As we hit the unofficial mid-season point of the MLB season with the All-Star break, the Toronto Blue Jays see themselves at 45-46 good for fourth place and 4.5 games behind the first place New York Yankees in the AL East. They also sit just 4 games from a wild card spot. They aren’t out of it yet, but Toronto needs to start winning more games and putting on more winning streaks like what they did in June.
Looking at the Blue Jays stats they are one of the top teams offensively, they are first in runs scored with 486, fourth in hits with 814, third in homeruns with 115, basically they are a top five offensive team across nearly all hitting categories in baseball.
This isn’t surprising seeing as they have players like Jose Bautista, Edwing Encarnacion, Jose Reyes, All-Star stud Josh Donaldson, Russell Martin and Kevin Pillar who is having a breakout season.
Blue Jays Mid-Season Review: Pitching Help Needed
The offense is in full swing (yes pun intended) but pitching is a different situation. It is obvious that the Blue Jays have had issues with pitching all season long and their stats don’t lie. They rank 23rd in ERA with 4.18, they rank sixth-worst in runs and earned runs, 20th with a .260 batting average against, 22nd in quality starts with 41 and they are 30th in saves with only 14 which is awful for a contending baseball team.
The offense is set, the bench is solid and as long as they stay healthy, the bench won’t need much help. On the other hand the pitching has not been great, there have been bright spots like Mark Buehrle, Roberto Osuna, Marco Estrada and Steve Delabar. However R.A. Dickey has had a rough year and never seems to get run support he is 3-10 on the season, Brett Cecil was given the closer role, then lost it, then got it back, then lost it again. Drew Hutchison has been great at home and awful on the road (though the beneficiary of big run support). The story of the Blue Jays life this season has been the fact that so many of the losses have been a mix of bad pitching, or the fact that the offense goes cold somehow when the starters give a quality start.
What do the Blue Jays need to do? Well first of all they need to play a bit better than they have as of late. By the time the jays wrapped up a three game home stead against the Texas Rangers they were 41-36 and then they had a four game series against the Boston Red Sox and the wheels seem to completely fall off. With 14 games left before the All-Star break starting with the Red Sox series the Jays managed to go an abysmal 4-10, putting them back under 500 again. Hopefully the rest can help the Blue Jays win more than lose.
Another thing the team needs to do is help the bullpen and rotation, yes Alex Anthopoulos we are all looking at you. Many fans are tired of the same old excuse about not having enough money and the fact that Rogers won’t budge.
This is the third straight season where the Jays have a chance at the post season. It is time that they finally make a move at, or before the trade deadline. A veteran starter, reliever, or closer could help this team immensely. Anthopoulos, John Gibbons and the Blue Jays ownership need to step it up, because right now the history they are writing for the Blue Jays is missing a chance at making the playoffs and doing something great for the first time since 1993.
This isn’t a new idea, the whole season many people have said that the Blue Jays need an upgrade when it comes to their pitching, but lately it is even more glaringly obvious.
Time is ticking on Anthopoulos’ and Gibbons’ and Paul Beaston’s time with the Jays and the ticking could soon come to a stop. No one wants to be part of a what if history, is this the year the Blue Jays make a huge push, add the pieces theyneed to help this team and finally end the post season draught? Who knows, but if you ask Blue Jays fans, they are hoping for moves that will help this team instead of sitting back and not doing anything.
