Yardbarker
x
Have the Toronto Blue Jays cheated death?
Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays is congratulated by Justin Smoak after hitting a solo home run in the fourth inning during MLB game action against the Cincinnati Reds at Rogers Centre on May 30, 2017 in Toronto, Canada.  Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images

Have the Toronto Blue Jays cheated death?

It was not too long ago that the obituary for the 2017 Toronto Blue Jays was all but written:

“The Blue Jays, recent champions of the American League East division, died suddenly in May of 2017, following a sudden and brutal April debut. Major League Baseball’s last remain Canadian outpost was celebrating its 40th season and hopeful for a continued run of excellence, having just recently made their return to postseason play after an extended absence from October baseball. The Jays are survived by their divisional contemporaries in Baltimore, Boston, New York and Tampa Bay. Immediate plans for selling off their remaining parts have not yet been announced, but appears imminent. Services will be held at the Rogers Centre (formerly known as The Skydome). The casket will remain closed during observances. Thank you for your purchases, tickets and support and the Jays will welcome you back next year when hopes spring eternal once again.”

And this reaction seemed completely legit, especially after the Jays stumbled, tripped and fell out of the gate this year, losing nine of their first 11 games. A year after making a second consecutive trip to the postseason – the first time the team had accomplished that since 1992-93 when they won back-to-back World Series titles – the Jays looked as if they had completely lost their way, despite having a roster that looked to be on the rise. While the core had taken a hit in losing All-Stars Edwin Encarnacion and Michael Saunders, they had a plethora of proven young talents such as Aaron Sanchez, Kevin Pillar, Roberto Osuna and Marcus Stroman. In addition, there was a lineup in place that looked ready to compete still as well. Perennial MVP candidate Josh Donaldson was back, as was the core of Troy Tulowitzki, Russell Martin, Francisco Liriano, Marco Estrada and 20-game winner J.A. Happ.

As a finishing touch, after a long (and oft-continuous) stay on the free agent market, franchise cornerstone Jose Bautista returned as well, ensuring that the club would not have to completely reinvent itself in the new year – or so it seemed.

Murphy’s Law ruled the roost for the Jays early on, as everything that could go wrong not only did, but went as bad as it possibly could for the team. The pitching staff was ravished early on, as Sanchez, Happ, Osuna and Liriano all seeing time on the disabled list, while the everyday roster did not fare much better. Already in the year, Donaldson, Tulowitzki and Martin have spent multiple weeks on the disabled list, simultaneously, while key contributors in Devon Travis and Dalton Pompey also have seen significant time out of action.

Add this disaster-level of roster crisis to the horrible start of Bautista, who did nothing but prove right the naysayers who wondered if he was past his prime this past winter, and the Blue Jay start is far from a mysterious outcome. They hit rock bottom on May 9, with Bautista hitting .174 and a lineup without five opening day starters, they took a 6-0 shutout at the hands of the same team that ended their 2016 season, the Cleveland Indians. And in the words of Canada’s foremost national spokesman, Aubrey Drake Graham, nothing was the same.


Jose Bautista was able to turnaround his downward slide in May.  Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The next day, the Blue Jays kicked off a five-game winning streak, the first of two that they would experience over the next two weeks. Their bats began to come to life as well, with Bautista hitting .317 in May (with nine extra base hit games from May 10 through the end of the month) and the Blue Jays cutting their double-digit deficit in half by month’s end. Along the way as well, the standing room only status of their disabled list began to empty out as well, with Donaldson, Tulowitzki and Travis all returning to action.

Since that May 9 turnaround, the Jays have been the best team in the American League not named the Houston Astros. Their May record stood at 18-10, a full two games better than the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East. Although they did experience another lull after their breakout, dropping consecutive series to the Orioles and Braves entering play on Tuesday, they have won seven of their last nine series and have been the fastest rising property in the game.

Yet even that setback against the Braves, where they lost three of four games surrounded by Bautista-inspired brawls and some ugly verbal spats between Pillar and the Braves, served as a heat check of sorts for the team. It showed the Jays getting back to being themselves: a team that is never short on a type of noticeable attitude that is often absent in Major League Baseball.


Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson reacts after hitting a double in the first inning as Texas Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor applies the tag too late at Rogers Centre on May 26, 2017. John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

At their core, at their best, the Blue Jays are arguably the most infuriating team in the game today. Populated by some of the biggest producers – and personalities in the game – the Jays can just as easy win the battle in the box score as they do the mental game. Few players carry the swagger of Donaldson or the in your face style of Bautista. As a club, they celebrate home runs, show emotion in the field and don’t back down when confronted.

They are a team that thrives on momentum and the intensity that their style creates. However, early in the year when they were seemingly down for the count, it is hard to embrace that type attitude when the moments for it are non-existent.

The revived Jays now stand at a crossroads, as they have warded off the idea of becoming the most shocking sellers in the game, and now have more than a legitimate opportunity to pull off one of the biggest in-season comeback campaigns the game has seen.

Few teams have ever made up the ground that the Jays are covering at such a rapid pace currently. In the Wild Card era, only one team has come back from more than 10 games down to win a division, the 1996 Minnesota Twins. Those Twins had to go 49-27 in the second half of the year to pull off the feat, but were also aided by a Detroit Tiger team that posted two consecutive losing months down the stretch as well.

What does it all mean? If anything, it clearly indicates that anything is possible, especially at such an early juncture in the season. After their torrid May, the Blue Jays currently sit just six games back of first place in the AL East and have ample reason to be considered among the most capable – if still shocking – teams to be in the pennant race this year.


Toronto Blue Jays relief pitcher Roberto Osuna and catcher Luke Maile celebrate after defeating the New York Yankees at Rogers Centre on June 4, 2017. Kevin Sousa-USA TODAY Sports

Yet climbing that mountain in the gauntlet that is the American League East would be a completely different, and altogether more impressive feat. Although there were an impressive three 90-win teams in the AL Central when the Twins pulled off their massive comeback, there were also two teams that lost more than 95 games as well. That will not be the case in this year’s AL East, where the current pace for a last place team carries a pace at losing only 78 games, making for a much tougher road along the way. Remaining ahead on their slate are 47 games against teams within the AL East, robbing them of the opportunity to load up on true lesser-thans, such as most other teams attempting to making up ground (such as the '96 Twins or even the 2002 'Moneyball' Athletics - who finished 31 games ahead of a 96-loss Texas Ranger team) have access to.

And while further injuries are impossible to predict (look no further than the nagging blister issue that has sent Sanchez to the DL three times in two months), the Jays are a team that took its beatings while largely unable to defend themselves at full capacity. But no team has been able to redefine themselves on the run better than the Jays have. They began their comeback still down some of their top guns, and are still without key parts of their attack now. Although Donaldson, Tulowitzki, Martin and Travis have returned to the lineup, and their rotation is nearly back to full strength, this team’s potential still has room to grow. Sanchez, who has been limited to only five outings after winning 16 games and leading the AL in ERA, is still out of action. A healthy return from him could prove to be in-house bump to push them up the standings for good.

The Jays look to be a team that has taken its reality check early and reacted. They have already been in able to clear the first hurdle; coming back from the brink of oblivion. And now for their next trick, lapping the field and climbing the standings. It will take endurance to continue to play at this pace, but if there is a team that can self-motivate itself to do so, it is these Blue Jays. A brash band of rebels who have nothing to lose, but everything to gain for the rest of the summer.

If nothing else, they absolutely, beyond a shadow of doubt proven that reports of their early demise were greatly exaggerated.

More must-reads:

Customize Your Newsletter

+

Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.