jays are excelling, 2 they need to improve

The American League East was expected to be a tight race all season, and there hasn't been anything that's happened in the first 20 games of the 2025 season to dismay those thoughts. All five teams have played good baseball in stretches, but none of them have been able to get hot.

All five teams are excelling in different ways, and the Toronto Blue Jays are no different. But, like all the other teams in the division, there are also some areas where they need to improve. With that in mind, here's how the Blue Jays stack up to the rest of the division in some key statistical categories.

Note: all stats through Monday's games

2 areas where the Blue Jays are excelling, 2 they need to improve

Area the Blue Jays are excelling: Starting pitcher WHIP

The first stat where the Blue Jays have been excelling in in starting pitcher WHIP. Blue Jays starters have a WHIP of 1.16 in 126 1/4 innings. That is the fifth-best WHIP in MLB and outpaces their division rivals. The Rays are sixth (1.20), the Yankees are 18th (1.28), the Red Sox are 20th (1.30) and the Orioles are 29th (1.62). Good starting pitching goes a long way in MLB, and the Blue Jays core four guys have been pulling their weight.

Kevin Gausman went into Monday’s games leading the entire league with a 0.74 WHIP, while Bowden Francis (1.04 WHIP) and Chris Bassitt (1.07) ranked 14th and 16th respectively. José Berríos (1.43) was 34th. They even got a good start from Easton Lucas, who gave up a four hits and three walks across his first two starts before the bottom fell out in his last two.

The other teams in the American League East teams have nine pitchers combined who were in the top-40 of WHIP in the American League. within the top 40 in WHIP in the American League.

Area the Blue Jays need to improve in: Home runs

The area where the the Blue Jays need to improve is hitting home runs. Yes, this is something we've touched on already this season, but for good reason.

The Blue Jays entered play on Tuesday with just 12 home runs in 12 games, which was ahead of only the Royals (11 home runs). They also have the second lowest HR/AB rate in the entire league, hitting one home run for every 62.92 at bats.

The Yankees (HR every 19.25 at-bats) and the Orioles (22.13) are first and fourth respectively in that category. And while the Red Sox and the Rays are within the bottom half of the league, they are still faring much better than Toronto.

Tampa hits a home run every 34.14 at-bats which is 18th in MLB while Boston is right behind them at 34.38. The Blue Jays also lag behind in terms the number of players who have hit multiple home runs this seaosn. Toronto is carrying just three guys who have gone yard at least twice, while their team leader, Andrés Giménez (3), hasn’t hit a home run since March 31.

Baltimore has nine players who have hit at least two home runs this season, while New York has eight and both Boston and Tampa Bay have five. Hitting home runs doesn't automatically earn you a berth to the postseason, but it makes it easier to pick up wins during the 162-game grind of the MLB season.

Area the Blue Jays are excelling: Plate discipline

While the Blue Jays may not be hitting home runs, they're also not striking out.

They only have 165 strikeouts as a team, which is the third-lowest total in MLB. None of the other teams in their division have struck out less than 170 times; the Rays are ninth with 174, and the Orioles are 10th with 176.

The Yankees and the Red Sox have a completely different mentality.

The Yankees have struck out 128 times (28th in MLB), while the Red Sox are right behind them with 225 strikeouts.

While it's still frustrating to see the Blue Jays hit a weak ground ball to kill a rally, or hit a lazy pop up that doesn’t advance the runners, it's good to see them put the ball in play instead of striking out all the time.

Anthony Santander is the only Blue Jay who has struck out more than 20 times this year, while the Red Sox (6), Yankees (4), and Rays (2) all have multiple players who have done so. The Orioles' Gunnar Henderson is the only Baltimore player to whiff 20 times this season.

Area the Blue Jays need to improve in: Third base production

The second area the Blue Jays need to improve in is production out of the hot corner. While their third baseman haven’t been as bad as the Orioles' third baseman (their third baseman have slashed just .192/.268/.219) this season, the other three teams in the division have a lot more out of third base.

Toronto has split time at at third between Ernie Clement (15 games) and Will Wagner (10 games) and they have combined for a slash line of .218/.271/.244 with zero home runs.

The Yankees have deployed Oswaldo Cabrera (16 games) at third base along with getting six starts from Oswald Peraza and one from Pablo Reyes. That trio has produced a .263/.333/.342 slash line, although they’ve only hit one home run.

it’s the Rays and the Red Sox who have been able to get the most out of third base. Tampa’s mostly had Junior Caminero (19 games) start at third, which is a big reason why they've been able to get a a .294/.337/.541 slash line with five home runs out of third base.

Boston’s had the second-best production in MLB from their third baseman, as they've slashed .302/.376/.510 with four home runs. Alex Bregman has started there 23 times, while Romy Gonzalez has gotten into two games.

That gap in third base production shows how important a player like Bregman can be in the American League East. Right now the Blue Jays don't have that at third base.