Blue Jays Can't Blow The Golden Opportunity in Front of Them
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According to the great baseball philosopher and former Yankees outfielder Mickey Rivers, Toronto has nothing to worry about in terms of clinching the American League's hot potato of a third Wild Card spot.
"Ain't no sense worryin' about the things you got control over, 'cause if you got control over 'em, ain't no sense worryin'. And ain't no sense worryin' about the things you don't got control over, 'cause if you don't got control over 'em, ain't no sense worryin'."
The Blue Jays' September schedule puts them squarely in the first sentence of Rivers' quote, "cause if you got control over 'em, ain't no sense worrying'."
Toronto has the easiest remaining schedule of the American League contenders for the final Wild Card spot. They also play all three teams they are competing most closely with for the final American League playoff berth.
If you assume the Rays, White Sox, and Astros hang on to their respective divisional leads and the Yankees and Red Sox maintain their firm grasps on the first two Wild Card slots, that leaves the Blue Jays battling the Guardians, Orioles, and Rangers for the final AL playoff berth.
Half of Toronto's remaining 24 games are against those three clubs, with 9 of the 12 away from Rogers Centre.
In addition to the series against the Guardians, Orioles, and Rangers, Toronto's other series are against non-contenders: the Royals, Athletics, Tigers, and Reds.
Those four teams have a combined record of 243-305, a .443 winning percentage.
The Blue Jays' recent series against the Royals, though, showed that you can still catch a bad team that is on a hot streak. The Royals came into Toronto on an 8-game winning streak and then took 2 out of 3 from the Blue Jays.
Toronto has a 5-1 combined record, though, against the A's and Tigers.
Back in March, Toronto celebrated its 2025 American League Championship and raised the curtain on the 50th season of Blue Jays baseball by sweeping the A's.
Spring was coming, and it looked like the Blue Jays would be running it back.
Ummm, not exactly.
As we approach September, two of the three winning pitchers in that series, Jeff Hoffman and Eric Lauer, are no longer with Toronto, and to make matters worse, Lauer has found success with the hated Dodgers after struggling in Toronto.
The Blue Jays' Opening Day starter, Kevin Gausman, was dealt to the Cubs in what appeared to be a trade-deadline sell-off by the Blue Jays.
But the A's are also a shell of the team they were in March, losing Shea Langeliers, who crushed three home runs in that series, Nick Kurtz, Brent Rooker, and Tyler Sodestrom to injury along the way.
The Tigers' rotation looks very different than when Toronto took two of three against them in mid-May. In that series, Detroit started Casey Mize, since traded to the Padres, and Jack Flaherty, now on the injured list.
Former Tigers ace Tarik Skubal is now with the Dodgers.
The Blue Jays' rotation also looks very different as they head down the stretch.
42-year-old Max Scherzer has found (Cody) Ponce De León's fountain of youth.
Jose Soriano has pitched well after being acquired from the Angels.
As for Spencer Arrighetti, let's just say that in a typical corporate job, his performance review would note some areas for growth.
Speaking of growth, Dylan Cease has developed into a leading Cy Young candidate and has a painting on display at the AGO.
In a season with more plot twists than Game of Thrones, the Blue Jays' September schedule provides a golden ticket to make the playoffs.
It is in their control.
Now, they need to seize the opportunity.
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Adam Steinmetz writes about the Toronto Blue Jays for On SI. Adam is also the editor and publisher of the Boston Sunday Sports Section, a weekly digital publication covering the Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics, and Bruins. A two-time winner of the Best Collegiate Sports Writer award in Philadelphia, he began his career with freelance work for The Philadelphia Daily News and The Palm Beach Post before building a successful career outside of journalism. He returned to sports writing last year, contributing to Pitcher List—including coverage of the Toronto Blue Jays—before launching Authorenticity on Substack, where he explores the human stories within baseball. The Boston Sunday Sports Section is his most ambitious project — the thinking fan’s modern Sunday Sports Section focused on the Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics, and Bruins.