Yankees recently slide show the Blue Jays there's a pathway to AL East crown

There is a certain vulnerability for teams who peak early in the season in the MLB. Trying to maintain your spot at the top of a tough division is an incredibly hard task. The Tampa Bay Rays learned this a few years ago when they started 13-0. They maintained their place at the top of the division until the middle of July, when the Baltimore Orioles caught them and surpassed them. Baltimore ended up as division champions while the Rays settled for the top Wild Card spot.

The Yankees may be displaying a similar vulnerability during a recent slide that saw them lose six straight games going into Thursday night’s action.

From June 13 through June 18 they have not only dropped those six games, but their offense has been stifled. They have been outscored 16-5 and were shut out in three straight games. This has opened the door for everyone else in the AL East to climb back into the division championship picture (except for the Orioles). Tampa (1.5 GB), Toronto (2 GB) and Boston (4.5 GB) are within striking distance, and the Blue Jays need to capitalize as best they can.

Yankees recently slide show the Blue Jays there's a pathway to AL East crown

For one thing, that means standing pat at the trade deadline is not an option. While the Yankees are showing some holes in their roster, namely how much they are relying on Aaron Judge to carry them, the Blue Jays are getting above-average performances from unlikely players.

Ernie Clement is bashing lefties, with a .400 average against southpaws. Addison Barger is smashing baseballs, tied for second on the team in home runs and has some of the hardest hit balls in all of MLB this season, with an average exit velocity sitting in the 95th percentile.

Veteran George Springer has turned the clock back and leads the team with 10 home runs and is third among starters with an OPS of .804. Alejandro Kirk is the second-best offensive catcher in the American League behind Cal Raleigh.

Every team needs to get these kinds of performances to make a competitive run, but good teams don’t sit back and expect those things to continue for the entire career. Supplementing this production by adding another bat must be on the GM Ross Atkins to do list at the deadline as the Yankees will be trying to do the same. Judge and first baseman Paul Goldschmidt are the only hitters in the Yankees lineup that are hitting above .250 and getting on-base at a .350 clip or better.

The Yankees pitching also has some holes, although they boast arguably one of the best one-two punches in the league with Max Fried (9-2 1.89 ERA) and Carlos Rodón (8-5 3.01 ERA) at the helm. Clarke Schmidt (3-3 3.16 ERA) and former Blue Jay Ryan Yarbrough (3-1 3.90 ERA) are also having good seasons but there are always improvements to be made in New York, and it won’t be long before the Yankees look to bolster their pitching staff.

The longer they go without reinforcements, the more likely it is the teams they see the most often, their AL East counterparts, will look to take advantage of having a more prepared game plan. They are 8-11 against the AL East so far this year including having lost five straight head-to-head matchups against the Red Sox.  

Once again, the Blue Jays will likely be in the same market as the Yankees when it comes to pitching help, so it will be paramount for Toronto to jump on making any additions they can sooner rather than later. Although, the emergence of Eric Lauer, who threw five innings of four-hit one run ball in Wednesday's win over the Diamondbacks, could stem the tide. He’s got a 2.29 season ERA in 35.1 innings pitched with a 9.2 SO/9 rate. They also have Max Scherzer potentially returning as soon as next week.  

The Yankees, led the division by seven games on May 28, have watched that lead dwindle over the last three weeks. While there is a lot left to be desired both on offense and defense from the Bronx Bombers, the Blue Jays too can’t afford to get complacent with what they’ve done as there is a real opportunity in front of them for the taking.