Toronto Blue Jays: Where will they stand come mid-season?
By Vinnie
We are still over 30+ games away from the midway point of this years campaign and I would expect Canada’s team to be at or above .500 after 81 games.
The Toronto Blue Jays have now passed the quarter point of the season and as of May 25th, they sit five games below .500. This definitely wasn’t the record anyone was expecting but there is plenty to be positive over.
The Jays closed their series off against the Milwaukee Brewers Wednesday afternoon with a convincing win. Jose Bautista, Kevin Pillar and Devon Travis all hit no doubters out of the park but the biggest bomb came from the bay of an unlikely source, Ryan Goins. He smashed a grand slam to deep right field for his first career grand salami.
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Goins has shown much more power this season than in seasons past, something he worked hard on over the break. Although his batting average is still lacklustre, it’s positive for the ball club that opted to keep him over Melvin Upton Jr.at the start of the season.
The other three bombers from Wednesday afternoon have been lit as of late. Over the last month, Bautista is hitting a batting average of .320 with seven dingers, 19 RBI’s and an OPS of 1.015. In the last week, he’s hitting a batting average of .476.
Pillar has been doing it all season, hitting a batting average of .303 and now has seven homers at the lead off spot. Power was not a part of his repertoire in prior seasons but this current pace would give him over 20 long balls by seasons end.
Devon Travis’ early season struggles seem to be in the past. In the last month, Travis is hitting .318 with a .901 OPS. The little big man is showing Jays fans why he is indeed the number one guy at second and will be for a while.
Josh Donaldson and Troy Tulowitzki look to return on Friday, which is coming at an incredible time for the ball club. Momentum has been shifting in favour of Toronto so it never hurts to get two incredible veterans back on the field.
Not to mention, the bullpen seems to be finding their groove and Russell Martin is hitting much better post-injury than pre-injury.
We are still over 30+ games away from the midway point of this years campaign and I would expect Canada’s team to be at or above .500 by then. They should also be in contention for one of the Wild Card spots.
This years ball club doesn’t appear to be as solid as last years but maybe Shapkins can pull off some deadline deals, if the situation calls for it. However, when you got some clutch names like Jose and Josh, up and comers like Devon and Kevin, and starting pitchers like Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez, anything can happen.
#LetsRise
Next: Bautista is heating up at the right time for the Jays
Where do you think the Jays will be in the standings after 81 games? Let us know in the comments section below.