The Toronto Blue Jays have unfinished business after losing the 2016 ALCS to the Cleveland Indians. For the second straight year the Blue Jays made it to the American League Championship series, but lost it for a second year in a row.
Last year the Jays and their fans had their hearts broken by the World Series champion Kansas City Royals. This year once again the Jays broke many hearts not being able to beat the Tribe this time around, but in fine Canadian fashion the fans poured out their pride for their team. However, after this ALCS there should be a sour taste left in their mouths and that Jays fans should be more upset.
Blue Jays Finish on a Sour Note
The bats going cold once again was enraging, but honestly it should have been expected. They went into September leading the division and then went 11-16 in the final month. That ultimately lead to losing the division to the Boston Red Sox and almost missing the playoffs entirely.
The starting pitching was once again, like all season long, fantastic. It was lights out against the Indians, and the Blue Jays only put up eight runs on the entire series. Not much help from the hitters. Funny enough, Cleveland only scored 12 runs. That’s how much pitching dominated this series, 12-8 is one high scoring baseball game at times. Anyone watching the first game saw the Jays get on base more than the Indians, but never capitalized on it. That’s how the rest of the series would be like, no capitalizing on chances.
It’s ironic how at the beginning of the year the pitching looked a little iffy. When the six-man rotation showed its ugly head it was downright stupid, but it proved everyone wrong and it was some of the best pitching the American League. The main problem was that the Jays lived and died with the long ball all season long. Unfortunately, they died by it against Cleveland.
The hitters who were very successful this October were Michael Saunders, Edwin Encarnacion, Ezequiel Carrera, Troy Tulowitzki and Josh Donaldson. Donaldson played like a man on a mission in the postseason . The really cold hitters were Russell Martin and Kevin Pillar who do make up for their defensive set of skills, but needed to be better in the ALCS. Let’s not forget Jose Bautista on this list.
Jose Bautista was up and down in the postseason, but overall wasn’t as good as he should have been. Another problem was he ran his mouth way too many times. He gave the Indians way too much bulletin board material. He gave them more motivation to beat the Jays and that didn’t help Toronto one bit. There’s a saying, “put up, or shut up,” and Bautista didn’t put up much. Yes, the umpiring wasn’t great when it came to balls and strikes. However, when someone like Bautista always complains about pitch calling, umpires take notice. When they take notice, sometimes calls won’t go in favor of the Jays. Bautista never helps that cause.
The last frustrating thing is the management. Yes, it’s easy to blame Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins on a lot of things. They did take all the credit for the faultless Alex Anthopolous’ work on this team. The problem here is it never felt like Atkins, or Shapiro were 100 percent all in on a postseason push. They were happy if it happened, but in reality want to build this team in their own image. This is a very annoying concept, but it kind of is the reality with these guys in charge. Hopefully the management and ownership will notice the attendance records and all the money they made to say, hey let’s keep pushing for more playoff appearances. Instead of doing something ridiculous and do a type of rebuild, they Jays don’t need and their fans don’t want that.
In the end, this sour taste will never last very long. After all its how most Canadians are and they got what they want baseball games that matter. Before last year the Jays hadn’t made it to the playoffs since 1993. Didn’t have a lot of meaningful games in September either. So, its okay to be grateful, there are a lot more good memories than bad. That includes Odor losing it for the Rangers.
This off-season will be a very interesting one. Not everyone will be happy with the moves that are made, or not made. The Jays have to sign Encarnacion and maybe Bautista. They also need to get more hitters that can get on base more often. Add in a few pitchers in the bullpen too.
If the management realizes its window of opportunity to win it all is still open, then there’s a great chance that the Jays play meaningful baseball in September and October again. Let’s face it that’s all the fans really want in the end.
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