3 reasons why the Blue Jays are still in the running and 2 why they're not

As we get closer and closer to the halfway-point of the 2023 season, fans would like to think the picture is beginning to become clearer for the Blue Jays. In reality though, it remains blurred.

The Blue Jays have been inconsistent to date, sitting fourth in the AL East and projected to win 90 games at their current rate. They are one strong run of results away from being a genuine contender, but conversely, one stretch of poor outcomes could be their undoing.

So what will determine which direction the Blue Jays ultimately go in? We consider three reasons they are still in the running and two why they aren't, beginning with the positives:

Still in it: This team can just plain hit

We recently wrote about Bo Bichette's success with the bat, aka 'Bo knows hits'. This essentially extends to the team as a whole.

As of right now, the Blue Jays rank second in the majors for hits, 14 behind the league-leading Rangers. Unsurprisingly, they are also tied for second in batting average.

While Bichette leads the majors in hits on an individual level, it is not a case of relying on him too much. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Matt Chapman rank 12th and 21st respectively, with Texas as the only other team with three players featured in the top 20 for hits.

As much as the Blue Jays have been successful with their hitting, the potential is there for better end results when you consider they are just ninth in runs scored. Guerrero arguably leads the way when it comes to examples of who exactly can contribute more.

There may well be those who go the other way, and question if the Blue Jays can keep producing at such a high level, but the past two seasons prove this success is sustainable. Consider that in 2021 they ranked second in the Majors in both hits and batting average, and were even better last year in ranking first for both categories.