Blue Jays taking advantage of schedule to try and get back in AL East race
While the New York Yankees still have a sizeable lead in the AL East, the Toronto Blue Jays are trying to use their weaker part of the schedule to get back in the race.
It was a frustrating start to the 2022 season for the Toronto Blue Jays as the pitching staff was being let down at times by the team’s offence. ‘
Going into Tuesday night’s game against the Kansas City Royals, Toronto was seven games back of the New York Yankees in the AL East. Sitting at 32-22, Dan Szymborski of FanGraphs projected the Blue Jays to finish at a 96-win pace which is not bad but the Yankees are well ahead at a 117-win pace.
It did not help that the Blue Jays had a tough schedule to start the season against teams with a .544 win percentage as Szymborski explains. This is why their current road trip against the Royals, Detroit Tigers then a home series against the Baltimore Orioles needs to be a productive one.
The main reason is because they welcome those dreaded Yankees for a three-game series that could be critical in the AL East, yes even in June. A west-coast road trip at the end of May seemed to provide a wake-up call for the offence and that has carried over in June.
As predicted, the AL East remains the crown jewel of MLB and a couple of those teams will likely find themselves in a wild-card position at the end of the season.
What should give the Blue Jays confidence in their ability to compete with the Yankees is how they were able to stay afloat while Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Teoscar Hernandez and Bo Bichette struggled but have seen Alejandro Kirk step up and provide great value. A big shoutout should also go to the rotation who have an elite top three in Alek Manoah, Kevin Gausman and Jose Berrios.
Starting pitching looks like it could be a priority for the Blue Jays at trade deadline
Hyun Jin Ryu’s health has been a concern for the Blue Jays this season and while Ross Stripling has proven that he can stand in and give the team some innings they might need to consider a more permanent situation.
It might be too early to discuss potential options Toronto could trade for considering teams likely aren’t thinking about making moves. However, there are certainly some names that people are considering like Frankie Montas in Oakland, and maybe Noah Syndergaard considering how the Angels season has gone?
Of course, the Blue Jays will want a better sense of what’s going on with Ryu’s elbow. The 35-year-old was placed on the injured list and is going for an assessment after an MRI showed “chronic changes” to the elbow, according to Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins.
Ryu still has one more year left on his deal at $20 million so you wonder if there will be any concern about his prospects for 2023. Toronto needs more dependability in that spot as they have seen their bullpen take on a heavy workload given the high number of one-run games they’ve been through.
This is definitely a situation that will need to be monitored over the next few weeks especially if the Blue Jays can gain some ground in the AL East race.
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What are your thoughts on the Blue Jays season so far? Do you think they can challenge the Yankees in the AL East? Let us know in the comments below.