These Blue Jays are better than the 2015 edition

Steve Phillips

TSN Baseball Insider

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Believe it or not, the Toronto Blue Jays have the same record this year as they had a year ago through the first 133 games of the season. 

The journey has certainly been a bit less painful this year. The Jays rode a roller coaster in 2015, starting the season with losing records in April and May before bouncing back with an 18-win month in June and then going 12-13 in July. It took an epic month of August, where they went 21-6, to propel them to first place.

This season they have had only one month of sub-.500 baseball. They have been much more consistent, thanks in large part to their quality starting pitching. So are the Blue Jays better this year or was the 2105 edition superior?

It’s clear the Jays were a better offensive team in 2015. Heck, they scored 891 runs, 127 more than the next closest team. They are on pace for 795 runs this season, which is still plenty of offence. The pitching staff allowed 670 runs in 2015, the club’s first playoff season in more than 20 years. They are on pace for 667 runs allowed this year. You might wonder why their record is the same despite a far less significant run differential in 2016. Consistency is the answer.

A year ago, the Jays won a lot of lopsided games and lost a lot of close ones. This year, the margin of victory and defeat has been less.  Remember: It wasn’t until after the trade deadline last year that the big offence started turning into victories because the pitching finally stabilized.

I think this year’s club is better than the 2015 team. I much prefer consistency over peaks and valleys. The pitching keeps this year’s club in the game more than it did last year. That gives the Jays the ability to win both the low-scoring pitchers’ duels and the occasional slugfest.  This year’s pitching staff has thrown the most quality innings of any team in the American League. 

Sure, I would like to have last year’s Brett Cecil on this year’s team.  A left-handed hitting threat other than Michael Saunders would also be helpful. But, overall, I will always take the team with plenty of pitching and enough offence over the team with enough pitching and plenty of offence. 

The other thing this year’s club has going for it is the experience of last season.  They tasted champagne and felt the energy of the big moments in front of 48,000 people. The players will handle this October better than they did a year ago. Maturity and experience are helpful. The Jays have something to fall back upon this year.   

The good news for the Jays is that they will be playing playoff baseball until the last day of the regular season. They will continue to battle the Red Sox for the division title. I always preferred heading to October having played out the season under pressure. 

Cubs on cruise control

The Chicago Cubs could go 4-29 over the last 33 games and still finish with 90 victories and the NL Central title. Obviously, they will play much better than that, but those numbers give you an idea about the team’s margin for error. The biggest challenge the Cubs will face in the season’s final month is avoiding getting bored. 

Joe Maddon is a wizard at motivation.  He is inspirational and makes things fun. He is quirky and different, but he’s also experienced and mature. These are uncharted waters for the Chicago manager and his young team. Maddon is going to have to create goals and motivation beyond just winning games. He is going to have to keep his guys sharp and hungry, because it is getting a bit easy now.

The good news for Cubs fans is that Maddon is creative. He will find ways to keep pushing his guys. He wants to keep everyone hungry, yet sharp. Most importantly, he wants to keep everyone healthy. The Cubs have had tremendous focus throughout the season. One of the things that their manager does is move people around the field and the lineup.  It makes every day feel different, fresh and new. 

As we get closer to October, the noise is sure to grow louder around the Cubs. Maddon has always preferred to embrace challenges instead of ignoring or fearing them. He knows the Cubs haven’t won a World Series since 1908, but he will also remind all of us that this is his club’s first real crack at it. What happened in the past has zero impact on today. Maddon believes that if his club gets defensive about the Curse of the Billy Goat, it gives the story life.

So get ready. At some point Maddon may create a petting zoo for his players with nothing but billy goats. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

Youngsters keeping Yankees in playoff race

One team that would love to keep the curse going for the Cubs is the New York Yankees. If they did that, they would redeem themselves for the 2004 loss to Boston in the ALCS, which allowed the Red Sox to break the so-called Curse of the Bambino.

The Yankees have their work cut out for them to make that happen. They currently sit 2.5 games back of the Baltimore Orioles and Detroit Tigers for the second wild-card spot.

The fact that we are even talking about the Yankees in a playoff race is pretty amazing. They were big sellers at the deadline. The Yanks had been built from the bullpen out, but eliminated their greatest strength by trading Aroldis Chapman to the Cubs and Andrew Miller to the Cleveland Indians.

Those moves took away manager Joe Girardi’s ability to shorten the game to protect his starting pitchers. It hasn’t seemed to matter though, as New York went 17-11 in August.

How have the Yankees done it? Offence has been the key. The Yanks scored the second most runs in the AL in August, led by slugging catcher Gary Sanchez. The rookie hit 11 homers and drove in 21 runs in his first 24 games, providing the spark that the team needed. Sanchez has energized everyone on the roster and pushed veteran catcher Brian McCann to the DH role.

Young infielder Ronald Torreyes has earned more playing time, hitting .438 in his first 13 games in the majors. Second baseman Starlin Castro has been reinvigorated with the other young studs around him. The 26-year-old hit .313 with eight homers and 24 RBI in August. 

The decision to rebuild and part ways with veterans like Alex Rodriguez has taken some of the pressure off the club. Now they have nothing to lose, so they are able to play free. The internal competition is also driving everyone on the roster to perform for playing time.

Girardi is doing an amazing job keeping his club focused and believing that they can shock the world. It will be a surprise if they can actually get to the postseason after everything they have been through. I’m sure there will be some who say they shouldn’t have traded their bullpen away. I actually believe they wouldn’t be playing like this if they hadn’t made such a definitive statement that they were sellers. Baseball is such a complicated game when it comes to the mental and emotional components. 

Spitting Seeds

- The Cubs have two NL MVP candidates in Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant, but shortstop Addison Russell is another player who is having an unreal season. The 22-year-old infielder has driven in 88 runs despite only hitting .243 on the season. He only has 108 hits, but 19 of them are home runs. That is the definition of efficiency. By the way, Rizzo is only 27 and Bryant is 24. These guys are going to be around for a long time.

- The Los Angeles Dodgers are recalling Yasiel Puig to the major leagues.  A little over a month after his demotion to Triple-A, Puig will rejoin the club, although his role is still a question. I’m surprised they are taking the risk of bringing him back. It sure seems like it has only been about the team and baseball in his absence. Puig was sent down because he can be a distraction in the clubhouse. I think his recall is more about building value for an off-season trade than getting production in September. That being said, Puig has the raw tools to change the Dodgers’ fortunes with one swing of the bat.

- Clayton Kershaw is making a rehab start this weekend for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, the Class-A affiliate of the Dodgers. If all goes well he could be back in the rotation by the following weekend. The Dodgers desperately need him as they continue to deal with numerous injuries in their rotation. Rich Hill had to miss another start because of the blister on his pitching hand. Can someone please find a way to toughen up his skin? 

- The Red Sox will have another young stud in tow by the time they get to Toronto next weekend. Yoan Moncada, a 21-year-old infielder from Cuba, will get the bulk of his playing time at third base. He hit .294/.407/.511 with 15 homers and 45 stolen bases this year between Class A and AA. This guy can fly. He has the speed and instincts to steal bases even when everyone knows he is going.  Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, Jackie Bradley Jr., Andrew Benintendi and Moncada will be the core stars for years to come for the Red Sox. The rich get richer. Too bad Moncada can’t pitch because that is what the Red Sox could really use.

- As of September 1, teams can expand their active rosters to up to 40 players. The reason that baseball allows this is because minor league seasons end in early September and clubs need access to additional players in case there are injuries. The problem with this rule is that it allows for the final month of the season to be played differently than the preceding five months. San Francisco Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy used five pitchers in one inning in a game on Thursday. Why? Because he can.  I have no problem with September call-ups.  I have a problem with small-market teams only being able to afford an additional five players while a large-market team can bring up 10 more players. It gives teams an unfair advantage. The solution: Teams can call up whatever number of players they want within the 40 allowed, but managers must designate the 25 players available to play each night. This would level the playing field and keeps managers from making so many moves that the games drag on for four hours.

- Dodgers’ announcer Vin Scully will put a ribbon on a remarkable career at the end of this season. There will never be another Scully. He is the best in-game storyteller to ever sit behind a microphone. He has been a part of so many fans learning and loving the game of baseball and the Dodgers. The game will never be the same without him. Thank you Vin!

Steve Phillips was general manager of the New York Mets from 1997 through 2003, helping lead the club to a National League championship in 2000 and its first World Series appearance since 1986. His analysis appears each week on TSN.ca, TSN Radio and SportsCentre.