Does the Blue Jays' second-half schedule provide any hope at all?

It's no secret that the 2024 season has been one to forget for the Toronto Blue Jays and their fans, but how easy will it be to have optimism as the second half of the season gets underway on Friday? Toronto sits at a record of 44-52 entering the latter portion of the 2024 campaign and a quick look at their remaining schedule doesn't forecast an easy road ahead. They currently rank 12th in the American League and 24th in all of MLB in winning percentage at .458, a full-season pace of approximately 74 wins.

If they don't pick it up sooner or later, the hand of management will certainly be pushed to make changes. With the Jays' stars not performing to their personal standards or even to league average in some instances, many guys will find themselves in different uniforms by the trade deadline. Despite recent success from star players like George Springer and Kevin Gausman, their efforts might be too little too late to help this team.

37 of the Blue Jays' 66 second-half games will come against teams that hold at least a .500 winning percentage heading into the All-Star break. As if that wasn't worrying enough for a Blue Jays team struggling to find themselves in remote playoff competition, in late August they begin a stretch of 18 consecutive games spanning six series against potential playoff teams. If they find themselves in the hunt at this point in the summer, these games will be more than crucial in their very uphill road to the playoffs. Remotely similar results to their first-half numbers against strong teams will guarantee them a high draft pick and an early vacation.

In the first half of the 2024 season, Toronto played 64 of their 96 games against teams with records at or above .500 and they sported a bottom-dwelling record of 27-37 in those games. Against teams with sub-.500 records, they managed to come out on top with a 17-15 record, which certainly ought to be higher if the Blue Jays want to even sniff a chance at October baseball.

Toronto will also have to play 23 more games against divisional opponents from the AL East, against whom the Jays have a 12-16 record thus far. Not only will they have to outperform their first-half stats, they'll have to show up when the lights are the brightest against their rivals. It doesn't help that the Jays sit in last place in the AL East and are the only team not at or above .500 in the division, and they're not necessarily close to digging themselves out of that hole either.

The Blue Jays haven't notched a winning month on the calendar since last season and their record in one-run games is 12-17. It's highly unlikely that they could scramble together a playoff push, and the odds aren't in their favour given the lack of success and continuity in this team's performance thus far in 2024. Suffice to say, the Jays are about as likely to reach the playoffs as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is to hit 50 home runs this season. Sure, I guess it's possible, but I really wouldn't put any money on it actually happening. Hope shouldn't necessarily be lost in this team but they're certainly going to need it on their side. Jays fans across the nation are crossing their fingers and knocking on wood that the second half treats them nicely, and we'd be in line to watch some really interesting baseball if the Jays show up with vengeance on their minds. Either way, the second-half will undoubtedly be worth watching.