Step One

image via sportsnet

The team goes into the division series on Saturday against the Yankees hot winning four games in a row and setting up their rotation the way they want. Selfishly for me the game also starts at 4 p.m meaning that I will get to watch most of it after I go to the gym with my brother. The Yankees are the team I wanted since their they rely heavily on the long ball to win games and they are more prone to mistakes I think than the Red Sox are.

Winning the division was not a certainty going into the last week of the season and the Jays were forced to win those final four games since the Yankees were playing the worst teams in the league, and trampled through the White Sox and the Orioles. The Jays won the division playing the way they had for the majority of the second half of the season. Getting contributions from everyone and getting the job done at the end of the day.

It was nice to see Kirk come out of his prolonged slump and for the first time as a Jay I saw him show some emotion. Winning does that to a guy I guess? Vladdy continues to struggle, but this team does not need him to get super hot. Just do what he does defensively and chip in when he can. That being said, Vladdy has not gotten hot all year and I believe every year of his career he has had at least one prolonged hot streak. Maybe timing is everything with him?

I think the sky is the limit with this team going into the post season and any success is a bonus since no one expected this team to do anything this year. Unlike the past division champs this team is a joint effort and does no rely on any one or couple of players. That sort of team usually equates to some sort of success. This is not to say that the Jays are not capable of generating offense Springer has had perhaps the best year of his career and Varsho has provided consistent power numbers when healthy. Other pieces such as Lukes, Clement, Barger and the whole lot of them have all had good years and the depth of this team is its biggest asset.

The pitching however is a major wild card. The starting pitching should be good enough to get the job done with Yesavage being someone I am looking very forward to see pitch, but the bullpen is up in the air. I do not trust Hoffman at all. That game he pitched against Tampa over the weekend was terrible and there is no sugar coating it. He was unable to throw strikes and the only reason the Jays won that game was because the umpire continued to be terrible and call balls as strikes. I get that calls work both ways, but robot umpires and challenging balls and strikes can not come soon enough. SHEESH!

The entire bullpen is up in the air. There are good arms down there and a couple of guys had good years, but the playoffs is a different animal. Varland and Dominguez can be lights out, Rodriguez, Fisher and Little have been consistent most of the year, but they have also had stretches of being trash, especially Little. Fluharty has also been really good lately, but he was in the minors for most of the second half so who knows how good he is in the playoffs? It all comes down to how. good Hoffman is though because most of the teams in playoffs now have lights out closers and Hoffman was not that consistent all season.

What do I expect from the Jays? They already won the division which is a major achievement so everything else they do is a bonus. They are playing with house money. I just want exciting games and winning is secondary to me. Spoken like a true Toronto fan that is used to losing right??