After a disastrous 2013, a season in which they were supposed to be the new ‘Beasts of the East’, it was tough for the baseball world to take the Toronto Blue Jays seriously heading into the 2014 campaign. Their starting pitching looked to be worse for ware, their overall lineup didn’t go through too many changes, and they were still going to be lead by an unproven manager in John Gibbons, who had already been fired by Canada’s only major league ball club once before in his career. The Jays were not supposed to be relevant at all in 2014.
Although the Jays did have their fare share of issues last season as well as at the beginning of this one, they have quickly turned things around and now have a healthy six game lead on the New York Yankees for top spot in the American League East. The Oakland Athletics are the only other team in the AL that has a better record than the Jays. Toronto has won 20 of their last 24 games, a stretch that has seen them put up some very impressive numbers.
Lead by the stellar and consistent offensive ability from the likes of Jose Bautista, Melky Cabrera, Edwin Encarnacion, and Jose Reyes, the Jays have turned their basement dwelling days into being the leaders of the pack. Since May 12, the Jays lead the majors with a team batting average of .282. They also lead the majors in on base percentage as well as slugging percentage. They’ve hit 39 home runs since the middle of May, and now top the majors with a total of 89 home runs as a team, which is 10 more than the Colorado Rockies, who is second in the majors with 79 home runs as a club.
It’s safe to say that the Jays have the type of lineup that does solidify them as contenders in the heavy hitting American League. However, it’s the starting pitching that will tell the tale in the end of whether or not this team is ready to play baseball in October. Mark Buehrle is off to the best start in his career with a record of 10-1 and an ERA of .210. He has been a nice surprise for the Jays this season and it looks as though the rest of the rotation is beginning to follow suit. If the Jays want to continue to contend for their first playoff appearance in over 20 years, the pitching needs to stay consistent and another arm may need to be added before or at the trade deadline.
The Jays have what it takes to stay at the top of the AL East and perhaps beyond, but they will need to continue to get solid play and career years out of a few of their players, up and down the roster. With exactly 100 games to go in their season, the Jays are sitting pretty, but they are well aware that there is too much baseball that still needs to be played before they can get too cocky. The baseball season is an absolute grind, and the Jays are treating it as such. They currently look like one of the best teams in Major League Baseball, and if they want to continue to contend, it needs to be all systems go from every single player on their roster until the very last out they record in the very last game of their regular season.