Relief coming at right time for Blue Jays as wild-card lead wanes

The Toronto Blue Jays are getting healthy. 

There is a trickle back of injured players returning to the active roster. Closer Jordan Romano returned earlier in the week from a stint on the injured list with a sore back.  Matt Chapman has been out of the lineup for a couple of days with an inflamed middle finger, but he should be ready to play this weekend. Centre fielder Kevin Kiermaier could also be back this weekend recovered from a laceration on his arm. Reliever Trevor Richards is close to returning as well, having made a successful rehab assignment outing in Buffalo recovering from neck inflammation. Also, reliever Chad Green could make his Jays debut in the coming days as he works his way back from Tommy John surgery. 

That’s a lot of quality reinforcements on the way.

The biggest impact will be the return of shortstop Bo Bichette this weekend in Cincinnati. Bichette has been the Blue Jays best player this season. He was hitting .321/.352/.494 before he tweaked his patella tendon on July 31, a day before the Major League Baseball trade deadline.  The Jays have gone 8-7 in his absence and have been able to maintain their foothold on the third wild-card spot in the American League. Their lead, however, has shriveled to just a half a game over the hard-charging Seattle Mariners. 

Bichette’s return could not come at a better time. In his two games played on a rehab assignment in Buffalo he has gone four-for-five with a home run. He certainly looks like his batter’s eye is still locked. The Blue Jays need him desperately to fortify an offence that has been lacking in his absence. With Vladimir Guerrero Jr. having a middling start to his second half, the Jays need a spark. Veteran shortstop Paul DeJong, picked up from the Cardinals at the deadline, hasn’t given the Jays anything – he’s gone three-for-44 at the plate with 18 strikeouts. Yikes. 

Blue Jays manager John Schneider should protect Bichette a bit upon his return to the lineup.  Pinch run for him late in the game, if they have enough of a lead. Take him out on defence, if he isn’t due to hit the next inning late in the game. Get him off of his feet as much as possible without overly weakening the chance to win games. The Jays will not make the playoffs if Bichette has to go back on the injured list. 

I fully expect Vladimir Guerrero Jr to get hot once Bichette is back in the lineup as well. It will take pressure off of the slugger, plus Bichette is on base so much that it will force opposing pitchers to be more in the strike zone to Guerrero.

Romano’s return to the bullpen is critical too. Jordan Hicks did a great job filling in during his absence and showed, that on days Romano isn’t available, he can get the job done in the ninth inning.  Hicks’ availability in the seventh or eighth innings is such a weapon for Toronto. He can dominate the heart of an opponent’s lineup, leaving the ninth for Romano.  The Jays bullpen is now one of the best in baseball.  Richards has had a great year, while Yimi Garcia is returning to his 2022 form as the season progresses. Erik Swanson and Hicks give the Jays the swing-and-miss stuff that they lacked last season. Genesis Cabrera and Tim Mayza provide different looks from the left side. The Jays have depth, balance and power in their bullpen. It is a huge strength of their team now. The Blue Jays are tough to match up with for opposing managers because they have options to counteract any pinch-hitting move. Green will provide a playoff-proven reliever that can get lefties and righties out when he joins the staff.

The Blue Jays have 40 games left in the season, including 16 against teams that would be in the playoffs if the season ended today. Among those games, Toronto has 18 against AL East opponents, including six against the Rays and Yankees and three against both the Orioles and Red Sox. The Blue Jays are just 11-23 in their division this season. That has been their Achilles heel. If they don’t correct that, the Blue Jays will be home watching baseball in October. 

The Orioles, Rays and Red Sox are all still fighting for playoff spots. The Orioles are holding firm at the top of the division, while the Rays hold the top wild-card spot in the AL. The Red Sox trail the Jays by three-and-a-half games and the Yankees are six-and-a-half behind. 

The Yankees are dead. 

The Bronx Bombers are crumbling right now and face the real possibility of finishing sub .500 for the first time since 1992. Fans in New York are rabid and they want heads to roll for this season. General manager Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone are taking the brunt of the heat. The Yankees have gotten old and unathletic. Their star slugger Aaron judge missed over a month of the season and is still limping down the stretch. Teams are giving him the Barry Bonds treatment; he gets walked a lot because no one else in the lineup strikes fear in the opposing pitchers. Outside of Gerrit Cole, the starting pitchers have underperformed. Outside of Judge, no hitter has been productive. They do have a good bullpen but they are recently tasked, more often than not, to hold a deficit and not a lead because of the poor starting pitching. 

The Yankees roster is a cautionary tale for teams that sign multiple aging players to long-term contracts with no easy exit strategy. They will now have to eat the money on the deals and trade or release them. Somehow, the Yankees need to get younger and more athletic – a task that is going to take a lot of work. The mystique of the Yankees has worn off a bit and they no longer strike fear in the opposition. The team has the money at the ownership level to buy, but Hal Steinbrenner has not shown the propensity to spend to win at all costs like his father did. 

Now is the time for the Jays to go for it. They need to take advantage of where the Yankees are in the standings behind them. Kick them while they are down because history has shown that the Yankees won’t be down for long.