Blue Jays AL East Recap: Jays Soar out of May

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

New York Yankees: 29-18
Boston Red Sox 27-22
Baltimore Orioles: 25-23
Tampa Bay Rays: 27-26
Toronto Blue Jays: 23-27

Despite a 3-1 loss on Sunday night to the Texas Rangers, the Blue Jays rode an excellent week to put themselves that much closer to .500. Entering play Monday the Blue Jays sit 4 games under .500 and 7.5 behind the New York Yankees. Despite a terrible start to April the Blue Jays appear poised to make a stab at legitimacy. Toronto managed 5 straight wins against no slouches. The first coming last Sunday to the Baltimore Orioles. They then swept the Brewers before winning a weekend series against the Rangers.

The Blue Jays got back some familiar faces in Josh Donaldson and Troy Tulowitzki. With both JA Happ and Fransisco Liriano making progress as well the opening day lineup should be mostly intact. The Blue Jays offense stepped up in a big way, using the long ball to win 4 straight during the week. Ryan Goins continued to prove his worth offensively and defensively and has likely earned a spot on the bench when the rotation arms come back. The Blue Jays get the Reds to start the week and follow up by hosting the Kings of the East during the weekend.

Final Takeaway:

The Blue Jays took quite a few step forwards during May. With most of the lineup back in the fold, the Blue Jays will have a chance to contend for .500 ball and more.

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.

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