Blue Jays AL East Recap: Jays Fall Behind

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: 40-33
Boston Red Sox 41-34
Tampa Bay Rays: 40-38
Baltimore Orioles: 37-38
Toronto Blue Jays: 36-39

The Blue Jays look worse for the wear entering the upcoming homestand. They managed a sloppy split series with the Texas Rangers and salvaged just a win against the Royals during the weekend. This puts the Blue Jays 3 games behind 500, 5 games out of first, and 3.5 games out of the Wild Card race.

The sloppy series against out of division foes will be followed up by a bout with the Orioles and Red Sox. With some of the best, the AL East has to offer we may have witnessed the Blue Jays last hurrah for the season. The sloppy week saw every aspect of the team falter. The rotation looked terrible. The bullpen was without setup man Joe Smith and call up Leonel Campos. The offense was also incredibly inconsistent, at times bailing out the team, and at others being silent.

Things were not all bad for the Blue Jays. Both Marco Estrada and Francisco Liriano bounced back from rough starts. John Gibbons‘ new look offense has seemed largely more successful than the lineup was before hand.

Jose Bautista had an excellent week at the plate after a quiet start to June. Bautista has now tied Joe Carter for 4th overall in franchise RBI’s with 736. Our own Clayton Richer detailed who else may possibly be overtaken on that list earlier.

The Blue Jays could see Aaron Sanchez return to action within the coming weeks. Which should be a boost given the struggles the rotation faced this week.

Final Takeaway:

The Blue Jays needed to play much better than they played last week to make a splash. With the competition dialing up to another level against the AL East foes, the Blue Jays may have missed their last chance at an even record.

Yankees Remain Deadlocked at First
40-33

The New York Yankees managed just two wins on the week. Despite the struggles, they have remained tied with Boston for the top of the division. They fared poorly in the AL West, managing just a win apiece against the Angels and the Rangers.

The rotation struggled again with little help from their offense once again. CC Sabathia is closer now to returning from the DL. His experience and ability to eat innings could help out the Yankees quite a bit. Aaron Hicks continues to dominate baseball and will add the title All Star to his Rookie of the Year/MVP campaign. The Yankees will get the chance to surge ahead with a 4 game set before facing off with the titan of the American League, the Houston Astros.

The return of the Sabathia comes at a good time. Amidst their struggle, the Yankees suffered a string of injuries this week. While Aaron Hicks appears to be the only Bomber that will need a DL stint, both Matt Holliday and Starlin Castro sat time out with Day to Day injuries.

This all comes just days after New York’s Top Prospect, and likely midseason call-up, Gleyber Torres was sidelined for the year with a torn ACL. Whether the young team can succeed despite these setbacks will be the key between them and post season glory.

Final Takeaway:

New York has coasted on their rock solid start to the season the last two weeks, winning just three games in that time period. Their failures have allowed even the bottom of the Division to remain active in the Playoff Hunt.

Rays Reaching for First
40-38

After posting the best record in the Division this week, the Tampa is now less than 3 games outside of first place. The Rays secured a series win against the Reds before being upended by the Orioles. Now they sit just 2.5 games down from first and just a game outside of Wild Card contention.

They will get a rematch against Baltimore after a series with the Pirates to start the week. Tampa Bay has received contributions from across the team. Their rotation, bullpen, and batting roster have all been in sync the last few weeks, allowing the Rays to chase the division title.

Like the Red Sox, the Rays bolstered their lineup with the addition of Trevor Plouffe. He joined the team as 2016 break out Wilson Ramos returned to the order. Both Ramos and Plouffe have been known to swing a hot bat. These additions come as former Jay Colby Rasmus lands on the DL.

The Rays have not only weathered a string of injuries but have managed to succeed despite them. To help with the workload and to balance the pen, the Rays are transitioning swingman Erasmo Ramirez to the pen. A move which should be beneficial for both the rotation and the bullpen.

Baltimore Remains Inconsistent
37-89

The Orioles lost their weekly opener to the Indians, managing just a win. After being shelled for 15 runs on Friday, the Orioles bounced back and secured just their second series win of the season. This puts the Orioles a game below .500 and 4 games out of first. They now trail the wild card by 3.5 games. They’ll get a chance to rebound further in the standings when they play the Jays and Rays this week.

The Orioles offense has looked more like its old self, but with the rotation in a dismal way, it has often not mattered. Chris Tillman has looked lost on the mound since his season started, and highlighted the lack of depth their rotation really has. Dylan Bundy remains the strongest member of the staff but has largely cracked under pressure lately.

With the upper management trying to ease the workload on Dylan Bundy, they’ll get some good news. Their taxed bullpen is now returning to normalcy. Darren O’Day returned during the course of the week and Zach Britton is on track to return by the All-Star Break. When fully stocked, they have one of the best bullpens in the game. Time will tell if it will be enough to help the team rebound.

Not everything was positive on the injury front as the Orioles lost J.J. Hardy to a fractured wrist, which will keep him out until at least August.

Final Takeaway:

The Orioles have a talented offense and a brilliant bullpen but their rotation is another matter entirely. Baltimore can succeed if their offense can roar back to life, but every loss makes that less likely.

Next: Blue Jays’ Jose Bautista cements himself as all-time great