The Toronto Blue Jays sit five games under .500 after they were unable to hold a late lead against the New York Yankees Monday night in their series opener.
The loss dropped the Jays to 10.5 games back of the Tampa Bay Rays for the American League East lead. But according to ESPN’s Buster Olney, not all is lost for the Blue Jays considering the state of the rest of the league.
“The Blue Jays, with all that they’re going through, three teams are all within two and a half games of the third wild-card spot. It’s incredible how wide open the American League is,” Olney said Tuesday morning on TSN 1050 Toronto’s First Up.
“It’s certainly a difficult situation that you see in the National League where teams are buried now. Not in the American League. In the American League, for the Blue Jays, today is another day. And you can pick yourself up and figure it out as long as they get these guys back from the injured list.”
Toronto led 5-3 heading to the seventh inning Monday night, but Yariel Rodriguez allowed a pair of two-run home runs to send New York to a 7-6 win. The Jays nearly came back in the ninth inning against Yankees closer David Bednar but were unable to cash the tying run.
“That they’re still looking for some kind of traction, right? They need Alejandro Kirk back. They need some of the pitching to get settled. They’re one of many teams who have dealt with bullpen issues this year,” Olney said, adding that he believes Kirk remains on track in his recovery from a fractured thumb.
The Blue Jays were also below .500 at this time last year at 23-24 through 47 games. That’s a better record than this year’s pace (21-26) but they’re just one game back of the final wild-card spot now, as opposed to two games out at this point last season.
“If they’re feeling bad about themselves, all they have to do is look on the internet, check their phone and look at the American League standings, right? You’ve got the Detroit Tigers. It feels like every player on their roster is on the injured list. The Boston Red Sox have a historically bad offence,” Olney said.
One bright spot in the loss was George Springer, who hit his first home run since March 30 with a towering solo shot to left-centre field off left-hander Ryan Weathers. Springer was out from April 11- April 29 with a fractured toe and has largely struggled since returning, slashing .186/.272/.294 on the season. He was 2-for-5 in Monday’s loss.
“Springer hitting the home run last night, maybe that jumpstarts him,” Olney said.
