Blue Jays getting a break from the rest of the AL East

Things haven’t exactly gone according to plan for the Blue Jays so far in 2021, but fortunately for them the rest of the AL East hasn’t been much better.

After picking up a breakout 15-1 win over the Angels on Saturday the Jays now sit with a record of 4-5. That’s not where they wanted to be, and so far it’s good for fourth place in the East, but just 1.5 game back of the Red Sox for first place, who are 5-3. The Orioles are 4-4 in a bit of a surprise (they swept the Red Sox in the opening series of the season), but they’re likely in for a tough year.

More importantly for the Blue Jays, the Yankees and Rays have some problems of their own, as the Rays are also 4-4 thus far, and the Bronx Bombers are just 3-5.

For the Rays the biggest question will be the health and quality of their starting rotation. After trading Blake Snell and losing Charlie Morton to free agency, they opted for a risky approach by signing a group of veterans to replace them. So far it hasn’t paid off at all, as Chris Archer (6.23 ERA over two appearances), Rich Hill (7.20 ERA over two starts), and Michael Wacha (7.20 ERA over one start) have had rough outings to begin the season. Archer also left the mound on Saturday, and his reaction wasn’t very promising.

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For the Yankees it’s been a similar story behind their ace in Gerrit Cole. They lost Masahiro Tanaka and James Paxton from last year’s rotation, and replaced them with Corey Kluber and Jameson Taillon. The latter was pretty solid in his first start of the year, but he’s coming off a major arm injury and it’s hard to say what he’ll be able to produce this season As for Kluber, he’s had a rough return from injuries of his own, posting a 2.37 WHIP over his first two starts and 10.1 innings. There’s also the odd situation that’s developed with Aaron Judge, and whether or not he’s injured. He played yesterday, but it’s been an odd situation to follow this week and could be a key to the Yankees’ success in 2021.

By no means am I wishing ill on the Blue Jays’ AL East rivals, but the lack of a hot start from anyone has lessened the blow of a 4-5 record. That said, the situation could be a lot different in a week or two, as the Yankees will be in Dunedin for a three-game set from Apr 12-14, and later the Jays have two games in Boston (Apr 20-21), followed by a three-game series at the Trop in Tampa Bay.

The 2021 season hasn’t gotten off to the start that the Blue Jays were hoping for, but it also hasn’t helped that they’ve dealt with so many injuries. All three of Nate Pearson, Robbie Ray, and Thomas Hatch hit the Injured List during the spring, Kirby Yates was lost for the year with an elbow injury, and we still haven’t seen the debut of George Springer in a Blue Jays uniform. Friday’s news that they’re also without Teoscar Hernandez, Tyler Chatwood, and Ryan Borucki doesn’t help either, although hopefully they’ll all be able to return sooner than later.

Still, there is no time for excuses and the Blue Jays will need to get things on track sooner than later. They played well on Saturday to pick up the blowout win over the Angels, and here’s hoping they can carry the momentum as the roster continues to get healthier. Fortunately the rest of the division has given them a bit of a break.