** Disclaimer: Negative #content below, read at own risk **
Last month was not a good time.
April flowers turned into a downpour of showers as soon as the calendar flipped to May, with the Blue Jays going 9-19 on the month and skidding into June losing 13 of their last 17 games. They didn’t manage to win back-to-back games once. The nine victories was the least they’ve ever earned in May, and Toronto’s .321 winning percentage over the month made it the fourth-worst May in franchise history and the worst since 1981 — it was also a Top 15 worst overall month for the team, ever.
May started with promise, too, with the Blue Jays entering the month sitting at 16-12 following their first winning April since 2012. They sat just a couple games back of the Yankees and five behind the Red Sox before winning two of their first three games to kick off May. On April 20th, the Jays were seven games over .500 — and then the wheels fell off the wagon in a real hurry.
Toronto won just seven contests the rest of the month, dropping to a season-worst six games under .500 while their division foes continued to seperate themselves from the pack. The Red Sox, especially, just kept winning, going 18-11 for a .621 winning percentage while scoring just under five runs per game. The Yankees went 17-7 as it appears the AL East and top Wild Card spot are already locked up, essentially, by the two powers at the top of the division.
Toronto now sits a whopping 13.5 games behind Boston in the division, 12 games back of the Yankees for the first Wild Card spot, and nine contests out of the WC2 spot. After their final game of the month — a 6-4 loss to Boston to complete the sweep — the Blue Jays’ odds of making the postseason were listed at 6.5 and 2.8 percent according to FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus, respectively.
Aside from the collectively dreadful on-field performance, let’s not forget what a nightmare May was off the diamond, too.
Roberta Osuna’s arrest for allegedly assaulting a woman assault on May. 8 has all-but-ended one of the games best closer’s time with the Blue Jays, as his administrative leave has already been extended three times and will continue to be extended until Osuna goes through the court process, which could take months. It is still unclear at this point, but chances are the organization will part ways with the 23-year-old once the dust is settled on the situation.
Ahhh, and the injuries. Can’t forget about the injuries! After returning from the disabled list on May. 3, Josh Donaldson is back on the DL with a calf injury, similar to one he dealt with for a large chunk of he 2017 season. Right-hander Marcus Stroman, meanwhile, was sidelined in mid-May with shoulder fatigue and has barely been heard from since. He’s expected to be out until at least the middle of June.
That was exhausting.
Alright, that’s enough negativity for a Friday. May is over, so let’s breathe, take a shot, and savour the hope that June brings for a few fleeting moments before this month ultimately turns into a shitshow, too.
And, on the bright side:
#BlueJays prospect Vlad Guerrero Jr. in May (Double-A):
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) May 31, 2018
Games - 29
Runs - 29
Doubles - 10
HR - 9
RBI - 28
AVG - .438
OBP - .480
SLG - .768 pic.twitter.com/atlikEmmEK
The jays are committed in paying the payroll they have. So why not except the fact these guys will get paid if they play or not. So right now I would be on the sell and promote prospects to fill in questionable positions (i.e., infield, pitching) It gives these kids an opportunity to taste the majors and learn from the best coaches. With the way the record is going we cannot do any worse, so only one way to go and that way is up. As a hardcore Jays fan it is tough to continue the team currently being hobbled together and field.
“Roberta Osuna’s arrest for allegedly assaulting a woman assault on May. 8 has all-but-ended one of the games best closer’s time with the Blue Jays, as his administrative leave has already been extended three times and will continue to be extended until Osuna goes through the court process, which could take months.”
This has got to be the worst sentence in the history of this blog.
Honestly, since Stoeten left I’m finding the quality of the articles have been dropping. Posting every couple of days isn’t a good thing either. More and more of my attention is drawn to other sites. I’m a long time reader since the DJF days. And I had a thought about not coming back the other day. I’m hoping things pick up, improve and more readers get involved in the comments. Blue Bird Banter is very active, especially on gamethreads. This site used to be like that….