How Toronto Blue Jays Made Franchise History at Rogers Centre Last Week
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The Toronto Blue Jays won their first homestand of at least seven games in franchise history this month per Sportsnet Stats.
A homestand is a reference to the consecutive games that the Jays played in Toronto at the Rogers Centre.
In this case, they played two complete series during this seven-game stretch, one vs. the New York Yankees and one vs. the Los Angeles Angels.
More often than not a series is only three games. But the Blue Jays played a four-game series with the Yankees, followed by a three-game series with the Los Angeles Angels.
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Toronto executed the rare four-game sweep, as it outscored New York, 36-23, in the four-game sweep that put the Blue Jays in first place in the AL East.
The Angels, who followed for three games, came really close to ruining this stretch for Toronto. The firset two games of the series went to extra innings and the Blue Jays won both games by a single run.
Toronto has the second-best record when playing at home with a 32-16 record. The only team that is better is the Los Angeles Dodgers who have 33 wins.
Offensively, Toronto has become nearly unbeatable at Rogers Centre. The Blue Jays are in baseball's Top 5 in almost every category.
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Toronto's batting average (at home) is .271, which ties it for second with the Dodgers. The Blue Jays' .343 on-base percentage and .453 slugging percentage are third overall, and their OPS is .796, which is second behind the Dodgers.
RBI? Second. Hits? Second. Runs? Second. Behind who? You guessed it. The Dodgers.
One of their “worst” hitting statistics is the amount of walks they’ve racked up (161). This still sits at seventh in the majors (tied with the San Diego Padres) and they are one of the eight teams to have more than 160 on the year.
Their offensive production is led by Bo Bichette. Bichette leads the entire majors in hits at home with 62. His .321 average at home is 10th best in the league and a .560 slugging percentage has him .005 out of the top-10
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George Springer and Bichette lead the Jays in home runs with 10. They’re the only two with slugging percentages over .500 and an OPS over .900.
If their defense matched the same intensity as their offense they’d easily be undefeated at home. Now, their numbers aren’t bad by any means at home, but not near the same showcase as the hitting statistics.
The Jays pitchers have tallied up 462 strikeouts when they’re on their home field. They are one of four to have more than 460 on the year. They are holding batters to a .234 average which is 12th best in the league.
The ERA is where the defense is sitting the worst at. The best in the league right now is 2.73 (the Texas Rangers) while Toronto sits at 21st with a 4.12.
But guess who is worse? The Dodgers at 4.24
The Blue Jays have been a tough team to beat lately even when they’re not in Ontario. Since their embarrassing shut out on May 25 to the Tampa Bay Rays (0-13) they are 27-11 and 10-3 in their last four series at home.
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Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.