Making it back to .500 before season's end would be a major victory for the 2024 Blue Jays

The 2024 season has not been kind to the Toronto Blue Jays and their fans, especially considering the expectations many had coming out of the previous offseason. While this was supposed to be an optimistic year with goals of another postseason berth, Toronto will have to wait at least one more year to get back to the fall classic. At this point in the Jays' season, the goal is to get back to a .500 record, a mark the team hasn't seen since an April 29th win against the Kansas City Royals. With just 11 games remaining on Toronto's 2024 slate and their current record standing at 72-79, they need to go 9-2 to clinch a .500 record, and this might be somewhat out of reach.

The remaining schedule for the Blue Jays leaves plenty of optimism for a .500 record to be achieved. 3-game sets against the Texas Rangers, Tampa Bay Rays, Boston Red Sox, and Miami Marlins all pit Toronto against teams at or below the .500 mark. Thus far in the 2024 season, Toronto has sported a combined record of 11-13 against the first three of these teams and has yet to face the last-place 56-95 Marlins. Yes, they would have to improve on their season numbers against these opponents, but they've shown recently that this is something they can do. Tuesday's loss in the series opener against the Rangers certainly was not encouraging, as the Jays were outscored 13-8 in an evening slugfest against the reigning World Series champions.

Toronto hasn't played a full month above .500 except for August, in which they went 16-12 with a +31 run differential, and March, in which they finished 2-2 in the calendar's first four contests. Given the recent success of many depth pieces found in recent weeks, this may be the best chance the Jays have had all season long to prove what they can do. Especially considering the breakout of Bowden Francis and the re-emergence of Davis Schneider at the plate, things seem to be clicking better than they have all year. The consistency of the rotation and increase in offensive production could certainly carry this team to an even record to bring what has been a mediocre season to its finish line.

The only potential roadblock for the Jays at this point in the season is its bullpen. Aside from the obvious fact that they aren't going to make the playoffs, the most disappointing aspect of the Jays' season is without a doubt their pen. Not to mention the sidelining of closer Jordan Romano and the trades of tenured relievers like Yimi Garcia and Nate Pearson, this has been the worst part of the team all year and it hasn't been close. No matter what numbers you look at, there are absolutely no redeeming qualities of Toronto's arm barn in 2024. They're going to need a massive contribution from what might be the worst bullpen in baseball this year down the stretch if a halfway decent record is to be attained.

Given the exceptionally high amount of overturn and turmoil the Toronto Blue Jays have seen in 2024, the only thing that can be salvaged from a team perspective is a .500 record, something that denotes a simply average baseball team. It's saying enough that the best-case scenario for Toronto is to become a benchmark that every team still strives to be above, but it's better than nothing. And this team has looked that nothing straight in the face all season long. Manager John Schneider said in August that the Jays will compete in 2025, which provides plenty of food for thought that they'll be good again next year (hopefully). A strong end to the 2024 season could indicate a stronger theme of offseason spending from Blue Jays higher-ups, as a team ending the year strong would enter the offseason with more internal options at positions that don't need to be improved as much.

Even if the Jays don't reach the .500 mark by season's end, this year's been one to forget and hopefully better days are not too far over the horizon. While six months ago this team's goals were set squarely in October, they're not gonna sniff autumn baseball for at least another year. It's good to be optimistic about things and perhaps that's all that can be done for now, so let's just enjoy this bizarre baseball team that never ceases to blow our minds, for good or bad. Toronto can make the last few weeks of the season dampen the blow of this 2024 season and that's all we can really hope for now.