Blue Jays: How things look for the other Wild Card contenders

Boston Red Sox

One of the reasons that the Blue Jays have made up some ground in the standings is because the Red Sox have been scuffling. They were swept by the Rays last week and then dropped three of four against the Blue Jays. They’ve back playing the Rays again now, and Wednesday night their offence finally woke up in a big way, winning the second game of that series by a score of 20-8 after dropping the opener.

For those that have been reading my stuff for a while, you might remember that I predicted the Red Sox would finish fourth in the division. I’ve been shaking my head all year about how well they’ve performed, and it’s been a bit of personal satisfaction for me seeing them come back to earth over the last few weeks. Still, I’ll admit that they’re a much better team than I thought they’d be, and they’re a real threat to keep the Blue Jays from the postseason.

Red Sox fans have been understandably frustrated lately, but the good news to lean on is that some reinforcements are on the way. Chris Sale will re-join the team after nearly two years on the sidelines while recovering from Tommy John surgery, and if he’s right he’s one of the best pitchers in the world. It remains to be seen what he’ll bring to the table as he makes his way back, but I’m sure the Sox are thrilled to know he’ll pitch again this weekend. They’ll also be able to add Kyle Schwarber to the active roster sooner than later, a player they acquired from the Chicago Cubs ahead of the trade deadline. Schwarber was injured when the trade went down, so he’s yet to play for Boston.

One of the biggest challenges for the Red Sox will be the strength of their schedule over the rest of the regular season. They’re done with the Blue Jays for 2021 unless they meet in the playoffs, but they still have seven games left with the Rays, six against the Yankees, and they’ll play other tough teams like the White Sox over their final 46 games. They may be in a playoff spot right now, but they’re going to have to play well to keep it.

New York Yankees

There was a time in July when it looked like the Yankees were completely imploding, but they managed to hang around long enough to keep themselves a hot streak away from being back in the picture.

That’s exactly where they are now, as they’ve won eight of their last eleven, and have been keeping pace with the Jays during their hot streak. That said, they’ve got a very tough schedule for the rest of the month, and they’re going through a lot of injury issues at the moment.

As for the schedule, I’m sure manager Aaron Boone is losing sleep thinking about the rest of this month. They start a three-game set against the White Sox tomorrow, they have three with the Red Sox, four against the A’s, and two with the surging Braves. They have a few other less intimidating opponents like the Twins and Angels, but it’s going to be a difficult month for them to keep up.

To make matters worse, their injury issues seem to get worse by the day. Not every situation is a long-term problem, but they’re missing some key pieces to their success including Gerrit Cole, Aroldis Chapman, Anthony Rizzo, Gleyber Torres, Gary Sanchez, Gio Urshela and several more, and that’s on top of others like Corey Kluber and Luis Severino. The front office was aggressive in acquiring Rizzo and Joey Gallo to give their lineup some left-handed punch, and in theory if the roster can get healthy they’re an extremely dangerous group.

If they can keep their heads above water for the rest of August, one of the keys to the Yankees season could be their head to head match-ups with the Blue Jays. The two clubs will play six key games against each other in September. As a Blue Jays fan, I’d love nothing more than to see them directly responsible for helping send the Yankees home early this season. We’ll see where things stand come September,

Oakland A’s

How do the A’s find a way to end up in the playoff picture every single year? Despite the fact that they’re penny-pinching ways have them making decisions like letting Marcus Semien walk after the 2020 campaign, they’re still a great team.

The A’s are actually only 2.0 games behind the Houston Astros for the AL West division lead, and it’s possible they should push for bigger goals than a Wild Card spot. As much as I basically just called them cheap, I’ll give them credit where it’s due because they added some key players in Starling Marte and Yan Gomes ahead of the trade deadline. The Marte addition in particular has proven to be very important in light of Ramon Laureano’s suspension that will keep him out for the rest of the year.

As for their schedule, the 66-48 A’s have a mixed bag over their last 48 games. They’ll have some tough contests with seven against the White Sox, six with the Astros, four vs. the Yankees, and three against the Blue Jays and Giants. However, they’ll also have some lighter competition that they should be able to take care of like the Tigers, Rangers, and Royals.

Arguably more than any other team I’ve looked at here, the A’s will be able to shape their own destiny. If they want to make sure that the Mariners don’t get back in the playoff mix, they can all but stop them on their own over their nine remaining games against each other. The A’s also play the Astros for six of their last nine games of the regular season, including closing the schedule out at home. If they’re within striking distance of the division, they could vault themselves out of the Wild Card picture all together.

All that said, and maybe this is my years of AL East bias coming through, I feel like the A’s are as vulnerable as any of the four teams. They have a difficult schedule, and while they’ve had the benefit of a mostly healthy roster this season, that also means there won’t be any reinforcements coming like the Yankees, Blue Jays, and Red Sox could all get. And yet, they somehow seem to always find a way, so you can never count them out. As of now, the other three are still chasing them for the top of the Wild Card standings.

Blue Jays

Last but not least I thought I’d take a quick look at the same type of things we examined with the rest of the Wild Card contenders.

The Jays are hot right now, and have a chance to take three of four against the Angels with another win on Thursday night. That would keep their streak of series wins going after taking three of four against Boston and Cleveland, and sweeping the Royals to begin their first home stand in Canada in nearly two years.

More from Jays Journal

• Matt Chapman has been exactly what the Blue Jays needed
• Blue Jays: The goalposts are moving in the right direction
• 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

I’ve written about their schedule a few times lately, and for the most part it’s favourable for the rest of their 49 games. They have at least one game in hand against the rest of their Wild Card competition, and that could come in handy as they get closer to the end of the season. Ideally the Blue Jays will be able to take serious advantage of their lighter August schedule, just as they’ve done thus far, because things will get a little more difficult in September.

The good news is the Blue Jays will also be able to control their own destiny in a lot of ways. They have seven games left with the Yankees, six with the Rays, and three with Oakland. Those games will really matter when it comes to the Wild Card standings, but it also helps that they’ll still play the Orioles ten more times.

As for internal reinforcements, the biggest potential boost could come in the bullpen if they’re able to get Nate Pearson and/or Julian Merryweather into the mix. They’ll also look to get others like Tim Mayza, Joakim Soria, and Ross Stripling healthy down the stretch as well, but fortunately they have a lot more depth than they did a month ago.

There are a lot of variables at play when it comes to the Blue Jays’ chances of making the playoffs, but the more I look at what’s ahead for them and their competition, the more I like their chances.