Up until...well, tonight, really, the Toronto Blue Jays had a really productive week atop the AL East. The Yankees were skidding after a series with the Giants, the Sox and O's had suffered tough series', and the Jays had stayed ahead and had taken the division. It was also the exact right time to extend Vlad Jr., as the team coasted on the excitement of sweeping Boston.
And now, the Braves walloped them, the Yankees had a nice night, and there's now a bit less room at the top. But that's not to say the dream is over.
In their first few weeks, the Blue Jays have shown so many spots where they're ahead of expectations. George Springer's hitting .375 at the moment. Last year we all worried he couldn't do that anymore. Even if it doesn't last, it proves that he can. Chris Bassitt is not only the same consistent, inning-eating giant he's always been, but he's only allowed 2 earned runs in 18 innings. Kevin Gausman's similarly worked out whatever was ailing him last year. Jeff Hoffman has been a true success as a ninth inning piece. And even if Max Scherzer lasted a game before going back to the IL, his replacement, Easton Lucas, went until tonight before he gave up a run [and tonight he gave up...several.]
And Andres Gimenez...the man is still versatile. He was versatile in Cleveland but they used him for his defense. In Toronto he's not only still a defensive wiz, but his contact and power numbers have been very nice. He had 3 homers in the first week of play, nobody saw that coming. Getting Gimenez looked silly when Vlad and Bo looked like they were leading, but now that they're staying? That makes the infield even better, and that's another really good hitter in this lineup. It's also very important that both Vlad and Bo have been phenomenal contact hitters so far. That's the strange part- Vlad Jr. hasn't hit a homer yet. However he's also batting .300. So it's not THE biggest loss. A bit more concerning that Tony Taters only has one homer himself, and the guy who leads the team is...Andres Gimenez. But it's early.
And that's honestly the thing that prevents me from truly taking this Blue Jays team seriously. It's still early. People like Tyler Heineman, Alan Roden and Yimi Garcia look good, but it might be because of the low sample size. Vlad Jr. is a .300 hitter, but it's through 16 games. The Jays look impressive and dominant, but this is still the John Schneider era, and this is still a division with the Yankees, Red Sox and Orioles in it. The pendulum will swing back down, we just don't know how low that is.
It would be very cool if the Jays still competed this year, and still made themselves a fun underdog option in a tough division. But it's hard now to figure out what's good because it works or what's good because it's early. Gimenez falls into the former category, but how much else does?
Coming Tomorrow- It became a running thing where this guy would only get to pitch when enough guys got injured, and pretty soon the whole rotation was made up of those guys. But when you actually give people like him space to start from the jump, they don't let you regret it.
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