Two embarrassing stats that show just how awful the Blue Jays have been in 2024

Let's go back to March 28th of this year. It's MLB opening day, and nobody can agree on what to expect from the Blue Jays during the 2024 campaign. Some believed that internal improvements coming from Vladimir Guerrero Jr., George Springer, Alejandro Kirk, and others would suffice, others already concluded that there was no chance this team would make it to the postseason.

After nearly six weeks of play, we've seen enough games to form opinions on this Blue Jays squad, and they're not positive ones. Many offensive metrics, such as runs, hits, home runs, batting average, slugging percentage, and on-base plus slugging, place the squad in the bottom third of the league.

In comparison to the 2023 season, we've seen a steep decline in performances from the Blue Jays pitching staff. The starting rotation has been just as good, but the bullpen has been horrible. The Blue Jays bullpen finished 8th in MLB last season with an ERA of 3.68. This season, they are the only team with a bullpen ERA above 5.00, ranking dead last in the MLB with a 5.15 ERA.

Even though all these numbers are already horrifying, the Blue Jays have already lost numerous games this season due to two major circumstances.

Their total incapacity to hit with runners in scoring position is the first one. This was an issue in 2023 as well, but in 2024 it has gotten to an entirely new low. With RISP, the team ranks 27th in batting average, 30th in home runs, 27th in runs batted in, and 29th in on-base plus slugging, tied with the 16-24 St. Louis Cardinals.

Editor's note: all stats are good up to Monday's games.

The differential between their on-base percentage (OPS) when the bases are empty and when there are runners in scoring position is the most concerning aspect. There is a larger disparity than a single point. With runners in scoring position, it is precisely 0.121 points lower than when the bases are empty. The 0.121 differential is the worst in the majors this season. Their .651 OPS with RISP and two outs puts them 19th in the majors, which is better but still not good.

The second one is the bullpen's inability to perform in high leverage situations. The bullpen hasn't been good at all this season, as was previously mentioned, and things grow worse when you consider how they've performed in high-stakes scenarios. Note that not all relievers perform poorly in such circumstances, but only some do. Taking that into consideration, the team still has a league worse 10.32 ERA, .349 opponent batting average, and 2.4 HR/9.

They also rank 27th or worst in WHIP, BABIP, and FIP. Erik Swanson has been the Blue Jays' worst reliever in those situations. He has allowed 6 of the teams 10 runs, while also giving up 5 hits, and 2 home runs in only 10 batters faced. In contrast, in high leverage situations, the team's best relievers have been Trevor Richards and Yimi Garcia. They have both faced 5 batters and are yet to allow a single earned run.