INTERLEAGUE INTERLUDE

Today’s crossover play skews playoff races and annoys fans — come on, expansion

Why is MLB expansion such a slam dunk?

As fans know, baseball is a game played every day. When Major League Baseball originally went to 30 teams, the players’ union grew to intensely dislike the alignment of 16 teams in the National League and 14 in the American League, feeling that a 15-15 split was the only way to give all players an equal chance at the World Series. The logic? Why should some teams have to beat out 15 teams, while others only have to finish ahead of 13?

Now, with an odd number (15) in each league, there must be at least one interleague series at all times. That was never the intent of crossover play, and interleague overload is an issue that will hasten expansion.

Moving to 16 teams per league would allow for four AL and NL divisions and return interleague play to its intended purpose: as a sideshow. When the decision is made to award expansion teams to two cities, ideally there will be two or three years of lead time in order to finalize suitable stadiums and build farm systems. But before that happens, MLB would love to settle the stadium problem in Tampa Bay by using an interested city as leverage. Stay patient, Montreal.

On Tuesday, the Blue Jays open their 20-game interleague slate at Citi Field against the New York Mets. All of the club’s 2018 interleague games will be against NL East opponents. Toronto’s scheduled starters for the New York series, J.A. Happ and Jaime Garcia, took batting and bunting practice on the field this past weekend at the Rogers Centre, because they will be asked to hit for themselves. Silly.

Through 21 years of interleague play, Blue Jays pitchers forced to swing the bat in NL ballparks are a combined 42 for 436 (.096) with 34 sacrifice bunts, 13 walks and 177 strikeouts. Mark Hendrickson (2003) and Marcus Stroman (2017) were the only ones to hit a home run.

Crossover play was originally instituted as an enhancement for attendance — so NL fans could see AL stars up close and personal and vice-versa — but has become a daily nuisance, a not-so-special-event, with the uneven quality of opposition possibly determining playoff teams. For example, there are three horrible teams in the AL Central this season: the Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers. We understand that division quality may be cyclical, but the horrible AL Central is matched up against the deep NL Central this year. Thus, when it comes to the battle for two NL wildcard spots, the Brewers, Cardinals, Pirates and Cubs have an unfair advantage because of interleague opposition.

Through seven weeks, the NL Central is 18-8 in interleague and 11 games above .500 overall. The AL Central is 37 games under the break-even mark.

The Jays will play the Mets (four games), Atlanta Braves (4), Miami Marlins (3), Washington Nationals (3) and Philadelphia Phillies (6). WHO’S NEXT? After losing to the Red Sox on Sunday, the Blue Jays optioned 23-year-old outfielder Anthony Alford to Triple-A Buffalo, leaving an open 25-man roster spot that will be filled prior to Tuesday’s interleague game in New York against the Mets. The Jays have used 38 different players in the first 41 games.

The most likely call-up is Devon Travis after 16 days in the minors. If that’s the case, the Jays will fall four days shy of controlling him for another season before free agency following the 2020 season. He entered the current season with three full years of service, and has spent more than half that time on the DL. The Jays need to keep him down until Saturday to reduce his service time by one more season of control, but the fact is that second base has become a problem position offensively.

In addition to Travis (17 games), the Jays have used Yangervis Solarte, Lourdes Gurriel, Gift Ngoepe and Richard Urena. Travis had a difficult April, but the Jays are hoping for a bounce-back like he delivered last May, with a 13-game hit streak and MLBleading 16 doubles. Gurriel — recalled from Double-A in late April — seemed tentative at second and erratic at shortstop, so he was sent to Triple-A on the weekend.

Solarte appears more valuable in a super-utility role, batting just .228 in his last 23 games. Ngoepe is no longer on the 40-man roster. Urena is the best defensive shortstop on the current team, while they are still finding out about recently acquired Gio Urshela.

Regular starting shortstop Aledmys Diaz is on the disabled list and eligible to return Thursday.