The Toronto Blue Jays are off to a much better start than I would have expected, two weeks into the season and the Jays are 7-6 and currently sit in first place in the American League East. Watching the team so far this early in the season has been exciting, which is great news seeing as the first game of the season had many fans rolling their eyes after a 9-2 loss against the Tampa Bay Rays and Jose Reyes getting injured. Form many it felt like deja vu all over again.
So what is it about this team this year that has them playing some decent baseball so far this season? The starting pitching has been pretty solid on most nights, the bullpen is still strong, the bats haven’t been that explosive, but they have been playing good fundamental baseball and the defense has been superb. You can insert more baseball cliches here, but the Jays are clicking early and if they can go on a few winning streaks here and there, they could be playing some important games in September.
Blue Jays Start Strong
One of the biggest eye openers and positive notes this season has been the starting rotation, yes they have lost games, but they have pitched some really good games. Mark Buehrle is already 3-0 on the season with an era of 0.86, Drew Hutchinson, Brendan Morrow and Dustin McGowan who have all had injury issues in the past have pitched pretty and although RA Dickey is 1-2 he’s been an important pitcher for this team and they will need him to be on his game as the season progresses.
You can also thank catcher Dioner Navarro, the Jays off-season signing, who has been good at bat and a great catcher for the pitchers. It makes wonder how bad JP Arencibia was as a catcher, because every pitcher that has worked with Navarro has been great and Blue Jays fans can all be thankful he was signed.
With Navarro they Jays have also seen a great start to the season when it comes to Melky Cabrera, he has 20 hits on the season with an average of .328 and four homeruns. He is playing the way the Jays had hoped he would play when they signed him last winter. Let’s not forget Jose Bautista and Adam Lind who have been also been swinging hot bats to start the year. Jonathan Diaz who was called up to play in place of Jose Reyes has been a revelation defensively and will make the Jays lives hard when Reyes is back and ready to play.
Let’s all keep in mind that there are a few jobs on the line if the Jays start to lose more games than they win. John Gibbons was a bit nervous in an interview he gave after a loss during the week, you can tell he knows his job is on the line, so winning more games for Gibbons is really important. Let’s also remember that the Jays window of opportunity was last year, this year and maybe next year, so there is a lot of pressure and so far the team is delivering, they just need to have larger winning streaks and not get into a brutal losing streak.
Yes, the season is early and there are a lot more games to be played, but there have been some positive signs this season and if the Jays can play like this all season long, it will be a fun season to watch.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter – @NVincelli. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport – and “liking” our Facebook page.
Interested in writing for LWOS? We are looking for enthusiastic, talented writers to join our writing team. Visit our “Write for Us” page for very easy details in how you can get started today!
“You like baseball? Get involved! Check out LWOS Partners Bases Loaded Eu for fantastic podcasts, news and a growing message board community of baseball fans like you!
Main Photo:
