Jays strike balance ahead of playoffs
The next week will be a balancing act for the Toronto Blue Jays as they look to close out strong while preparing for a likely wild-card berth.
With a playoff spot all but guaranteed, the Blue Jays will aim to clinch over the coming days while building toward peaking for an expanded 16-team playoff.
“We’re capable of surprising a lot of people,” shortstop Bo Bichette said Monday on a conference call. “Like I’ve always said, we’re going to have to go out there and we’re going to have to play good baseball. We’re going to have to compete but I think that our talent is up there with anybody; so, if we go out there and play as hard as we can, I like our chances.”
Entering the opener of a four-game series against the New York Yankees on Monday, the Blue Jays had a magic number of four to clinch a playoff spot. Toronto will close out the shortened 60-game campaign with a weekend series against Baltimore.
The Blue Jays are coming off a rough week that included a six-game losing streak and the return of closer Ken Giles’ elbow issues, an injury that will see him undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery.
The Yankees struggled in their first visit to Buffalo’s Sahlen Field, dropping two of three to the Blue Jays earlier this month. New York rebounded in emphatic fashion last week by outscoring Toronto 43-15 in a three-game sweep at Yankee Stadium.
“We played them (well) the last time they were here,” Montoyo said, “so let’s do the same.”
The good news for Toronto (28-26 entering Tuesday night) is the playoff odds are in their favour.
The Blue Jays will likely earn one of the two wildcard spots for a third-place divisional finish. Toronto is eighth in the AL playoff standings ahead of the Seattle Mariners (23-30), Los Angeles Angels (23-31), Orioles (23-31) and Detroit Tigers (22-30).
According to FanGraphs, the Blue Jays have a 98per cent chance of reaching the playoffs for the first time since making their second straight American League Championship Series appearance in 2016.
With that in mind, Montoyo and pitching coach Pete Walker have to plan accordingly so pitchers aren’t overworked this week and are as rested as possible for the opening wild-card round.
If the season ended Monday, Toronto would open against the top-seeded Tampa Bay Rays (35-19). The Blue Jays could still catch No. 7 Cleveland (29-24).
Under the new 2020 playoff setup, all 16 teams will play best-of-three first-round series with games to be played at the higher-seeded team’s ballpark. Winners will then advance to traditional division showdowns ahead of the league championship and World Series.