Blue Jays AL East Recap: Jays Soar out of May

Steady Success for New York
29-18

The Yankees continued to be the best of the bunch this week. New York suffered just one loss a series this week. By beating the the Royals and the Athletics, New York helped solidify their lead. They now lead the division by 3 games, as the Orioles struggles have pushed them further back. They square off against Baltimore to start the week before heading north to face Toronto.

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Aaron Judge is building a resume for MVP, adding a game defining Grand Slam to help propel Michael Pineda to the win. New York’s rotation continues to find success despite many worrisome numbers. However if the Yankees continue to mash like they have, their rotation will be just fine. The Yankees bullpen has also stepped up in absence of Aroldis Chapman. Chapman made some small progress this week but is still expected to miss quite some time. In the meantime, Dellin Betances has filled in quite well in the role of closer and most certainly has made a certain Yankees exec eat their words from earlier this year.

Final Takeaway:

The Yankees continue to be the real deal. As long as their offense can continue to bail out their rotation, the Yankees could go all the way.

Boston Leapfrogs Baltimore
27-22

The Boston Red Sox find themselves second in the East as May draws to a close. The Red Sox took care of business against the American League East this week. They swept the Rangers before winning the series against Seattle this weekend. They enter Monday 3 games down from New York and leading the Wild Card Race. The Red Sox recent success has finally put them in a position of power. The Red Sox will get a chance to improve their standings against the Chicago White Sox and the Orioles.

Boston’s offense has been as good as ever, mashing against opposing pitchers. The offense carried a decent week by the Red Sox rotation, which continues to show signs of improvement. The Red Sox bullpen has looked true to form as well, and within the last week, they have looked like an entirely new team. David Price and Pablo Sandoval are still progressing and can make a good team even better.

Final Takeaway:

The Red Sox are starting to look like the juggernaut they were supposed to be to start the year. With some big time stars on their way back, they could quickly leapfrog into first.

Eastbound and Down in Baltimore
25-23

The Orioles are limping out of April. After an average week last week, the Orioles hit a major rut this week. After getting swept by the Twins and the Astros, Baltimore is in a rough position. They now stand 4.5 games outside of first, placing them third in the division. They run the risk of falling even further, as the Tampa Bay Rays are only a half game behind them. They’ll get the opportunity to get back up against the Yankees and Red Sox this week.

Baltimore struggled in all aspects of their game, but their offense was the real disappointment. The rotation was not as dominant as they have been, but the offense failed to produce at multiple points during the course of the week. Rough starts at the beginning of the week also taxed their bullpen, causing strains for the team later in the week.

Final Takeaway:

With the teams ahead of them surging and the teams below them stabilizing, the Orioles will need to get things going in a hurry or risk falling behind.

Rays Hanging onto .500
27-26

The Tampa Bay Rays won both of their weekly series’ and enter Monday a game above .500. They played good games against the the Angels and the Twins, but don’t have much to show for it. The Rays have hovered at average for most of the season, despite some successes. With most of the team back from the DL the Rays have failed to capitalize on the momentum their returning players could have given the team. Tampa Bay has managed to negate the bad with the good. But hasn’t done much further than that.

The Rays have all the pieces to make it work, but somehow aren’t managing it. Their rotation has looked as good as it should, and Chris Archer is finally back to his ace self. Their offense to has had their fair of big bats in Corey Dickerson and Derek Norris. The bullpen is finally looking like it has been capable of. Helping the Rays win after a marathon 16 inning win against the Twins. Tampa Bay gets the Rangers and the Mariners this week, and will hope to have as much success as the Red Sox did.

Final Takeaway:
The Rays have all it takes to be a serious contender, but are somehow not. They’ll need to do much better than average to make a splash.

Next: Blue Jays’ Dalton Pompey to begin rehab assignment