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Archives The Unofficial Blue Jays' Playoff Bandwagon - 2nd Edition
Division Leaders:
1. Seattle Mariners ------ 55 -- 37-18 -- 0.0 (6-0)
2. New York Yankees ---- 56 -- 33-23 -- 4.5 (4-2)
3. Minnesota Twins ------ 55 -- 31-24 -- 6.0 (2-4)

Wildcard:
1. Oakland Athletics ----- 55 -- 32-23 -- 0.0 (3-3)
2. Boston Red Sox ------- 55 -- 31-24 -- 1.0 (1-5)
3. Toronto Blue Jays ---- 58 -- 32-26 -- 1.5 (5-2)
4. Baltimore Orioles ------ 55 -- 28-27 -- 4.0 (5-1)
5T. Anaheim Angels ------ 54 -- 27-27 -- 4.5 (3-3)
5T. Kansas City Royals --- 54 -- 27-27 -- 4.5 (1-5)

Projected Playoff Matchups: Minnesota vs Seattle; Oakland vs New York Yankees



The Red Sox had a bad week on the field, losing 5 of 6 to division rivals. Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe were sorely missed in Toronto, where the Blue Jays scored in double figures in every game. The Yankees were only able to take 2 of 3 from the Tigers, one of those a 17-inning affair. Seattle was red hot, whitewashing the Royals and Twins (4 straight in the Metrodome). Oakland lost 2 to the Twins and then engineered 2 late inning combacks to take 3 of 4 from the fading Royals. Baltimore continues to surprise: they outscored Anaheim and Texas by a combined 42 to 20 in their 6-game homestand. They are 9-3 versus those two opponents this year.

The Jays offence was briefly derailed, managing 2 runs in the 2 tail end games against the White Sox before pummeling the visiting Red Sox.
Posted by robertdudek on Monday, June 02 2003 @ 08:04 AM EDT.
The Unofficial Blue Jays' Playoff Bandwagon - 2nd Edition | 8 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
_Wildrose - Monday, June 02 2003 @ 12:36 PM EDT (#100928) #
I read in passing a comment on the Baseball primer sight that the Jays have had the second toughest schedule so far,(Yankees #1,Bo-Sox #8)in the A.L. If we can keep it up in interleague and on the West coast swing we may have something here.
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Coach - Monday, June 02 2003 @ 02:06 PM EDT (#100929) #
It's no exaggeration to declare the Jays one of the six best teams in the league. Despite their seven wins in the last couple of weeks against the divisional elite, and their remarkable 21-8 May, it's premature to rate them any higher. They are for real: the hitting is no fluke, and neither the pitching nor the defence is as bad as it looked in April. With the toughest part of the schedule behind them, and two-thirds of the season remaining, the "unofficial" playoff bandwagon is nearing official status.

Nine of 14 AL teams are at .500 or better today, but the Orioles and Royals are unlikely to maintain that pace. The Angels could repeat their 2002 charge and make it a seven team battle for four playoff spots. Subject to injuries, deadline deals, and other variables, it remains wide open. The Jays should reach the 89 wins I predicted in the spring (they would have to play just two games over .500 the rest of the year) and with a minimum of bad luck, they could finish in the low 90's. Of course, that's not usually enough in this league; an AL team in the East or West can miss the wild card with 95. If Boston doesn't solve its pitching woes, and a wheel falls off in Oakland, there could be some great scoreboard-watching down the stretch for Toronto fans.
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_Joe C. - Monday, June 02 2003 @ 02:48 PM EDT (#100930) #
The Yanks started their huge downward trend while facing the AL West for a whole bundle of games. If the Jays can stand up against that division, then maybe they are not simply hot, they are simply good. No their pitching is not as bad as it was in April, but the hitting isn't as good as it was in May either. Consistency over 162 games: it separates the pretenders and contenders, and the Jays probably need one more legit pitcher. Here's praying for Escobar to put something together, because he could be that missing link.
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Mike D - Monday, June 02 2003 @ 02:51 PM EDT (#100931) #
Even though they're self-styled contenders (with a payroll to match), I just can't see Boston winning the World Series with their defence and back-end pitching. Bluntly, there are too many DH's on that club; Ortiz and Manny were flat-out embarrassing in the field (although Ortiz robbed Greg Myers of 5-for-5 in the 8th). They don't really have *good* defence at any position except for Trot in RF, and I suppose Nomar's above-average at SS. Maybe Freddy Sanchez will improve the team's D...But then which bat gets displaced?

I know there are highs and lows, and the Jays are flying really high right now, but the Red Sox just don't seem to have the structural soundness of a champion. I haven't even mentioned the bullpen, which features way too many gas cans and Matt White, who is less Corey Thurman and more Rule V albatross on the Bosox roster.

I'm as excited as Coach is -- and I know that for a fact, since I had the good fortune to take in yesterday's comeback special with him. Regulars at the Box should not be surprised to find out that not only is Coach the man behind the site that's about to crash through the 80 000 hit barrier (and it's only June 2!), but also a gentleman and scholar of the Academy of Baseball in person.

Thanks for accommodating my family and me, Kent!
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Gitz - Monday, June 02 2003 @ 07:31 PM EDT (#100932) #
One of these days I'll make it to Toronto, and I expect nothing less than the Coach Mike D. described. Air fair is certainly cheap to Toronto these days: $255 (U.S.) from Seattle. Contributions, anyone?

Mike, Johnny Damon gives the Red Sox a reliable defender in CF. After watching him hit weak grounders to the infield and lazy foul balls to third in 2001, Damon became one of my least-favorite players in the majors. But he can pick it in center, no doubt about that, making it all the more painful to watch T-Long -- aka Magellan -- in CF last season. Damon's arm is weaker than Coach's, however.
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Craig B - Monday, June 02 2003 @ 11:51 PM EDT (#100933) #
Contributions, anyone?

Gitz, I won't hesitate to contribute my heartfelt best wishes.
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Craig B - Tuesday, June 03 2003 @ 12:53 AM EDT (#100934) #
I read in passing a comment on the Baseball primer sight that the Jays have had the second toughest schedule so far,(Yankees #1,Bo-Sox #8)in the A.L. If we can keep it up in interleague and on the West coast swing we may have something here.

I had made similar statements concerning strength of schedule in my AL East update column on Primer a couple weeks ago.

ESPN do a handy update on strength of schedule and RPI (which uses strength-of-schedule and opponents' strength-of-schedule to calculate team performance by a somewhat simplistic but nevertheless useful formula) which is available at http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/rpi.

It currently shows that the Jays have played the second-toughest schedule in all of baseball - trailing only the Yankees - and as the fifth-best team in baseball so far, third in the AL behind New York and Minnesota.
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Gitz - Tuesday, June 03 2003 @ 02:41 AM EDT (#100935) #
Craig,

I appreciate the good wishes, but like any good American, I'd rather have the cash.
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The Unofficial Blue Jays' Playoff Bandwagon - 2nd Edition | 8 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.