Blue Jays and the full AL East Recap: Week 5

Despite positives, Blue Jays lose ground in the AL East

Each week, Jays Journal will take a look at the bigger picture of the AL East to help frame not only where the Blue Jays are in the standings, but why they are there.

Baltimore Orioles: 18-12
Boston Red Sox: 18-13
Tampa Bay Rays: 15-14
Toronto Blue Jays: 16-17
New York Yankees: 11-18

Despite a four-game win streak that saw the team win a four-game series against Texas and the first in the series against the Dodgers, the Blue Jays ultimately fell short of maintaining at least a .500 record again. The bullpen was still the team’s biggest weakness giving up two of the week’s three losses.

Drew Storen stands at the forefront of the problem as he’s a far cry from the form he was in during Spring Training, or even in any of his recent MLB seasons. If Storen can right things, it could be the momentum the bullpen needs to get from zero to hero.

Beyond those two losses, the bullpen did hold on long enough for the Blue Jays to walk it off in back to back games. These two games proved that the ‘pen isn’t all doom and gloom. Joe Biagini looked very good, allowing just an unearned run over three solid innings with just two hits, a walk, and a pair of strikeouts.

The offence looked poised for a breakout after the Blue Jays’ 12-2 win over the Rangers on Thursday, but the weekend treated the Blue Jays poorly as they faced Clayton Kershaw and the solid back-end of a bullpen the Dodgers have assembled.

The offensive setbacks are troubling, currently the Blue Jays barely scratch the top ten of any offensive stat. They will look to exploit a struggling San Francisco rotation in the Bay this week, especially Jake Peavy and Matt Cain.

Final Takeaway:
Early week positives gave way to weekend woes as the Blue Jays had an above-.500 week, but still settled for a below-.500 record on the season. Surging rivals made the weeks losses all the more profound.

Next: Baltimore Maintains Pace