Blue Jays Have Company After Becoming First AL Team to Reach 70 Wins
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The Toronto Blue Jays became the first team in the American League to reach 70 wins on Tuesday after a 5-1 victory in the first game of their series against the Chicago Cubs.
The Blue Jays' consistency and depth swinging the bat had them at 70-50 and gave them the second-best record in all of baseball trailing only the red-hot Milwaukee Brewers in the National League.
Toronto's time at the top didn't last long.
The Detroit Tigers joined the Blue Jays at the 70-win mark on Wednesday.
The Jays are coming off of an 18-win July and have started August nearly as hot. They put up a historic display of offense when they swept the Colorado Rockies in an astronomical fashion last week, outscoring the Rockies 45-6.
Even though that is their only series victory this month, the ballclub is now back home at Rogers Centre, where they are one of the toughest teams in baseball to beat.
Offensive Powerhouse
Toronto has been one of the better offenses that the American League has to offer.
The offense leads the AL in both batting average and on-base percentage. Even though they are not known for home runs, the Blue Jays' total offensive production (OPS) is second-best in the AL with a .769, trailing only the New York Yankees.
The Blue Jays batting order can survive a player in a rut because they are stacked, led by shortstop Bo Bichette and first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. When outfielder George Springer returns from the injured list their lineup will deepen even further.
Bichette is second among all shortstops in baseball and first in AL with 78 RBI, along with the third-best batting average at .297. There are only 11 shortstops in the Majors who have hit double digit home runs this year, and Bichette has the sixth most with 16.
He is a free agent after the season and it's going to be hard for Toronto to hang onto him.
Guerrero Jr. is already locked in with the organization after he signed a 14-year, $500 million dollar extension in April. He leads all players at his position in both on-base and slugging percentages as well as OPS (.889).
The two infielders lead the Blue Jays in every major offensive category, except stolen bases and slugging percentage, spots both held by Springer, who is about start a rehab assignment at Triple-A Buffalo.
The ballclub needs these three to keep up their pace as they try to make a deep run into October.
The Jays will remain in Toronto after their Cubs series ends on Thursday and will host the Texas Rangers, who are struggling to remain in the playoff race after losing six of their last seven games.
Toronto continues to have a solid lead in the AL East even as the Boston Red Sox have found a groove in the second half of the season. After facing the Rangers, Toronto heads out on a six-game road trip to National League teams, both of which are under-.500, including the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Miami Marlins.
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.