[ad_1]
With the Yankees and Mets dominating the narrative surrounding the recent trade deadline — for very different reasons — not many paid attention to what was going on in Toronto.
The Blue Jays quietly added two former Cardinals relievers, Jordan Hicks and Genesis Cabrera, to one of baseball’s best bullpens, and with one more reinforcement joining in the coming weeks Toronto should challenge for the AL pennant.
Toronto’s 3.51 bullpen ERA and 3.97 xFIP rank fourth in baseball. The unit owns a spicy 2.23 ERA since Aug. 2 and has converted all nine save opportunities.
Hicks struggled in his first outing with the Blue Jays, but he has posted a 2.25 ERA in nine appearances since. Cabrera has yet to allow an earned run in 14 1/3 innings with his new club.
Considering closer Jordan Romano recently returned from injury and the Blue Jays are getting set to activate former Yankees flamethrower Chad Green in the coming weeks, it may be fair to call their bullpen the best in baseball.
Coupled with one of the best starting rotations in baseball, the Blue Jays are a team no one wants to play. There are teams boasting similar pitching, such as the Mariners and Twins, but those teams don’t have the same offensive talent as the Blue Jays.
Toronto’s .253 xBA ranks seventh in baseball and its 105 wRC+ is ninth. Though the power numbers have fluctuated, the Blue Jays’ hitters have still limited their strikeouts and have done a good job of putting the ball in play to good expected results.
Unlike the Mariners, who have gotten unseasonably hot this month, the Blue Jays are loaded with offensive talent and have been consistently toward the top of the league in most offensive metrics all season long.
They may be ice cold at the moment, but with stable strikeout and walk rates I’m confident the power surge is coming again for an offense that has been consistent for the past few seasons.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has begun to heat back up at the plate with seven hits in his past five games, and George Springer is now up to .328 over his past 15 games.
Bo Bichette produced an 11-game hitting streak that ended Friday, during which he hit .408 with two homers. He looks healthy once more and the lineup is starting to come together.
Betting on Baseball?
Toronto is a team which is perfectly constructed to win games in October. The postseason is dominated by pitching and timely hitting, and those are two areas in which the Blue Jays have excelled. Though the Mariners may be the flavor of the week, we have a season’s worth of data to suggest their recent success is nothing more than a flash in the pan.
Seattle will soon cool, and the Astros have begun to wane with five losses in their past seven games.
Behind an excellent pitching staff, I expect the Blue Jays to not only make the playoffs but also to make a deep run when they get there.
Play the Blue Jays to win the World Series at 22/1 on Bet365.