AL East Roundup: Blue Jays hanging in

Apr 13, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; The teams stand for the Canadian national anthem before the Toronto Blue Jays home opener against the Tampa Bay Rays at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY SportsToronto Blue Jays started out the season in a fortuitous situation depending how you look at it. Their first three series were against AL East opponents, giving them the chance to develop an early lead in an important division. Of course, there’s also the alternative scenario where they go into an early hole and all hell breaks lose.

The Toronto Blue Jays

In the first three series and the following two, the Jays have commanded a 8-7 record with a +18 run differential. Not too shabby. They averaged an impressive 5.80 runs per game while maintaining a sub-league average ERA of 4.30.

The Jays were pleasantly surprised that Devon Travis became everything and more they had dreamed about when acquiring him as he has hit for an team high .388 batting average with a team leading four home runs.

With that said, there’s been some serious flaws with the team already. The team’s slugging duo of Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion have both under-performed, hovering around the mendoza line with four home runs each. There’s no question about it; if the Jays want to be more than a .500 ball club these two are going to have to play a significant role.