The Toronto Blue Jays have been in first place in the American League East since midseason, but with just four games remaining on the regular-season schedule, their position is in jeopardy.
The Blue Jays have seen the New York Yankees tie them for the top spot. The Blue Jays have the tiebreaker edge because they won the season series, but manager John Schneider's team must come through in 1 game against the Boston Red Sox and 3 against the Tampa Bay Rays if they are going to hold off the Yankees.
New York appears to have an easier end of season assignment as they have 1 game remaining with the Chicago White Sox and 3 with the Baltimore Orioles.
The bigger problem besides the schedule remains the absence of shortstop Bo Bichette. He will be out the remainder of the regular season with an injury to his posterior cruciate ligament. Schneider provided a rather nebulous update on Bichette's progress from his injury prior to the team's Thursday night home game against the Red Sox.
“No real change, but some progress, which is good,” said Schneider. “Day-to-day with him. I'm hoping, sometime soon, that we have a significant update in the right direction, but still day-to-day.”
Blue Jays limping as they head towards the postseason
The Blue Jays' position at the top of the American League East is in jeopardy, but they will be competing in the postseason as a Wild Card team if they are unable to hold on to the top spot. After demonstrating their ability to hit in the clutch throughout the majority of the season, the Blue Jays have gone into a recent slump.
While the Yankees have won 7 of their last 10 games, the Blue Jays have lost 6 of 10 including 2 games to the Red Sox at home. Their bats have gone extremely cold as they have been held to 1 run or less in 6 of their last 7 games. That slump coincides with Bichette's absence from the lineup.
Bichette is one of the top hitters in the American League. He was slashing .311/.357/.483 with 18 home runs and 94 runs batted in at the time of his absence from the Blue Jays lineup. Bichette has also scored 78 runs this season and while he has had some defensive issues, he is clearly the spark plug that ignites Schneider's team.
The return of Bichette to the lineup is basically essential if the Blue Jays are going to make a deep run into the postseason. It is clear that the offense that was so dangerous throughout the majority of the season needs to get back on track quickly.
