Blue Jays are finally playing their best baseball, and it's showing

The Toronto Blue Jays capped off an impressive home stand in which they won six of seven games with a 9-1 thumping of the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday.

That hot streak has pushed the team into a playoff position, as they're now tied with the Tampa Bay Rays for the third wild-card slot in the American League.

MLB.com's Keegan Matheson joined First Up on TSN1050 on Friday to discuss what's gone right for the team recently, the surprising contributors and why he thinks the best is yet to come.

"I think this is a team that is finally playing its best baseball, and they're playing baseball the way they've been trying to, trying to make it their identity, and I think this continues," Matheson said.

The heart of the turnaround has been offensive production. As TSN's Steve Phillips noted on Friday, the Jays hit .231/.302/.332 for a .634 OPS in April, while in May, they hit .268/.345/.440 with 38 home runs in 28 games. They scored 136 runs in May compared to just 81 in April. 

Over the past seven days, those numbers have been particularly explosive: a .305/.374/.532 slash line as a team has translated into 6.83 runs per game, with 10 home runs over six games.

"This team is only going to go as far as this lineup takes them," Matheson said. "The rotation will be fine, the bullpen will be fine, but it's all about offence. And we're seeing that lately. It's such a refreshing turn from the start of the season, and the first month where they just looked like the same old team."

"Probably everyone involved was sick of hearing me come on here and talking about how they don't hit enough home runs - they weren't - but it's finally there, and you can see how they change games in an instant." 

The Blue Jays ranked near the bottom of the league in home runs hit through the end of April, but their recent power surge has lifted them into a tie for 20th - not exactly setting the league on fire, but their 17 home runs over the last 15 days ranks tied for fourth in the league.

More importantly, the contributions are coming from all over the lineup - with Addison Barger and Alejandro Kirk in particular hitting the ball with a lot of power in May and into June.

"Alejandro Kirk's an All-Star. He's an All-Star to me, guys," Matheson said of the catcher whose .305 average leads the team. "Watching Kirk hit the last two years prior to this was not fun, it was not an enjoyable at-bat to watch because it was a guy making weak contact that can't run. Just not good. He finally has some pop back, he's driving the ball and it's dangerous again."

One spot in the lineup that continues to be a disappointment through two months is outfielder/designated hitter Anthony Santander. Signed to a five-year deal worth $92 million over the off-season, Santander was tasked with adding significant pop to the middle of the order.

After hitting 44 home runs a year ago with the Baltimore Orioles, Santander has hit just six in 50 games, is carrying an average of .179 and is currently on the injured list with hip and shoulder problems.

"They need him to be at his best, this lineup still needs the real version of Anthony Santander, we just haven't seen that," said Matheson. "That's why when he went on the IL, you hope he gets healthy quickly, but - standing back when you look at it, remove his name from the equation, it was an outfielder with an OPS below .600. That was not a great loss to the lineup at the time. 

But when he comes back, they need his power, that can really put this lineup over the top. What worried me was that when Santander was dealing with that hip, and that shoulder, it was limiting him and he was saying 'I can swing for contact,' but that's not his game, he's not supposed to be up there slapping singles. He's going to hit .220 or .230, but ideally he hits 30 or 40 bombs and he changes some games or wins some games," said Matheson. 

Toronto opens a nine-game road trip in Minnesota on Friday, with a chance to boost their rank in the AL wild-card picture with a series win against a team they trail by just one game.