The Toronto Blue Jays entered 2023 as a solid bet to be a World Series contender. Have they lived up to the hype to this point? The answer is a definite no.
There was a lot of chatter about the Blue Jays being the next team to take over as a yearly contender in the AL East, but they’ve fallen out of the race for the division as September begins, fighting for their wild-card lives. In the offseason, this team made multiple trades to become a more serious veteran group, but those moves have been a mixed bag.
Brandon Belt has been an offensive catalyst and an intelligent pick-up, but it’s a scary premise that he’s been one of your most reliable hitters. The Blue Jays have been getting outstanding starting pitching, and their numbers are right up there with the best of them in all of MLB. The issue has been a highly inconsistent offense, which has struggled to hit with runners in scoring position. We’re probably not telling you something you didn’t already know, but watching most of this season has been challenging. The team expected a lot out of Daulton Varsho from an offensive standpoint entering the year and shouldn’t have put all their eggs in that basket. He’s been elite defensively but is hitting below his career average at the plate.
As a whole, the Blue Jays are a disappointment. They’ve been relatively healthy for most of the season and have had plenty of opportunities to make actual runs at solidifying their playoff spot in the American League. Still, they’ve yet to do so, and missing the playoffs should be viewed as a significant failure. Ownership might take a different stance, considering that the Blue Jays have been in the race down the stretch and are filling the ballpark considerably in 2023. This might save some jobs, but that shouldn’t be the case. The team signed manager John Schneider to a contract extension, which has blown up in their face.
The Blue Jays are precisely what they’ve shown us, flawed. The Jays have a real chance to kick off September on a high note as their schedule is lackluster, but a four-game set against the Texas Rangers could decide their fate. Toronto has a lot of talent but continues to underdeliver. But potential only means so much when you enter September out of a playoff spot.
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