2 reasons Blue Jays and the fans should stay optimistic, 2 reasons they should worry

The Toronto Blue Jays find themselves in a surprising position, down 0-2 in the ALCS to the Seattle Mariners. After putting up 39 runs in the four ALDS games against the New York Yankees, the Seattle Mariners' pitching staff has thrown water on the sizzling hot Blue Jays' bats.

The Blue Jays have scored four runs combined over the first two games, but three of those runs have come in the first innings. All the confidence the team and fans had going into the series has quickly dwindled.

However, it's not all doom and gloom. Here are two reasons the Blue Jays and their fans should stay optimistic, but two reasons they should think about hitting the panic button.

Two reasons the Blue Jays should stay optimistic

The first reason was that the Mariners didn't bite on the split-finger like the Yankees did. Both Bryce Miller and George Kirby utilize this pitch, so the Mariners' batters knew what to look for. The hitters were very disciplined, letting low pitches go and drilling mistakes left up in the zone.

This strategy eliminated Kevin Gausman and Trey Yesavage's strikeout pitches, which was leaving the Yankees off-balance. It didn't help that Yesavage had an extremely tight strike zone from home-plate umpire Doug Eddings in Game 2, but the rookie lacked the control he had in his 11-strikeout debut postseason outing.

The reason this can be considered optimistic is that Shane Bieber, who is starting Game 3, doesn't throw a splitter, so hopefully the difference in pitch arsenals can get the Mariners' hitters out of sync. His arsenal consists of a four-seam fastball, slider, knuckle curve, changeup, and cutter. These pitches have led to success against the AL West in his career, pitching 132 innings and posting a 2.52 ERA.

Bieber has faced the Mariners once each of the three previous seasons. Last season, he threw six shutout innings, allowing six hits and posting a 9:0 strikeouts-to-walk ratio. The former Cy Young Award winner also has a 2.30 ERA over seven career starts against the ALCS opponent. If the Blue Jays can get this version of Bieber, then it'll be the confidence booster this team needs to get back into the series.

The second reason to be optimistic is that George Kirby and Luis Castillo will start Game 3 and 4, respectively, for the Mariners. Neither has had success against the Blue Jays over the last two seasons. Kirby hasn't faced the Blue Jays this season, but last season, he faced them twice and struggled by allowing a combined 15 hits and eight earned runs.

Castillo has seen this Blue Jays' lineup twice this season, and he's faced similar struggles as Kirby. The righty has allowed 18 hits and eight earned runs over these two starts. The Blue Jays' past success against these two pitchers should instill confidence in their hitters and, hopefully, tie or even be ahead in the series before heading back to Toronto.

Two reasons the Blue Jays need to hit the panic button

If the Blue Jays can win a game and push the series back to Toronto for Game 5, then it'll mean Bryce Miller will be back on the mound. The righty gave up a home run to George Springer on the first pitch of Game 1, and then walked Nathan Lukes on a 12-pitch at-bat that resulted in a walk. He then threw six scoreless innings, allowing one more hit and walking three batters.

He was unhittable, but that was hopefully a fluke, as Miller had a 5.68 ERA over 18 regular-season starts. So the panic button can just be pressed lightly, as there's still a glimmer of hope the Blue Jays see the 5.68 ERA Miller in Game 5.

A more drastic reason to hit the panic button is that history is not on the Blue Jays' side. This is the 28th time in postseason history that a road team has won the first two games of a best-of-seven series. Only three of those clubs have lost the series.

However, a 0-2 comeback did happen in 2023, when the Philadelphia Phillies won the first two games at home, but the Arizona Diamondbacks came back to win the series in seven games. The Blue Jays have been in a 0-2 hole before. In three of their seven ALCS appearances, they faced a 0-2 hole, but never came back in the series.

The cards are heavily stacked against the Blue Jays, but this team has faced adversity all season long. They've faced unfortunate injuries and slumps at various points this season and have been able to overcome them.

They've adapted the "flush it and forget it" mantra. It's been a go-to philosophy whenever they've faced difficulties, but down 0-2 with a World Series trip on the line is a level of difficulty this season's Blue Jays never faced.