Ern This

 

Ten years after the Toronto Blue Jays had a hot June and rode it all the way to October, the Jays have struck again with an entirely different kind of competitive team. The pieces were always there, but somehow, for the first time in a while, everybody's on the same page, and everybody's just ahead of the competition. And, somehow, it doesn't feel forced. The Blue Jays were okay in the first couple months, but it's not like a switch flipped. The seeds were being planted. After a while they just...kept winning games, and before you knew it they were ahead in the AL East and one of the best teams in baseball.

Usually when a team does that I don't really like it. You compete from day one, you don't just decide midway. But I don't think the Jays decided midway. They were always good, but they were just unlucky for a while. And honestly they had to lose Bowden Francis, Anthony Santander and Yimi Garcia to sort of break themselves into what they are now. Which is...a really good baseball team.

I want to act like Ernie Clement came out of nowhere, but he really didn't. He was this good last year, possibly better. This year he upped his contact game, and is hitting .278 with 102 hits and 32 RBIs, in addition to some excellent defensive third base. Clement is far from Josh Donaldson, he's not the multi-tool, born sportsman type. What he is is a really good piece with some excellent perks who's been very hot these last two months. He was a highlight of last year's stretch, and he's been one of the most important players of this one. And to discuss a career utility guy like Clement alongside stars like Guerrero, Bichette and Springer is pretty odd. 

Eric Lauer has a similar effect on the rotation. Cause otherwise it's an understandably strong core. Kevin Gausman has a team-leading 122 strikeouts. Jose Berrios is 7-4 with a 3.83 ERA. Chris Bassitt's having his strongest season in years, he's 11-5. Max Scherzer, even at 40, has 39 Ks in 7 games and has been reliable since coming back. And then you have Lauer, who spent a year or so overseas, was phased in as a pen piece, and is now a scarily sneaky starting weapon, 6-2 with a 2.68 ERA in 17 appearances. You wouldn't expect Lauer to slide into place but he helpfully has, and now they've got a rotation combo that truly works. 

The Jays are not a power team, which is odd. Their home run leader, George Springer, only has 18. But they have 4 guys with over 100 hits and 5 guys with only 90. They are getting runs by outhitting the competition, and that doesn't always mean outhomering them. I wonder where they got the idea to be such a contact-centric team. Could it have possibly been from Ernie Clement, Andres Gimenez and Myles Straw, three guys who came up in Cleveland, whose whole thing is contact? 

Anyhow, with the Yankees plummeting and the Red Sox rising, the Jays will have to keep moving to ensure that their strategy can win out in a very tough division. It would be cool if this was the team that went ahead in the playoffs, but it'll only happen if this momentum lasts the whole year.

Coming Tonight: A Mets starter who has waited literally years for a season like this one.