It’s easy to see that the Toronto Blue Jays are one of the most disappointing clubs this season. Heading into the campaign, the Jays were sitting at a 49.0% chance of making the postseason via FanGraphs and were looking to play October baseball for the third consecutive season. After Thursday’s demoralizing 13-0 defeat at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays, that percentage has now dropped to 0.9% – with the Jays sporting a 47-56 record and 14 games back of the Baltimore Orioles.
With a roster full of talented players, the club has struggled to find any consistency or traction on multiple fronts that have seen them on the wrong side of the .500 mark.
The Jays bullpen owns a 4.95 ERA, ranked second worst in the league and ahead of only the Colorado Rockies, with opponents posting a .244 average (seventh-worst). The Jays relief corps leads the league in home runs allowed (61) and has struggled to stay healthy or find the 2023 form that made them one of the top groupings. Jordan Romano is likely on the shelf until late into the campaign (if he returns at all) while Erik Swanson has struggled on the mound after starting the season on the IL as well.
In the batter’s box, only two players own an OPS over .800 – Spencer Horwitz (.865) and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (.859) – while George Springer was statistically one of the worst bats in the league heading into the end of June but has since turned things completely around.
Davis Schneider has not found the same on-base percentage that separated him from the group last year and Bo Bichette has struggled on the field and staying healthy, with a calf strain sending him to the IL twice this season as he struggles with career-low numbers across the board. Isiah Kiner-Falefa, a bright spot on the roster who is posting career numbers in the batter’s box, is also on the IL while top prospect Orelvis Martinez is currently suspended until late September due to PEDs.
Overall, nothing is going right for the Blue Jays outside of Guerrero turning himself back into a power bat after a slow start to the season. Season ticket prices are increasing, which has angered the fanbase, and a postseason win dry spell spanning back to 2016 has fans calling for Ross Atkins and Mark Shapiro’s firings as a means to try and turn things around.
While Atkins is likely safe for the time being (that decision likely goes back on the table this winter), the trade deadline is quickly approaching and the organization is turning into sellers for the first time since the late 2010s, when the organization was rebuilding from the veteran squad left behind by Alex Anthopoulos.
What should the Blue Jays trade deadline look like? Here are a few steps the club should be taking as the July 30th deadline falls into view.
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