Toronto Blue Jays need to find another gear to reach playoffs
The Toronto Blue Jays are struggling to make up ground in the AL playoff race as they continue to fall short in games they should be winning.
Heading into their two-game series against the Washington Nationals, the Toronto Blue Jays were provided with a bit of relief in their schedule after a gruelling stretch with little to no days off.
Unfortunately, the first game in the U.S. capital didn’t go as planned as the usually steady Alek Manoah didn’t have his best stuff. Getting swept by one of the bottom-feeding teams in MLB certainly leaves a bad taste in the mouth especially with George Springer’s injury worse than expected.
More from Tip of the Tower
- Cam Phillips making his mark on Toronto Argonauts offence
- Toronto Argonauts: 4 storylines ahead of matchup against Redblacks
- Federico Bernardeschi ready for new challenge with Toronto FC
- Toronto Argonauts overcome Roughriders in entertaining Touchdown Atlantic
- Buffalo Bills: Von Miller drawing inspiration from Bruce Smith
What continues to be the Achilles heel of this team is the bullpen. There were numerous leads blown on this road most notably the series finale against the Nationals.
There is no quick fix coming for this team so it all comes down to the players finding another gear. Unfortunately, it feels like the Blue Jays are losing steam and it couldn’t have come at the worst time.
No team in the AL East has been able to close the gap on the Tampa Bay Rays although the New York Yankees’ latest winning streak might give them a chance at making things interesting. Fortunately for Toronto, they haven’t fallen way out of the wild-card race but unless things change soon, they might find themselves short on games to move up the standings.
Toronto Blue Jays need to find another gear returning home
The Blue Jays’ resurgence was sparked by their return to the Rogers Centre after spending most of the season playing their home games in Dunedin and Buffalo.
Toronto won nine of the 11 games they played at the Dome and got some big offensive performances. Now, part of that can be attributed to Springer who was leading the way offensively before he suffered a knee sprain.
The Blue Jays offence hasn’t been the issue and if there is one lesson the front office and coaching staff should be learning is the value of having enough depth in the bullpen to handle high leverage situations. This puts more pressure on the bats to provide enough support so that there isn’t a small lead to be blown late.
If Toronto isn’t able to make up ground over the next few weeks, it’s going to be tough to see them remain in the playoff picture which seems like a tough challenge right now.
Related Story. Looking back at the Jose Berrios trade. light
What do you think about the Blue Jays’ chances to make the playoffs? What needs to improve in order for them to get there? Let us know in the comments below.