At 96-66 and the Wild Card winner out of the AL, the Toronto Blue Jays are the Rodney Dangerfield of the 2012 MLB season - they just can't get no respect. Admittedly, the Jays lack the star power of some of their rivals like the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and even the Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Indians. Let's face it Jays fans, we aren't sexy. However, at 96 wins and one of the best record in baseball after June 1st - maybe it's proof yet again that sexy doesn't win baseball games.
So how did the Jays topple teams like Clevaland, Tampa, and Boston despite having less star power? Well, there are a multitude of reasons, but let's highlight a few:
1) The Trade with the Colorado Rockies - In preseason the GM of the Jays contacted Colorado pursuing a long-term fix for their catching situation. Unfortunately, talks broke down on those deals. In the wake of these talks, Andrew Johnston and Aaron Weatherford were targeted for being misused or languishing in AAA. With Billy Butler underperforming for the Jays, it seemed like a good fit for the swap. Once these two arrived - it brought new life to their careers. As a Blue Jay Johnston appeared in 51 games, won 9, pitched 94 innings while allowing an opponent batting average of .217. He even picked up 5 saves. Suffice to say - he came in and stabilized what turned out to be a very good bullpen for Toronto. Weatherford brought the same stability to the rotation as he started 25 times going 13-5 with a 3.84 ERA. In 140 IP he struck out 107, allowed a .252 OBA, and had 1 shutout. In many ways, he became the ace of the Toronto staff.
2) Zach Macallister and Mike Montgomery Emerge - Zach and Mike took the four and five slots in the rotation and had stellar seasons for the Jays. Zach managed a 2.84 ERA in 168 IP with a .214 OBA. While not a strikeout pitcher, Zach at a 62% GB rate - meaning he let his solid defense behind him take care of him and had huge success doing so. Mike went 13-5 with a 3.38 ERA in 165 IP. Mike allowed a lot of baserunners, but he had 127 Ks and pitched in a lot of big games for the team. He has a lot of upside at 22 years old and already this effective.
3) Deadline Deals Help Out - At the deadline the Jays added Jason Jaramillo, Kosuke Fukodome, and Brett Jacobsen. Jaramillo will have a long career as a capable backstop and he got his career with Toronto headed in the right direction right away. Jason hit .267 with 1 homer and 22 RBI and 55 hits. He helped stabilize the rotation with his game calling skills and threw out 20% of the runners stealing on him. Jacobsen appeared in 17 games with a 3.16 ERA in 25 IP. He struck out 26, allowed an OBA of .214, and got back to his heavy ground ball history that made him successful in the past. Kosuke appeared in 40 games and hit .261 with a .757 OPS after coming over. He hit 4 HRs, scored 26 runs, and drove in 22.
4) Just the Right Ingredients - It isn't flashy, but the Blue Jays just do a lot of things right. They play good defense, they pick up one another, and everyone takes their turn being the guy to help the team win. Unlike other contenders, the Jays can hurt you in many different ways and with many different players and they proved that down the stretch as they went 57-28.
In the first round Toronto will match up with KC - a team they beat 5 out of the 6 times they played this season including a freak occurence in which Tyler Clippard was forced to pitch on consecutive days as the starter. Many look at the KC rotation and ignore the fact that statistically - the Jays and Royals were nearly identical despite the Jays playing in a much more difficult division with a much more difficult schedule. The three headed monster in the KC rotation will be difficult, but their lineup presents the Jays with all kinds of advantages.
Hopefully, this time, the Rodney Dangerfields of FCM will earn the respect they deserve by knocking out the AL Central Champs. Either way, it's nice to have the excitement of playoff baseball back in Toronto.
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