The Toronto Blue Jays 2023 season has brought on a lot of strong emotions from fans, managers, and sports commentators, but also from the players themselves. These emotions also derive from frustration. Everyone knows what the Jays are capable of and when frustration starts to kick in this is when things could start to tumble.
It is important to not let adversity kick you in the face but at the same time, you have to focus on the issue(s) at hand. The Jays as a team have had problems with certain elements of their game over the years, but now looking at this season they have continued to resurface. So without further ado, let’s explore three of the Jays biggest struggles this season.
The Biggest Struggles of the Blue Jays Season
Playing the AL East
Let’s face it, the Jays struggle with playing against teams in their own division continues to be an issue this season. They are 0-7 against the Boston Red Sox, 3-4 against the New York Yankees, 1-5 against the Baltimore Orioles, and 3-4 against the Tampa Bay Rays. They do not yet own a winning record against any team in their division this season.
To make matters worse, the Blue Jays also hold a record of 3-19 in their last 22 games vs AL East teams. But what’s unbelievable is that in spite of this, they still have a respectable record of 59-48 and are in third for the wildcard standings.
Scoring With Runners in Scoring Position
There have been many games this season where the Jays have not been able to capitalize on scoring runs with RISP. But looking specifically at the game on July 31st, there were many opportunities for the Jays to score runs and they left men on base. In addition, when they had a chance to score more runs in an inning they were only able to cash in one run.
Evidently, the Jays not being able to score many runs in an inning has also been an issue. They had many opportunities to beat the Orioles but they came up short and lost 4-2. If they want to hold on to that third wildcard spot in the standings they have to work on overturning this problem.
Holding Onto Leads in Games
There have been multiple games this season where the Jays have had leads in games and then lost. They lost 8-7 against the LA Dodgers on July 25th when they had a 7-3 lead in the top of the ninth inning. They lost 3-2 against the Seattle Mariners on July 21st when they were leading 2-0 after the top of the seventh inning.
And they lost 9-8 the following day when they were ahead 7-4 yet again at the top of the seventh inning. The curse from the Mariners was highly present during that series this season. But the Jays largest lead blown this season happened against the Texas Rangers on June 18th. They lost 11-7 and blew a 6-0 lead after the top of the third inning.
Let’s Sweep the Struggles
If the Jays want to remain in the wildcard race, they have to work on fixing these struggles that they have continued to face. The Jays are in one of the hardest divisions but have played better against opponents in their division. Although they have blown leads they have attempted to come back with their strong offense.
We know that sometimes all it takes is a swing of the bat to put them back into a game. They have many players that possess this quality. And we know that they have no issues scoring runs and when they are able to capitalize with RISP they can do it well. It will be interesting to see what will happen for the Jays as the playoffs come closer and closer.
Main Image: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sport
