Blue Jays AL East Recap: Make or Break Time

Baltimore Mashes and Misses
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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.