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	<title>Toronto &#187; Melvin Upton Jr.</title>
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	<description>Comprehensive coverage of the Toronto Blue Jays</description>
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		<title>Why the Blue Jays Chose Ryan Goins for their Opening Day Roster</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/04/02/the-info-that-went-into-making-the-blue-jays-opening-day-roster-decisions/</link>
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		<pubDate>Sun, 02 Apr 2017 20:32:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Gideon Turk]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jarrod Saltalamacchia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Melvin Upton Jr.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ryan Goins]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Toronto Blue Jays]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=10004</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[No, this won&#8217;t be the roster the Blue Jays use for all 162 games, and it probably won&#8217;t even be the roster they use a week from now, but if you&#8217;re wondering about what the Blue Jays did to their roster today despite it seeming like a bunch of backwards decisions, you aren&#8217;t alone. 12 [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>No, this won&#8217;t be the roster the Blue Jays use for all 162 games, and it probably won&#8217;t even be the roster they use a week from now, but if you&#8217;re wondering about what the Blue Jays did to their roster today despite it seeming like a bunch of backwards decisions, you aren&#8217;t alone.</p>
<p>12 PM Eastern was the deadline for the team to set its opening day roster, and the Blue Jays did so by designating Mike Bolsinger for assignment, selecting the contract of Jarrod Saltalamacchia, releasing Melvin Upton Jr., recalling Dominic Leone from Buffalo, and placing Roberto Osuna, Dalton Pompey, Bo Schultz, and Glenn Sparman on the disabled list with various injuries. These moves meant that the out of options Ryan Goins made the team while Ryan Tepera got the last spot in the bullpen. Yes, Ryan Goins, he of the career -1.2 WARP, beat out Melvin Upton for the final position player spot on the Blue Jays roster. Why? Well, it&#8217;s a confusing decision, but according to a club source, this was the thinking involved:</p>
<p>The Blue Jays were listening to trade offers on both Upton and Goins recently, trying to gauge the market for the two players they needed to choose from for the last roster spot. While the market for Upton was non-existent, the market for Goins was actually pretty decent, with multiple teams making offers for the 29-year-old utility man. One American League team was even intent on trading for Goins and giving him a short term starting role before settling him into their utility role once their club returned to health. However, despite multiple names being tossed around, the two clubs were not able to come to agreement that the Blue Jays liked. So, the Blue Jays decided to release Melvin Upton, and hold on to Goins, knowing that a lot of teams won&#8217;t even want to pick up Upton for the remainder of his 2017 contract, and there is a good chance that he re-signs with the club and heads to the minors. For Goins on the other hand, the interest in him is still viable, and even though he secured his spot on the Blue Jays opening day roster, he may still be traded.</p>
<p>The Blue Jays were targeting catchers in their trade talks, hoping to upgrade on Jarrod Saltalamacchia before purchasing his contract and making it guaranteed for the 2017 season. With that deadline officially gone, you can expect the club to stop their pursuit of a backup catcher, despite their internal concerns with his throwing ability.</p>
<p>With the current roster, the Blue Jays plan on handing the bulk of left field playing time to Steve Pearce. Although the coaches do really like Ezequiel Carrera, they like him a lot more off of the bench than they do as a starter. That leaves the Blue Jays with Justin Smoak playing at first base, Steve Pearce in left field, and Zeke off of the bench. Although that doesn&#8217;t seem ideal, if the Blue Jays would have kept Upton, it would have been the same thing but Smoak would have been on the bench as well. The Blue Jays in effect chose Justin Smoak over Melvin Upton. That decision, although questionable, actually makes a lot more sense.</p>
<p>Over the past three seasons, Smoak has been the better hitter, slashing .216/.297/.403 to Upton&#8217;s .229/.295/.377, and the Blue Jays like his defense at first base a lot more than they like Upton&#8217;s in the corner outfield spots. They thought Upton was much more comfortable in centre field, a position currently occupied by Kevin Pillar, who isn&#8217;t going anywhere anytime soon. With Darrell Ceciliani available in Buffalo to play left field or centre field, and the newly acquired Chris Coghlan also in Buffalo, the Blue Jays felt comfortable enough with the outfield depth to let go of Upton, especially given they believe they have a strong chance to retain him.</p>
<p>The danger of the Blue Jays decisions today is that they are relying on Steve Pearce, a player who has played over 100 games in a season just once in his career, to stay healthy. Obviously the club is the organization that knows his health the best, and if they feel comfortable making that decision, it seems like it could be a smart one. Pearce has praised the work of the high performance department, and has said he feels different because of them. Whether that carries into the regular season, and for how long, remains to be seen.</p>
<p>Lastly, the question of Angel Pagan still remains. The Blue Jays have the money to spend on Pagan because he represents a clear upgrade, but Pagan wants a team where he can be guaranteed a starting spot. He&#8217;s still a free agent because of that, and despite the Blue Jays having tried to sign him, he refuses to agree to sign with them because they will not guarantee that starting left field job. If Pagan moves off of these demands, Pagan could still find his way to Toronto, though the club source indicated he doesn&#8217;t view it as very likely at this point.</p>
<p>There you have it. That&#8217;s the decision making that went into releasing Melvin Upton and keeping Ryan Goins. Will it work out? Who knows. But there is always more than meets the eye, and just because the season starts tomorrow, doesn&#8217;t mean Ross Atkins is going to stop working to improve.</p>
<p><em>Lead Photo: © Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports</em></p>
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		<title>Chris Coglan Arrives During Blue Jays Eleventh Hour Shuffle</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/04/01/chris-coglan-arrives-during-blue-jays-eleventh-hour-shuffle/</link>
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		<pubDate>Sat, 01 Apr 2017 23:00:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Tammy Rainey]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chris Coghlan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Melvin Upton Jr.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mike Bolsinger]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Roster Changes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ryan Goins]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ryan Tepera]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=9989</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Your Toronto Blue Jays made two moves of significance today, with at least one more to go before Sunday&#8217;s 12 p.m. roster deadline. The first and most intriguing move came when the team announced they had signed OF/IF Chris Coghlan to a minor league contract. Blue Jays have agreed to terms with Chris Coghlan on [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Your Toronto Blue Jays made two moves of significance today, with at least one more to go before Sunday&#8217;s 12 p.m. roster deadline.</p>
<p>The first and most intriguing move came when the team announced they had signed OF/IF Chris Coghlan to a minor league contract.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Blue Jays have agreed to terms with Chris Coghlan on a minor league deal.</p>
<p>&mdash; Arden Zwelling (@ArdenZwelling) <a href="https://twitter.com/ArdenZwelling/status/848207244743372800">April 1, 2017</a></p></blockquote>
<p>Coghlan, who was dropped this week by the Phillies will start out in Buffalo. While we don&#8217;t know the specifics of the deal, you would be safe in assuming that the deal has opt-out provisions concerning how long they can keep him there. But that&#8217;s fine as there&#8217;s no reason to think they will want him there very long anyway.</p>
<p>Coghlan was Rookie of the Year for the Florida Marlins back in 2009 (edging out a certain pitcher you may have heard of by the name of JA Happ) and played most of the last three seasons with the Chicago Cubs. The &#8220;most of&#8221; comes from the fact that he was traded to the Oakland A&#8217;s at the beginning of Spring Training in 2016 and played 51 disastrous games for the A&#8217;s before being dealt back to the Cubs in June. The less said about his time in Oakland, the better, but his career in Chicago deserves a closer look.</p>
<p>In 321 games for the Cubs, the left handed hitter accumulated over a thousand plate appearances and slashed .264/.350/.441/.791, good for a 118 OPS+ and/or a 119 wRC+. And he splits even better than that vs. RHP. In 2014-15 he posted an .832 OPS against right handed pitching. In addition, he brings excellent defensive versatility. While he has primarily played LF, in his career he has over 200 defensive innings in right, in center, at second base and at third.  You can stop wishcasting on Angel Pagan now. The only intrigue here is who will eventually lose their job to Coghlan because my guess is that this is the guy who&#8217;ll play more innings in LF for the Jays this year than anyone currently in the organization.</p>
<p>In other news worth noticing, the Jays put Mike Bolsinger on waivers today after beating the Pittsburgh Pirates in Montreal. The team would love for him to clear and join the Buffalo rotation, but when given the chance at a final audition in the Montreal series, Ryan Tepera answer the bell working a shutout inning, while Bolsinger spit the bit and got knocked around today.The obvious conclusion is that Tepera has made the team.</p>
<p>That leaves only one question remaining &#8211; the 25th man competition that has been framed for several days now as a contest between Melvin Upton Jr. and Ryan Goins. On the surface, the choice would seem obvious as Upton&#8217;s offensive potential (however modest) particularly against lefties, well exceeds the value offered by Goins well regarded defense and near non-existent offense (as analyzed by <a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/03/27/what-would-it-cost-to-have-ryan-goins-glove-on-the-roster/">Greg Wisniewski on Monday</a>). There may be more wheels turning than we know about. Coghlan certainly changes the equation, everyone is still puzzled at the attachment to Carerra, and the odds are strong that Ross Atkins is furiously working the phone looking for the best trade return he can score. Perhaps among not only Upton/Goins but also Carrera. It may well be that the choice comes down to whether there is something of value to be had in trade.</p>
<p>Answers to these question won&#8217;t be long in coming. (not unlike the regular season! &#8211; ed.)</p>
<p>Lead Image &#8211; <a class="ng-binding ng-scope" title="Kim Klement" href="http://www.usatsimg.com/searchByPhotographerId/Kim%20Klement">© Kim Klement</a> USA Today| <span class="ng-binding ng-scope">2017 Mar 13</span></p>
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		<title>Blue Jays have the Perfect Excuse to use Bautista as DH</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/08/25/blue-jays-have-perfect-excuse-to-use-bautista-as-dh/</link>
		<comments>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/08/25/blue-jays-have-perfect-excuse-to-use-bautista-as-dh/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 25 Aug 2016 13:00:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Evan Peaslee]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[John Gibbons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jose Bautista]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Melvin Upton Jr.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ross atkins]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Toronto Blue Jays]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=5849</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[TORONTO – With the return of Kevin Pillar to the Toronto Blue Jays lineup Tuesday, and Jose Bautista expected to be back today it would seem that the club’s outfield picture just got a lot clearer. However, with further inspection it would seem that in actuality the water is about to become a whole lot [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>TORONTO – With the return of Kevin Pillar to the Toronto Blue Jays lineup Tuesday, and Jose Bautista expected to be back today it would seem that the club’s outfield picture just got a lot clearer. However, with further inspection it would seem that in actuality the water is about to become a whole lot murkier.</p>
<p>As my colleague <a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/08/09/its-time-to-get-jose-bautista-out-of-the-outfield/">Matt Gwin suggested two weeks</a> ago, the logical move by the Jays might be to have Bautista, who is in the midst of an historically bad defensive season, stay out of the outfield altogether. This would let Melvin Upton Jr., Pillar, and Michael Saunders get the lion’s share of work.</p>
<p>Bautista is last on the club in defensive runs saved with -9, while Upton Jr. has +3 in his time in Toronto despite appearing in slightly more than a quarter of Bautista’s innings. However, the imminent return of Bautista likely won’t affect the club’s outfield hierarchy according to general manager Ross Atkins.</p>
<p>“(Bautista) will be playing every day.” Atkins said. “As long as his health is dictating that he’s feeling fine, recovering fine, he’ll be playing every day.</p>
<p>“BJ will be the guy that we acquired who can play all three (outfield spots), and when he’s not playing someone who can come off the bench and pinch hit, pinch run, pinch defensively, so providing depth.”</p>
<blockquote><p>“BJ will be the guy that we acquired who can play all three (outfield spots) and when he’s not playing someone who can come off the bench and pinch hit, pinch run, pinch defensively, so providing depth.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>Maybe Atkins is toeing the company line and staying sensitive to a clubhouse leader who has been unselfish by putting the team first and his personal stats second time and time again this season. Maybe he even believes that for whatever reason (unannounced injuries, hitting ability, etc.), the Jays are better off with Bautista in the outfield.</p>
<p>At the plate the 35-year-old is batting just .129 with one home run, one RBI, and a .250 on-base percentage when not in right field this season, albeit in just nine games and 36 plate appearances. That could certainly be part of Atkins&#8217; decision, however historically his slash line is a tidy .267/.380/.503 with 14 home runs, 51 RBIs, and 44 runs scored in 288 at-bats as a designated hitter.</p>
<p>Whatever the reasoning behind it, it seems unlikely Bautista will move from his usual spot in the outfield. That is unless Gibbons has found a way to put his best defensive and offensive lineup out there with a convenient, and ego-saving excuse; Bautista’s left knee injury.</p>
<p>“When Jose comes back, he’s probably coming back Thursday, he’s going to need to DH a lot with his knee,” Gibbons said prior to his <a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/08/23/recap-blue-jays-7-angels-2-blue-jays-break-seventh-seal-silence-angels/">club’s 7-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels</a> Tuesday. “It feels good, but I think it’s the smart thing to do.”</p>
<p>Admittedly, little has been revealed about the Dominican Republic native’s left knee injury outside of it being a grade-1 sprain, so maybe it’s still not fully healed and won’t be for some time. But it does make it a little bit easier for Gibbons to put Bautista at DH when he returns.</p>
<p>Furthermore, with Upton starting to find his stroke a little, hitting .290/.343/.581 over his last nine games and .255/.302/.447 with three home runs and nine RBIs in his past 14 games entering Tuesday, it would mean his spot in the batting lineup wouldn&#8217;t be a complete black hole devoid of offense and with limited returns.</p>
<p>Something else that Gibbons has noted is how Upton&#8217;s comfort levels with his surroundings, new city and teammates over the past little while are likely contributing to his recent success. This is something that would bode well for the future.</p>
<p>“I think he’s settled in here, he’s comfortable here,” Gibbons said. “I’ve said it before… you’re in a new environment you naturally want things to get off to a great start. Your tendency is to press and try to make things happen, in baseball that works against you. It always does, or always seems to.&#8221;</p>
<p>As the season continues Gibbons said that Upton&#8217;s &#8220;going to play a lot.”</p>
<p>Time will tell how much playing time Upton Jr. will see and in what role down the stretch drive. For Gibbons, however, it only makes sense to optimize your lineup with what works best for the club both offensively and defensively moving forward, and it appears there’s at least a possibility that Bautista will be found focusing more on his hitting and less on chasing down fly balls in the future if the manager has his way. He has the prefect excuse to make it happen.</p>
<p><em>Lead Photo: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports</em></p>
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		<title>Breaking Down the Blue Jays&#8217; Offense</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/08/16/breaking-down-the-2016-blue-jays-offense/</link>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Aug 2016 10:01:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Dave Church]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Articles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[2015 Toronto Blue Jays]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jose Bautista]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Melvin Upton Jr.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Toronto Blue Jays]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=5515</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The 2015 Blue Jays had a dominant offence, no matter what measurement you used. They led the league in runs scored, as well as on-base percentage AND slugging percentage. They scored nearly a full run more per game than the next best offensive team: the total difference between them and the second-best offense, the New [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The 2015 Blue Jays had a dominant offence, no matter what measurement you used. They led the league in runs scored, as well as on-base percentage AND slugging percentage. They scored nearly a full run more per game than the next best offensive team: the total difference between them and the second-best offense, the New York Yankees (127 runs) was more than the difference between the Yankees and the 26th best offense, the Cincinnati Reds. With the majority of the same players returning, AND a full-season from Troy Tulowitzki, the thought was that the Jays could be similarly dominant at the plate this season.</p>
<p>That hasn&#8217;t quite been true.</p>
<p>While the Blue Jays still boast a very solid overall offense, currently sitting sixth in baseball, it seems as if they are under-performing relative to the talent that they have on hand. The starting pitching has gotten the most attention with the surprising ascents of Aaron Sanchez and J.A. Happ, who have both exceeded preseason expectations. No one expected the starters to be as good as they have been, and there have been many games where they&#8217;ve kept it close despite a lack of hitting.</p>
<p>As the Jays have had mostly good health, and a lot of the same players they employed last season, it&#8217;s occasionally confounding as to why they&#8217;re struggling to score. Let&#8217;s look at some of the reasons they&#8217;re worse, and whether we can expect that to change.</p>
<h3>SCUFFLING STARS</h3>
<p>The 2015 Blue Jays had several elite hitters, making for a difficult lineup to navigate. Teams would love to have one hitter the caliber of Josh Donaldson, Edwin Encarnacion, or Jose Bautista, and the Jays had three. They also supplemented them with Troy Tulowitzki, Russell Martin, and several role players who all had career seasons at the same time.</p>
<p>Some of the elite players have continued to be great: Donaldson and Encarnacion have boasted similar numbers to last year (with Donaldson even being just a bit better), and after a bad start, Tulowitzki has been hitting everything in sight since the beginning of July. However, there have been two obvious declines that have pulled some legs from the Jays&#8217; offensive table: Bautista and Martin.</p>
<p><a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/08/BautistaMartin.png"><img class=" aligncenter" src="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/08/BautistaMartin.png" alt="BautistaMartin" width="552" height="169" /></a></p>
<p>Bautista&#8217;s decline from elite to merely good has been an issue. His time on the DL leading to more at-bats for Ezequiel Carrera and Melvin Upton Jr hasn&#8217;t helped either. With Bautista&#8217;s injury keeping him on the shelf for the moment, he&#8217;s running out of season to turn that around. He&#8217;s probably better than that line, but those numbers, like Martin&#8217;s, are on the ledger, and cannot be waved away by anticipating a new hot streak.</p>
<p>While Martin&#8217;s year to date line looks bad, it should be noted that he had an awful first two months. Not just generically bad, but awful. He recorded a .391 OPS in April, and followed that up with .629 in May. He, like Tulowitzki, has been excellent in the time since, with his lowest OPS since May being .828, but that his numbers are still bad shows just how far he had to go to make his overall line respectable.</p>
<h3>STRUGGLING SUPPORTS</h3>
<p>In addition to several elite hitters, last year&#8217;s team had many supporting cast members who had career seasons. Players like Chris Colabello, Devon Travis, and Danny Valencia were fantastic, and even players like Justin Smoak, Ryan Goins, and Kevin Pillar contributed when they had to. Pillar and Smoak, who were at least occasionally contributing last year, haven&#8217;t been as good so far this season.</p>
<p><a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/08/PillarSmoak.png"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-5586" src="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/08/PillarSmoak.png" alt="PillarSmoak" width="552" height="169" /></a></p>
<p>Alert fans may wonder why I haven&#8217;t yet mentioned Michael Saunders. He has been a wonderful surprise for the Jays, providing a left-handed bat this lineup sorely needed. But his contributions are actually slightly worse what the Jays got from Colabello last season.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s amusing to think that Travis vs. Goins for the second base job was ever a discussion, given how badly Goins started the season, and how good Travis has been since returning from his injury. As they&#8217;ve shared the second base job for a lot of the time, let&#8217;s combine their contributions, and see what we get from this behemoth in the two years.</p>
<p><a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/08/CSTG.png"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-5585" src="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/08/CSTG.png" alt="CSTG" width="552" height="169" /></a></p>
<p>The lack of a breakout season beyond Saunders, and the decline of the supporting players, has been a factor in the Blue Jays&#8217; offensive decline as well.  The construction of a baseball lineup means you can only do so much to avoid guys who can&#8217;t hit, and the Jays have just had too many of them at times this year. John Gibbons can stack the top of his lineup however he likes, those bottom few hitters are going to keep coming up no matter what. Having Devon Travis in the lineup full time and limiting the exposure of Smoak can help, but the supporting cast being just a little bit better would make the jobs of guys like Donaldson and Tulowitzki a little easier.</p>
<h3>SOARING STRIKEOUTS</h3>
<p>Among the most noticeable contributors to the Jays&#8217; lack of has been an increase in strikeouts. The numbers bear out the anecdotal evidence of watching the games: the Jays have struck out the seventh-most times in baseball this year after striking out the seventh-least last season. Some of that could be anticipated: A power hitting team with a lot of players in their 30s who all got a year older was probably going to strike out more.</p>
<p>The Jays core power hitters- Donaldson, Encarnacion, and Bautista- have historically been outliers in that they don&#8217;t strike out a lot relative to other power hitters. This hasn&#8217;t been the case for most of the team this year. Encarnacion and Smoak have struck out more times than last year already, Martin is three away from matching last year&#8217;s total, Saunders has been punched out 125 times in his 105 games, and Upton has struck out 21 times in a mere 51 at-bats in Toronto so far.</p>
<p>This was something the Jays attempted to mitigate some last year when they acquired Ben Revere from the Phillies, someone who was known for putting the ball in play. And while he was excellent down the stretch for the Jays, his complete lack of any kind of power was exposed at times in the postseason. He had a paltry .277 slugging percentage in the playoffs, and struck out seven times in the Royals series. Jays fans probably remember him striking out against Wade Davis with the season on the line.</p>
<p>Given how many power hitters the Jays have in their lineup, the occasional droughts between dingers is something they&#8217;ll have to live with for now. The trade deadline has come and gone, and only brought the strikeout-happy Upton to the team, and as we noticed, he isn&#8217;t likely to help that problem. With pitching being an area of need, adding a hitter didn&#8217;t make much sense for the Blue Jays, so any changes made will have to be to a player&#8217;s approach at the plate, rather than by writing someone else&#8217;s name in the lineup.</p>
<h3>THE REST OF THE LEAGUE IS BETTER</h3>
<p>The Blue Jays offense was miles better than the rest of the league last year, but the rest of the league was also a bit worse than it is now. The Jays were the only team that scored more than five runs per game last season, with the second place Yankees coming in at 4.72 runs per game. That 4.72 runs per game mark is being beaten by seven teams so far this year, including the Jays. So no matter what it seems like watching the games, it&#8217;s not as bad as it looks. It&#8217;s a little more crowded at the top, as other teams have decided that scoring a lot of runs is both fun and  productive.</p>
<p>While the increased run environment has helped contribute to the Jays offense seeming more mortal, it also shows how an improved rotation has led to better results for them throughout the season; better pitchers have more value in a league that&#8217;s scoring more often. No one predicted the starters being as good as they were, and that they continue to hold down opposing offenses has helped the Jays on the nights their bats have been quiet. With the bullpen rounding into form, the hitters being a little more consistent would help them build a lead in the AL East down the stretch.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s important to note that while the Jays have been worse than last season offensively, it&#8217;s not that much worse, and still really good. As we mentioned initially, they&#8217;re sixth in an improved league in runs scored, and based on their numbers would have been the second-best offense last year. There are certainly reasons for optimism for the remaining month and a half, with the return of Bautista (both to the lineup and to form, hopefully), continued production from the excellent hitters they have, and hopefully some signs of life from the talented Upton. Even with their offense seeming to struggle relative to the talent on the team, the Blue Jays are jockeying for first in a competitive American League East, and that&#8217;s all anyone can ask for.</p>
<p><em>Lead Photo: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports</em></p>
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