The Toronto Blue Jays have been on fire since the trade deadline when the club significantly beefed up its roster, adding stars Troy Tulowitzki and David Price among a handful of moves. It may seem hard to believe now, but the club was teetering around .500 before the trades, and thanks to an August where they reeled off 21 wins in 27 games, the club sits 19 games above .500 and are first in the AL East.
Toronto sits half a game up on the New York Yankees, but can they charge even further, overtake the Kansas City Royals, and finish with the best record in the AL? It’s not impossible.
The Royals have been on cruise control this season, leading the American League with 82 wins.
Kansas City, aside from a one game make-up game against the Chicago Cubs, don’t face any baseball giants the rest of the way, as they play all of their remaining games against teams around the .500 mark or below, including (not in order) five games against the streaky Minnesota Twins (71-66), seven games against the Cleveland Indians (67-69), and three game series with the Seattle Mariners (66-72), Detroit Tigers (63-74) and Chicago White Sox (65-71). They play 17 of their remaining 25 games away from Kauffman Stadium, including their seven final games of the season, which might seem like a disadvantage, but club is 35-29 on the road this season.
DETROIT, MI – JUNE 17: Eric Hosmer #35 of the Kansas City Royals celebrates with teammates Omar Infante #14, Jarrod Dyson #1, Alcides Escobar #2 and Lorenzo Cain #6 after defeating the Detroit Tigers 11-4 and taking first place in the AL Central at Comerica Park on June 17, 2014 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images)
The Royals have slipped a little bit in September so far, posting a 2-5 record, while newly acquired ace Johnny Cueto has allowed 21 earned runs in his last 20 innings. It’s not all been bad in September, as All-Star outfielder Alex Gordon is back from an almost two-month DL visit – and aside from a small chicken pox outbreak that’s sidelined Alex Rios and Kelvin Herrera, the club is relatively healthy. The team also features tremendous depth.
The Blue Jays on the other hand have an interesting final month. They’ve posted 78 wins, which is second in the AL.
What’s tough is the club has seven games remaining against the team with the third best record in the AL, the Yankees (77-59). Should they have trouble in that series, not only will their chase for best record in the AL disappear, but their chances at winning the division will also dissipate. Outside that, the Blue Jays have it pretty good in September. They don’t face any other teams above .500, facing (not in order) the Tampa Bay Rays (67-70) six more times, Boston Red Sox (65-72) five more times, the Orioles (65-72) four more times, and have a three game set with the Atlanta Braves (54-83). Like the Royals, the Blue Jays play predominantly on the road, with 16 of their remaining 25 games away – Toronto is 31-34 on the road this season.
Toronto has continued it’s success into September with four wins in six games. The club hasn’t missed a beat since August 1st, and haven’t been slowed down by injuries or any major struggles. There’s plenty of reasons for optimism, including Marcus Stroman’s likely return.
Momentum certainly favours the Blue Jays, but the thing that hampers their chances of catching and passing the Royals is there’s likely not going be enough games to catch up. A four game lead is significant, especially with only 25 games remaining. Again, it’s not impossible, but in order to do it the Blue Jays face an uphill battle. Win the division first, and if they can win the American League too, that’s icing on the cake.
