Going into the 2013 and 2014 seasons, the AL East looked like a very even division to me. In other words, there was close to equal probability of any team winning. The Blue Jays were the consensus favorite going into 2013, but injuries depleted the team and career years by the Red Sox players pushed them to the top.
This season, the Jays are playing more like the experts thought they would in 2013. Jose Bautista is healthy, and continues to be one of the best offensive players in the game. He gets on base and hits for power extremely well; he’s one of those players where you should ignore his batting average. Edwin Encarnacion is smashing the ball, with 28 of his 48 hits going for extra bases. While Jose Reyes has yet to click offensively, many of the complementary hitters are having great seasons. Adam Lind, Anthony Gose, Josh Thole, and Juan Francisco are all hitting well. Melky Cabrera appears to have returned to his pre-suspension offensive levels. With Brett Lawrie and Reyes not hitting yet, they even have a little offense in reserve if some of those players start regressing.
The pitching outside of Mark Buehrle has not been stellar, but the Jays are scoring at a high enough rate that the pitchers are good enough. The key now is for the team to keep Bautista and Encarnacion healthy, and hope that some of the starters find their groove. In an evenly matched division, the team with the most career years will probably win.
I still think the Red Sox will run away with it at the end of the day. Drews return will be huge and they have help for the rotation down in the farm. I also think they have the pieces to make a huge trade for someone like Stanton or Kemp
Blue Jays don’t have the pitching to sustain this, and even as great as their offense has been they are still on pace to only win 88 games or so
Yankees have a shot if they sign Morales which frees up some pieces to get some pitching by trade. But their ability to get healthy and stay healthy is a question mark.
Orioles dont have the pitching, and neither do the Rays.
If anyone said in the offseason that 2 of the 3 worst teams in the AL at this point would be the Rays and Red Sox I doubt many would have believed it
If there is a year for a ‘what the h@ll’ team it’s the Jays in the American League East. No team is playing as expected and the Jays have really stepped up.
Yeah, I don’t like their pitching either but they are able to smash them into submission with big flies. Didn’t that approach get the Orioles in 2012?
Drew Hutchison is a fine young pitcher for the Blue Jays. Perhaps one of the most underrated young pitchers in the league right now.