The Toronto Blue Jays currently boast a 16-18 record after struggling to find traction with their bats out of the gate, ranking near or at the bottom in a few offensive statistical categories. They lost a heartbreaker on Saturday against Cleveland, just one out away from taking the series, and overall, they went 3-3 in their last homestand.

The Jays will begin a West Coast swing that starts tonight in Los Angeles, with the club set to face a struggling Angels squad before going up the coast to face the Mariners for a three-game set to cap off the weekend. Their record has them sitting third in the AL East, which is a positive given that things could have been better in April and early May, although they did lead the division for a short period of time.

Getting on the right side of .500 baseball is key for the Jays, and they are getting a prime opportunity to do so in California over the next few days.

The Angels are 13-20 on the season and have lost eight of their last ten, including a 13-2 drubbing by the Detroit Tigers on Sunday and a 10-4 handling by the Tigers last Thursday as well. They rank 29th in the league in run differential (-64) and have struggled in multiple facets while missing some key players. The club is without relievers Ben Joyce and Robert Stephenson, while Anthony Rendon and three-time AL MVP Mike Trout are also on the shelf for the series.

As a group, the Angels rank 26th in OPS (.650), tied for 27th in runs (117), and 30th in hits (232), but trend well in terms of power, boasting 44 homers (tied for seventh). Their pitching is even worse off, putting forth a collective 5.36 ERA (27th) and have allowed 171 runs, which is the fifth most in the Major Leagues. The pitching staff has also allowed 50 home runs, to sit second in MLB, which is two more than the Blue Jays and their staff, while also allowing a .273 average to opposing hitters.

Where Los Angeles really struggles is in their bullpen, as the group owns a 7.02 ERA through 109 outings – almost three points higher than the second-place Chicago White Sox (4.44). Multiple arms own an ERA above the 4.00 mark, and the group is struggling to put together solid outings as of late.

The Jays are tasked with facing their best starter tonight in Tyler Anderson (2.67 ERA through 33 2/3 innings) and potentially Jose Soriano on Thursday, who boasts a 3.83 ERA and a 3.69 FIP through 40 innings. The club is also slated to face former Blue Jays hurler Yusei Kikuchi tomorrow, giving the Jays a bit of advantage in that regard in terms of knowing the pitcher from a personal standpoint during his 2.5-year tenure. The southpaw has allowed 37 hits and 17 earned runs through 36 1/3 innings with six home runs (5.04 FIP) this year.

Seattle currently has the upper hand in this season’s series so far, but things are a bit different compared to when the two teams last faced off.

The Jays won’t have to face Logan Gilbert, who is on the IL with an elbow flexor strain, and the Mariners are still without George Kirby, who likely won’t be active for the weekend after appearing in his first rehab start on May 4th for Tacoma. The Jays will also not have to face Luke Raley, who collected two hits against the Jays back in April.

On the other hand, the Mariners’ bullpen is stronger with the return of Canadian Matt Brash, who has appeared in one game and allowed one hit and zero runs in his lone outing. He improves a staff that already boasts a strong core, working with a collective 3.55 ERA (including Brash’s one outing), and even with Kirby and Gilbert on the IL, the Mariners rotation still has Bryan Woo (2.58 ERA / 38 1/3 IP), Bryce Miller (4.15 ERA / 34 2/3 IP) and a resurgent Luis Castillo, who has allowed just one earned run since facing the Jays three starts ago and has reduced his ERA and FIP to 3.29 and 3.85, respectively. The Jays faced Woo (seven innings, seven hits, three runs, four strikeouts) and Castillo (five innings, 10 hits, three earned runs, five strikeouts) already this season and if the current stretch continues as projected, Toronto will face Castillo, Logan Evans, and Bryce Miller in their series. It should be noted that Seattle has an off-day on Thursday and could shuffle things around in the rotation.

Offensively, the Mariners have Cal Raleigh on their payroll, who leads the league in home runs (12) and notoriously destroys the Blue Jays, while Jorge Polanco has found his bat again to the tune of a .369/.407/.750 slash line with nine homers so far this year. Seattle currently leads the AL West with a 20-14 record and has won seven of their last ten games while posting a 12-6 record at home.

The Jays will be looking to transform T-Mobile Park into a ‘home away from home’ again with the influx of Canadians that usually make the trek across the border. However, the current political climate between the two nations may dissuade some Canucks from making the trip and staying home. This will be an interesting topic to monitor closer to the weekend series.

Toronto needs to put together a solid road trip in the worst way. They are 5-10 on the road so far this season and have been swept on two different occasions when playing away from their home stadium, generating just 40 runs compared to the 62 against.

The bats will need to find a way to chase the Angels’ starters early and just bully the opposing relievers, finding ways to just continue to get into that bullpen as much as possible. This would also require the Jays to find some power in their bats, especially for Anthony Santander, now that April is behind us on the calendar. The bats need to beat down on a struggling Angels squad and keep them there – these are the series the team needs to win to prove they are contenders and gain some momentum before heading into the Seattle series.

Both the Angels and Mariners are ranking well power-wise, so the Jays’ pitching staff will need to find a way to limit the damage on the road. José Ureña gets the spot start tonight in the open fifth rotation spot and will likely be followed by Eric Lauer, so hopefully the duo can go far enough into the game and the Jays’ bat provides enough support to give some of the high leverage arms another day off after the Monday off-day. The Jays’ go-to arms in Brendon Little, Jeff Hoffman, Yimi Garcia, and Chad Green have all made 14-plus appearances this season, with Little’s 18 outings tying Twins reliever Louie Varland for the most in the AL so far this year.

Overall, the Blue Jays boast a terrible road record to start the season and that fortune needs to change sooner rather than later if they want to be considered postseason contenders. Reversing the trend in Los Angeles is a good place to start.