5 Reasons Why the Blue Jays are Better Than the Yankees

The Pitching

A quick once over of the starting rotations of these clubs and the initial reaction might be to lean the Blue Jays’ way. Let’s face it, when David Price is your ace, you hold an advantage. And, the Price the Blue Jays traded for has been even better since he joined this rotation. Do the Yankees have an answer for that? The one possible response would be Masahiro Tanaka. But, he’s been hurt and hasn’t lived up to the status of an ace consistently.

But, this is just general speak. Let’s get deep, here. The Blue Jays hold a team ERA of 3.80 while the Yankees sit at 3.97. The Blue Jays hold the edge in WHIP (1.23 to 1.29), complete games (7 to 3), hits allowed (1273 to 1304) and earned runs (568 to 596). In fairness, the Yankees have the better strike out numbers at 1280 to 1041.

Toronto Blue Jays

But, consider this: against Yankee starters, batters are hitting .266 while they’re .259 against Blue Jay starters. Yankee starters are 58-50, while their counterparts in blue are 67-40!

So, how about head to head? Blue Jays pitching has only given up 56 Yankee runs, 50 walks and 118 K. Yankee pitching has given up 81 runs, 55 walks and 154 whiffs. So, again the strike out favors the Yankees. But, Blue Jay fans will certainly be OK with the advantage everywhere else.

The bullpen has been traditionally good for the Yankees. But, this season, the Blue Jays have upgraded theirs and we’re loving it. The Blue Jays ‘pen is holding batters to a .231 average. The Yankees relievers are holding hitters to a .227 mark. While Blue Jay fans should be excited about their bullpen, the Yankees might appear to hold an edge here, albeit a small one. But, their 3.51 ERA is behind the Blue Jays’ 3.39 mark. Yankee relievers have surrendered 193 earned runs, while the Blue Jays’ have bested them with 166.

While there may be some areas that the Yankees appear better than the Blue Jays, like strike outs, the Blue Jays actually have a better pitching staff. Now, much goes into pitching results. A hurler could be impacted by his defense. So, let’s see how the two teams compare.

*All stats accurate as of Wednesday morning.

Next: Blue Jays vs Yankees: The Defense