Blue Jays Own Best Record in AL Since mid-June: Why?

The Toronto Blue Jays are hot. And not just since the return home to the Rogers Centre.

While the New York Yankees have certainly reinvented themselves since the trade deadline, and the Tampa Bay Rays have taken over control of the AL East, nobody has been as hot as the bad boys from Toronto since mid-June in the American League. Noooobody.

In fact, since June 19th, the Jays own the best record in the AL, at 27-15.

More from Jays Journal

• Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays advance to the Championship Series
• Blue Jays: Comparisons for Alek Manoah’s Second Season
• Blue Jays: Adam Cimber, the unlikely decision King
• Toronto Blue Jays: Has the Shift Killed Kevin Gausman’s 2022 Cy Young Hopes?
• Blue Jays: What Yusei Kikuchi’s latest stumble should mean

Just for fun, let’s re-make the American League standings, post-June 19th, and see how teams stand in this nearly two-month chunk of the season heading into the stretch run:

1. Toronto    27-15   —
2. Tampa      25-16  1.5 GB
3. Yankees   26-17  1.5
4. Houston  25-18  2.5
5. Detroit     25-19   3.0
6. Chicago   24-19  3.5

So what happened about seven weeks ago that started the team on this new trajectory?

Since June 19, the Blue Jays own the best record in the AL, at 27-15. To what do we attribute the turnaround?

The most obvious answer: George Springer. The $150 Million Dollar Man returned to the lineup right about then (June 22 to be exact), after having played only four games the entire season up until then. Now, granted, he got off to a slow start, and had some ups and downs the first couple of weeks back, but just his presence in the lineup, and in the dugout, seemed to re-energize the team.

Springer has been as gregarious as Vladdy, Gurriel, or Teoscar, fitting right in on and off the field, and ramping up the fun level—and the compete level—on a nightly basis.

And over the last few weeks, we all know what Springer’s been up to, including back-to-back Player of the Week honours. But Springer’s return isn’t the only reason for the team’s turnaround. For the others, we look to the  mound.

June 19th was the unofficial date that Jordan Romano took over as the team’s closer. Unofficial, because manager Charlie Montoyo has still not confirmed that Romano is officially the man, though he certainly plays his cards as if he is. And for the most part, Romano has delivered. Since then, he’s picked up 7 saves and 2 wins.

Romano steadied the back end of the bullpen, and not-so-coincidentally, that was also around the same time that Rafael Dolis went on the IL for three weeks, and when he returned, with his 6.33 ERA, never saw a save situation again.

The bullpen additions of Adam Cimber and Trevor Richards came not long after that, and the team was breathing a big sigh of relief with a revitalized ‘pen.

Another key factor that’s contributed to the league-leading surge has been the starting rotation. The top 4 starters around that time (Ryu, Ray, Manoah and Stripling) really settled into a groove, with only the occasional Ryu hiccup.

Then you add in a very good piece like Jose Berrios, and the Jays now sport the 6th best rotation ERA in all of baseball over the last 30 days, and are tied for 2nd in wins over that span.

Finally, add in the long-awaited return home, where the Jays went 9-2 on the first Rogers Centre home stand, and you have a league-best team record over a 7-week span.

Now, heading out to the west coast, we shall see if the new bad boys of the East can hold on to that feeling.