5 Reasons Why the Blue Jays are Better Than the Yankees

Aug 30, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays mascot Ace waves the Blue Jays flag before eighth inning against Detroit Tigers at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Peter Llewellyn-USA TODAY Sports

There’s been a strange turn of events in 2015. The Toronto Blue Jays are the powerhouse team in the American League East and the New York Yankees are not. Instead, the Bronx Bombers are looking up at their Northern rivals.

Toronto Blue Jays

It is such an odd circumstance that some even refuse to accept it. Apparently, there are those who would question the intestinal fortitude of your Toronto Blue Jays. More specifically, some wonder if they have what it takes to beat the Yankees.

Well, after a winning series to start the year, a sweep in Yankee Stadium and a 3 for 4 series recently, that notion seems just downright silly. On Wednesday night, the two clubs wrapped up their season series. And, a quick look at the numbers shows just how one sided this matchup has been. The Blue Jays owned the season series by a wide margin: 12-5

But, if the simple head to head record isn’t enough for you, you should check out the breakdown that will convince you that the Blue Jays not only have the constitution, but the necessary talent to beat the Yankees. If it came to it in the playoffs, the Yankees would be at a distinct disadvantage. Whether it is on the mound, at the plate or in the field, the Blue Jays hold an edge. So, sit back, relax and get ready to brag to all your friends.

*All stats accurate as of Wednesday morning

Next: Blue Jays vs Yankees: The Offense

The Hitting

The Blue Jays are leading the planet in scoring runs. They’re hitting like their lives depend on it. How else could you describe the constant onslaught of hitting? Heading into the final game of the season series against the Yankees, the Blue Jays have scored a total of 829 runs for an average of 5.5 per game. Both marks are good for first in MLB. They also lead the league in home runs with 213.

For comparison, the Yankees have scored 728 runs (4.9 per game) which is second to the Blue Jays, but over 100 fewer. 100! The Bronx Bombers have hit 205 home runs, which is normally impressive. But, it only ranks them 3rd in baseball. Now, these numbers on their own will not exactly be convincing. So, let’s go deeper.

FanSided

The Blue Jays are hitting .266 on the season to the Yankees’ .251. The Blue Jays lead baseball in OBP at .337. The Yankees sit at .322. The marks for SLG show a similar difference: Blue Jays: .451, Yankees: .425. So does OPS: Blue Jays: .788, Yankees: .747.

If you want to compare individuals, you can look to Jose Bautista, Josh Donaldson, Edwin Encarnacion totalling 110 home runs and 330 RBI. That doesn’t even include the others who are contributing to the offense. What about Russell Martin, Kevin Pillar or even Chris Colabello and Justin Smoak?

The Yankees? Well, Mark Teixeira was having a great season until they finally realized his leg was broken. His 31 HR certainly were a major contribution to this squad. Alex Rodriguez is having a great comeback season with 32 dingers of his own. The Yankees lineup is certainly good, but it does not compare to the modern day Murderers Row that Toronto throws out there.

Finally, how about this: the 2015 numbers against each other look like this: (according to BaseballReference.com) Toronto slashes .242/.310/.406 against the Yankees. It is .223/.288/.364 when you look at how the Yankees have hit the Blue Jays this season. Again, advantage Blue Jays. You could say that this has to do with pitching. And, you’d be right.

So, let’s compare the pitching.

*All stats accurate as of Wednesday morning.

Next: Blue Jays vs Yankees: The Pitching

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

Jul 2, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays center fielder Pillar (11) catches a ball during the ninth inning in a game against the Boston Red Sox at Rogers Centre. The Boston Red Sox won 12-6. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

The Defense

The Toronto Blue Jays have made run prevention a priority. They’ve focused on bringing in talent that will provide defensive abilities better than what we’ve seen around these parts. Ben Revere, Cliff Pennington, Darwin Barney and even Troy Tulowitzki are all players meant to address the defense. It was definitely part of the allure of Josh Donaldson.

FanSided

But, did it work? And, do the moves make the Blue Jays better than the Yankees? Well, they hold a better fielding percentage than New York at 0.985. Granted, the edge is marginal with the Yankees sitting at 0.984. But, a closer look reveals 82 errors for the Blue Jays and 87 for the Yankees. Baseball Reference says the Blue Jays also hold the advantage in RF/9: 4.11 to 4.08. The Blue Jays have also turned 138 double plays to the Yankees’ 122.

We should not forget about the defense that Russell Martin brings to the club. He has been so good at shutting down the running game. He’s thrown out 44% of would be base stealers to lead the league. The club has combined to catch 40 thieves for a 41% rate (and allowed 56 stolen bases). The “other guys” have only caught 32 for 33% and allowed 65.

In total, the gloves of the two teams have yielded Total Zone Total Fielding Runs Above Average (Rtot) marks that are telling. And, when you look at the result for the year, the advantage is clear. Blue Jays: Rtot: 45, Rtot/yr: 4. Yankees: Rtot: -30, Rtot/yr: -3.

*All stats accurate as of Wednesday morning.

Next: Blue Jays vs Yankees: The Record

Sep 21, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays right fielder Bautista (19) celebrates the win with third baseman Donaldson (20) at the end of a game against the New York Yankees at Rogers Centre. The Toronto Blue Jays won 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

The Record

There may be lots of folks who say that stats and figures are well and good, but the game of baseball is played between the lines and all of those numbers get tossed out the window once first pitch is thrown. The real measure of one team over another is the result of the games they play. Well, let’s look at what that reveals.

The Blue Jays and Yankees have played a total of 17 games. The Blue Jays hold the 12-5 advantage.

It all started way back on April 6th when Drew Hutchison opened the season with a win in Yankee stadium. Remember? Devon Travis hit his first MLB home run. Hutch picked up his first win of the season and we were excited that our #1 starter looked good. Daniel Norris started game 3 and got the win. The Blue Jays would win 2 of the first 3 games of the season.

Toronto Blue Jays

Roughly a month later, the Blue Jays won the series again, this time at home. R.A. Dickey held the Yankees in check for the win in the opener. Marco Estrada dropped the second game, but Mark Buehrle took the victory in game 3. At that point, the Blue Jays held a 4 games to 2 advantage.

The two clubs would not meet again until the dramatic roster overhaul the Blue Jays went through. The Yankees hadn’t done much to make a playoff push. But, heading into the Trade Deadline, they were in first place. On August 7th, the Blue Jays marched into Yankee Stadium and swept the home team. The visitors outscored them 10-1 and shut them out in the final two games. It was a statement series that saw the AL East lead cut to 1.5 games.

Mid August saw the Yankees come to Toronto and win 2 of 3 games. They were close games, but credit has to go to the visitors. When the series started, the Blue Jays were up half a game in the division race. By the end of it, the two clubs were still separated by 0.5 games. This time, the Yankees would be on top.

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The next time they would meet, the Blue Jays went into Yankee Stadium and asserted themselves in 3 of 4 games. It was a series that was impacted by the weather and included an old school double header that the Blue Jays won on the back of Marcus Stroman‘s improbable 2015 debut. By the time this series was over, the Blue Jays had built a 3.5 game lead in the division.

Now, the Blue Jays put an emphatic stamp on the season and sealed the lopsided advantage in head to head action with another series win in Toronto. The club started Price on Monday and wrapped up the series with Stroman on Wednesday. The rotation was laid out so that these guys would get the Yankees. And, it worked. Using their pitching advantage, the Blue Jays took 2 of 3 and increased their division lead to 3.5 games with 10 games remaining. Wednesday’s 4-0 shut out was an exclamation point on this head to head narrative.

It is clear that when the two teams have faced each other, the Blue Jays have been the better team. On any given day, any team can beat any other team. But, when you look back at all of the games combined, the Blue Jays have bested their rivals.

Next: Blue Jays vs Yankees: The 10th Player!