Blue Jays AL East Recap: Make or Break Time

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: 38-29
Boston Red Sox 39-30
Tampa Bay Rays: 37-35
Baltimore Orioles: 34-34
Toronto Blue Jays: 33-35

The Blue Jays once again failed to break through to a winning record. However, a down week by the Yankees leaves them only 5.5 games out of first. They are also only two games outside of Wild Card contention. However, they would need to leapfrog six teams to get there. Toronto starters were generally ineffective across the week, despite J.A Happ looking like his old self at the end of the week. Blue Jays’ bats were also silent most of the week, before breaking out for seven runs in Sunday nights win. Toronto’s pen has once again shown how capable they are, and will only get better if Aaron Sanchez can stick to the rotation when he returns soon.

The team had more bad luck losing Eziquiel Carrera to the DL, but Steve Pearce was activated to take over in left. In his return, the Blue Jays have gotten a small glimpse of what he has to offer offensively. The next few weeks will give the Blue Jays the chance to decide their fate. If they can win series’ against the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals this week, they will edge closer to Wild Card contention. If they can manage a winning record against these foes, they’ll get the Orioles and Red Sox in a chance to gain further ground in the East. The Blue Jays may end up looking like sellers if they can’t manage a winning record.

Final Takeaway:

Toronto has arrived at the time to do or die. The foreseeable future features strong opponents, and more mediocre play won’t  cut it.

New York Faces a Set Back
38-29

The New York Yankees will enter Monday in unfamiliar territory. While they are atop of the division, they now share that lead with the Boston Red Sox. The West was not kind to the Yankees, who have lost six straight. Despite winning on Monday against the Angels, they were not able to find success against them again. The weekend only brought more frustration as they were swept by the Athletics. The Yankees rotation proved just how ineffective it is without the help of Aaron Judge and the rest of their young offense bailing them out. The week put some heat on the bullpen, which also couldn’t come up with enough to compensate for the performance of the rotation.

Despite Aroldis Chapman returning from the DL, the Yankees have more injury to worry about. Adam Warren landed on the DL and Aaron Hicks has been day to day since Thursday night. Gary Sanchez seems to have recovered from whatever ailed him during the weekend, but is one to monitor in the coming days. The week not only allowed for the Red Sox to get their foot in the door, but has opened it for the entire division. Entering Monday, every team is within six games of first place, leaving the race wide open as the summer approaches.

Final Takeaway:

The Yankees are still a very good team, despite some disheartening losses this week. The real question is whether their young stars can keep producing through the rigors of the season.

Rays Remain Relevant
37-35

The Rays continue to keep pace in the AL East, as they posted another week at .500. Their record places them less than four games out of first. A feat many thought impossible at the start of the season. They earned series splits with both the Blue Jays and the Tigers as they prepare to host the Reds and a crumbling Baltimore. The Rays offense was largely on point, capped by a homer happy route of Detroit on Sunday night. This aided an effective rotation that helped to lessen the work load on some of their bullpen staff. Rookie Jacob Faria dazzled in two starts for Tampa, dominating some tough batters.

As long as the Rays can maintain this type of pace, they will remain in contention for a WC slot, which they are now in possession of. If they can do this while still managing a revolving door of injuries, we could see the Rays push for the post season. For this they’ll need to see the consistent production from their bats, arms, and pen that they have seen in the past few weeks.

Final Takeaway:

I have to admit that the chance of seeing this Rays team compete into October excites me. When they are on, they are one of the most spectacular teams to watch play, much to the ire of my fellow Jays fans.

Baltimore Mashes and Misses
34-34

It was a tale of two teams for the Orioles this week. The first portion of the week we saw the Orioles act like the team they have been recently, as they managed only one win against the White Sox. Baltimore then looked like the team from early this year as they went bombs away in a series win against the Cardinals. The week kept them at 4th in the Division with an even record.

The Orioles offense is the key to the success of this team. They saw this as they had 23 runs between Saturday and Sunday. The Orioles rotation has been a huge disappointment so far. Dylan Bundy has been the best of their rotation. Outside of his performance, they have many questions and holes. Chris Tillman has looked lost, managing only one win en route to an ERA of 8.07 on the season.

The rotational woes have only put more strain on their bullpen than they appear to be able to handle. Zach Britton is still out, and now joined by Darren O’Day. Mychal Givens has stepped up big recently. He now has double the wins of every rotation arm, with the exception of Bundy. Chris Davis is unlikely to return until after the All Star Break, which will make an inconsistent offense even worse. For the O’s to mash like they did Saturday, they’ll need Manny Machado to step up and be the star that the Baseball world knows he can be.

Next: Blue Jays: Goins has a month to prove worth as a starter

Final Takeaway:

Only time will tell if the weekend successes are indicative of the offense waking from their slumber. They’ll need their bats to compete, as their rotation has looked like one of the worst in Baseball.