Is it time to declare the Toronto Blue Jays officially eliminated from postseason contention? Not yet, but we might be getting close. The Blue Jays will be “in contention” into late September this season, but I’m not sure we will see them play any baseball in October.
With a 66-64 record (as of Monday) the Jays have 32 games left on their schedule. They still have some room to have a hot streak and take back a playoff spot, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. The Blue Jays have been awful this August; as they are 6-14. How is it that a team that was so hot in May and July, that had the division at one point, lost it, but had a wild card spot, has now become such a disastrous team in August? It is mind-blowing how bad they have become. Yes the month of August in baseball can make and break a team, and unless the Jays manage to go on a 15-plus game winning streak, this team and their season will be over at the end of next month.
Looking for the Cause of the Blue Jays Fall
This team got hurt by injuries, but every team has players that get injured, so that excuse just does not cut it anymore. The Jays were worried that their biggest issue would have been their starting pitching, but it’s been one of their biggest strengths. The rotation has kept this team in many of the games this season and pitchers like Happ and Stroman have pitched big games that were must-wins.
What has not helped the starters and the team is the shaky defense, a bad bullpen, a streaky offense, and an inconsistent road record. All of those factors fall into place as to why the Jays have been struggling. I won’t even blame Gibbons, because even I am tired of giving him all the blame.
There have been journalists and baseball fans alike who have said that the Blue Jays lost their spark once nothing was done at the trade deadline, and that Jose Bautista and Casey Janssen’s comments have had more of a negative impact on the team then what was expected. If that truly is the case, then the Blue Jay players are being downright immature. I would like to think all of these guys are mature professionals and would never do something like that, but you never know; this month has been awful.
There is also the final possible factor, and that is this team night not be as good as everyone thought they could be. A colleague of mine put it this way: “maybe the Blue Jays are a bad team disguised as a contender.” They look good on paper, but they just are not getting the results on the field. Maybe they just really over achieved in May and July. Maybe the team we saw at the beginning of April, June and currently in August is the actual team and this is the result they should have gotten all season long.
At this rate, who knows? They do have time to turn it around and that would be nice for all the fans. The problem is I don’t know if the Jays can turn it around, I feel like they just won’t wake up at the right time and when they do it will be too late. They have 32 games left to make it right. With that amount of time left we will see who the real Toronto Blue Jays are. If they don’t manage to turn it around quickly then they will be out of contention sooner rather than later.
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