Blue Jays: Good years with bad Aprils

After a 1-5 start in their first 6 games, panic has set in for several Blue Jays fans on social media. While a slow start isn’t a good thing, there have been a few years when the Jays haven’t fared so well in April, only to finish the season strong.

The Blue Jays are set for their long-awaited home opener against the Milwaukee Brewers tonight, and a home game couldn’t come soon enough for the struggling club. The Blue Jay opened the season with a quick two game set in Baltimore, before going to Tampa Bay for 4 games. All told, they finished the road trip with a 1-5 record, winning just one game against the Rays so far.

While it’s a long season, there are some early reasons from concern from the Blue Jays. There are some early injury concerns, such as Josh Donaldson‘s balky calf, J.P. Howell landing on the DL with a shoulder issue, and Roberto Osuna, who has yet to appear in a game after beginning the season on the disabled list as well.

The club will look to turn things around now that they’re returning to the Rogers Centre, and will need to win a few games in order to calm the nerves of anxious fans around the country.

All that said, it’s important or people to remember that the 2015 team started 11-12 in April, before a 21-6 July and an appearance in the ALCS, so the season isn’t lost in the first week. In 2016, the club started 11-14, also floundering a bit out the gate.

Is it the Blue Jay way to struggle in the season’s first month, only to turn things around? Maybe a little bit, based on looking at the history of the club. Nothing like making things difficult on yourself, but it appears some of the best teams in the history of the franchise have done just that.

1989- AL East Champs (finished April 9-16)

The Blue Jays made the playoffs for the second time in franchise history in 1989, after winning the AL East division. The team was lead by the likes of Fred McGriff, Dave Stieb, Tony Fernandez, George Bell, and many more Blue Jay greats. Despite a team loaded with talent, they struggled mightily in the month of April before righting the ship throughout the season.

After finishing April with a record of 9-16, they weren’t a whole lot better in May, finishing 11-15. When things were starting to look bleak, the Blue Jays turned things around, going 17-10 in June, 20-9 in August, and 17-10 in September as well, mowing opponents down, in the second half in particular. The team started the year with Jimy Williams as their manager, going 12-24 under his guidance. After the team installed Cito Gaston, they finished going 77-49.

The Jays wouldn’t take the division lead until September 1st, and were 4 games back as late as July 30th. A 37-19 record over the final two months made up the deficit, as they held on to win the division by two games.

Of course, they were ultimately eliminated in the ALCS, losing 4 games to 1 to the Oakland Athletics.

1998- 3rd in AL East (88-74)

The 1998 team didn’t make the playoffs, and perhaps a stronger April would have made the difference for the club (no, I’m not arguing with myself here). Still, they’re a great example of how it’s possible to turn things around after a poor start.

The ’98 team was managed by Tim Johnson and the club finished with a record of 88-74. They were bolstered by the likes of Carlos Delgado, Roger Clemens, Shawn Green, and an older Tony Fernandez, on one of his several return trips to the Blue Jays roster.

Clemens would go on to win the Cy Young for the second straight year as a Blue Jay, dominating the league as a 35 year old, before leaving for the New York Yankees that offseason. Delgado also had a monster year, hitting .292/.385/.529 with 38 home runs and 115 RBI. Shawn Green also chipped in 35 home runs and 100 RBI as well, as the two of them lead a fairly potent offence.

The team went 10-16 in April, digging themselves a nice little hole to work out of throughout the season. They were able to make up some ground in May, finishing 18-11, and also played very well down the stretch, going a combined 34-18 over the season’s final two months.

Unfortunately they were just a little shy of reaching the postseason, which was a shame for such a talented group. Delgado in particular never reached the playoffs as a Blue Jay, which seems like an unfortunate waste of his tenure in the organization.

1993- World Series Champs started slow

It wasn’t their worst April by any means, but the Blue Jays weren’t lighting the world on fire in April following their first championship the year before. They had lost Dave Winfield in free agency the year before, but replaced him with Paul Molitor, and largely returned the same lineup that had won a ring a year before.

Fortunately the club they turned things on, going 16-12 in May before going nuts in June, finishing 19-9 on the month. In addition to Molitor, the club had Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar at second base, Joe Carter in right field, John Olerud at first base, and you guessed it, Tony Fernandez at short.

Speaking of the above mentioned players, Olerud (.363), Molitor (.342), and Alomar (.326) finished 1-2-3 in the AL batting race, leading one of the most prolific offences in franchise history. The rotation featured Pat Hentgen, Juan Guzman, and Jack Morris, and had Duane Ward move from set-up man to closer with great success.

The Blue Jays would defeat the Chicago White Sox in the ALCS before beating the Philadelphia Phillies in the ’93 World Series. Of course, that series is home of the biggest moment in Blue Jays history, when Joe Carter hit a walk-off home run to finish off the series and secure the franchise’s second straight championship.

2017? It’s only 1-5 so far guys… 

Hopefully taking a look at some of the other slow starts has alleviated any unnecessary stress. After all, the boys in blue haven’t even played 10 games yet. They had losing records in 2015 and 2016, and managed to make the playoffs in both years.

As we’ve discussed here at Jays Journal last week, there have been plenty of good things going on so far, including a mostly strong performance from the rotation, and some solid bullpen performances as well. Donaldson seems to have avoided major injury (we hope), and Devon Travis managed to open the season on the active roster. Bautista is moving well in the outfield and even Justin Smoak has swung the bat reasonably well in the first half dozen games.

The Blue Jays do need to start hitting with runners in scoring position, as they’ve missed several opportunities to turn a loss into a win in the season’s first week. In general they’ll need to improve, but that area has been a particular cause of frustration for the club and fans alike.

With 19 games remaining in the month, and 156 for the season, there’s no reason to panic, at least not yet.

Next: Blue Jays: Howell's injury could be Loup's opportunity