3 reasons why there’s still hope for the Blue Jays despite disappointing stretch

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Going into the series against the Texas Rangers, things appeared to be trending upwards for the Toronto Blue Jays as they had just swept the Kansas City Royals and had won nine of their last twelve games dating back to the end of August. With the Rangers being one of the teams in direct competition with the Jays for a playoff spot, there was indeed plenty on the line for both clubs.

Well, so far, the Jays have been absolutely disappointing to say the least. In fact, they haven’t really shown any fight at all this series, as they don’t even appear to be playing that desperate kind of baseball that they should be at this time of year. They should realize that every game from here on out is like a playoff game, with every win and loss ultimately affecting their final fate at the end of the season. To many of the Jays’ faithful, it sure feels like it’s over already.

But despite the recent stumble, there is still plenty of hope for the Blue Jays with 16 games remaining in the schedule. Here, we take a look at three reasons why the Jays are still in it to win it, even with their latest sub-par play.

3. They have shown in their recent past to be monsters in September

For the past couple of seasons, the Jays had finished off strong during the last month of the season. Believe it or not, in each case, the Jays had the fourth best record in the entire league, with a 21-9 record in 2021, and a 22-11 record for 2022.

In the case for 2021, even though their September record was tops in the AL, their hot streak just came a little too late, as they would end up missing the playoffs by a game in the end. But for 2022, their strong play helped fuel the team into making the playoffs for the second time in three years. With their current September record of 7-5, hopefully the Jays can go on a similar run this year to help them reach the postseason once again for the third time in four years.

2. They have overcome their troubles with RISP

For much of the 2023 season, the Jays have had their troubles hitting in the clutch, as they repeatedly failed to produce with runners in scoring position. It had gotten to the point that whenever they had runners on second and/or third no matter how many outs, everyone felt like they weren’t going to score.

However, in recent times, the Jays have finally overcome their main Achilles Heel for the season. For the month of September, they had gone 38-for-104 for a .365 batting average with RISP, ranking them among the league leaders in that category. As a result, their offence has woken up a bit and has finally proven they can actually come through in the clutch when given the chance now. In doing so, it definitely gives the Jays more opportunities to win ballgames now, including those that they normally couldn’t before.

So if the Jays can do the same and also overcome their miserable record against AL East opponents, as they will face them for the rest of the season following the Rangers series, they should be in pretty good shape during the final stretch of the season.

1. The remaining schedules of their top competition

Most importantly, for the two teams that the Jays are currently battling for the Wild Card positions, both the Seattle Mariners and the Rangers have a schedule that could end up helping the Jays in the end. They are set to face each other another seven times before the end of the season, so since one of them is guaranteed to lose whenever they play, it should keep them within distance for the Jays to overtake as long as the Jays do their part in winning their own games. In addition, the Mariners have a daunting schedule that includes also playing the division-leading Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros, so the Jays better take full advantage of this for them to have any chance.

As a result, as much as it feels that the Jays may be out of it, they are actually still very much in the thick of things as long as they finally get their act together and start doing what they are suppose to do. The key part now is to make sure they throw away the past three games from their memories, and focus on the important stakes at hand. All of this begins right now, with putting an end to a Rangers’ sweep on Thursday and using that momentum to run the AL East gauntlet en route to a playoff berth.

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3. They have shown in their recent past to be monsters in September

2. They have overcome their troubles with RISP

1. The remaining schedules of their top competition

Schedule