By: Adamo Marinelli
Sept. 25th, 2020
Buffalo, New York: What an incredible accomplishment for this young team to make! Last night, with their 4-1 win over the New York Yankees, the Toronto Blue Jays clinched their first postseason berth since October 2016, four years ago.
The 2020 roster looks very different than their roster the last time they made the playoffs. Very few of their players from 2016 still remain on the current roster. However, in 2015 and 2016, the Blue Jays were one of the oldest teams in the MLB based on average age. They were due for a rebuild that would provide talented youth at all positions. Over these last few drafts and free agency periods, the Blue Jays got younger and improved their triple-A team in the process. Even John Gibbons, the ex-manager is gone. Charlie Montoyo has done well replacing him.
The Blue Jays clinching the playoffs is even more impressive when you consider they were homeless at the beginning of the season. To prevent COVID-19 cases from rising, the Canadian Federal Government did not allow the Blue Jays to play at the Rogers Center in Toronto. They attempted to have their ‘home’ games in Pittsburgh, but when their municipal government shut that idea down, the Blue Jays settled on playing their ‘home’ games at Sahlen Field, in Buffalo, where the Blue Jays’ triple-A team plays.
The Blue Jays took advantage of the MLB’s expanded playoff structure and will likely enter the playoffs as the 7th or 8th seed in the American League Conference. They clinched a playoff spot with a 30-27 record, and they still have with still three games left on their schedule to improve their seeding.
Even though they are in the postseason, their ability to succeed in the playoffs is hindered as a result of injuries to key players like closer Ken Giles, which significantly drops bullpen productivity. This means the Blue Jays’ starting rotation needs to play well; and they need to get production from pitchers behind Hyun Jin Ryu. Their defense also has to play mistake-free.
In addition, because this is such a young team, making the playoffs (even though there are six more teams in the playoffs this year compared to in a normal year) is a huge feat. There are few expectations on how far the Blue Jays go in the playoffs, but if there is a phrase this team is familiar with, it is resiliency and hard work. So you can never count them out.
They are likely to play the AL-leading Tampa Bay Rays in the best of three wild card series. The Rays won the season series 6-4 but the Jays outscored the Rays 48-44. The Blue Jays lost twice via walk-off to the Rays so their closers need to perform.
This will be a great series to watch and it will be nice to see the Blue Jays playing October baseball again!
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