Blue Jays Manager Shares Thoughts on Run Differential Discussion Surrounding Team
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The Toronto Blue Jays are continuing to defy logic in many ways when it comes to their run differential.
Based on how they have performed when it comes to scoring runs and preventing runs, the Blue Jays look like a team that should be 61-54.
Certainly a respectable record, but one that puts them in the race for a wild card spot, not first place in the American League East and battling for the best record in baseball, which their actual record has them doing.
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Toronto is currently six games ahead of what their run differential would suggest at 67-48. They are three games ahead of the Boston Red Sox in the AL East and currently own the best record in the AL.
The Milwaukee Brewers, who are 69-44, are the only team in baseball with a better record than the Blue Jays.
When Toronto began making their move up the standings, run differential is all anyone was focused on instead of the team’s actual performance on the field.
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People were waiting for the other shoe to drop and for the Blue Jays to regress back to where the numbers expected them to be.
However, that regression has not happened and they have continued expanding their lead in the division.
Alas, all it takes is a few big performances from an offense for all of those differentials to skew in one direction. Toronto has proven that in their most recent series against the Colorado Rockies, dominating their opponent in the first two games of the series.
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Picking up two wins in actuality, not three based on run differentials, is what manager John Schneider and his team are most focused on.
“I like our style of play,” manager John Schneider said via Mitch Bannon of The Athletic (subscription required). “I like that we can generate (offence) and prevent it. I know (run differential) is a very popular topic these days, and feels like it’s a very popular topic in our division. But I think we do a good job of doing both.”
The Blue Jays are currently sixth in the MLB in runs scored with 556, possessing one of the most prolific offenses in the game.
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Their pitching and defense haven’t been as good at preventing runs, with their 520 runs against being the ninth most in the MLB. The Los Angeles Dodgers are right behind them with 514 runs allowed, with every other franchise in the bottom third of the league not being playoff contenders.
That is why there was such an emphasis on starting pitching ahead of the MLB trade deadline and Toronto is hoping former AL Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber can answer the call for them.
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