Attention Blue Jay fans. Sit back, relax, and take a deep breath… hold it… hold it… now exhale.
Repeat if necessary.
Feel a little bit better? If not, then take solace in the fact that it’s only seven games into a 162 game season, and the Blue Jays are only 3-4.
It could be worse. They could be the Minnesota Twins (0-7) or Atlanta Braves (0-6).
In reality, now is not the time to worry about the Toronto Blue Jays; they’ll be fine in the long run. Heck, the team has only had one good season in the last 20 years, so a start hovering around .500 is something Blue Jays fans (myself included) should be used to.
Sure, no one was exactly expecting them to come out this slowly, but it happened. Big whoop. They’ll rebound nicely.
Keep in mind, they have one of the most potent offences in the league and it’s only a matter of time before they get base runners on board for Josh Donaldson and Jose Bautista (among others).
And although the starting pitching may be ‘Price-less’, they’re still loaded with talent. Marco Estrada and Marcus Stroman will be 15 win pitchers (at least), while Dickey will round into form later in the season, as is usual for him.
The bullpen, too, will come around. Drew Storen has to get used to coming out of the ‘pen earlier than the ninth inning and Jesse Chavez has to adapt to not being a starting pitcher.
It might take 20 or so games for this team to get going, but once it does the Blue Jays will be just as dangerous as they were in the second half of last season.
Remember, last year the Blue Jays, at the start of June, were 24-30 and in fourth place in the A.L. East before eventually winning the A.L. East title.
So seven games in, and just one game below .500, is not a time to worry. They’ve got 155 to turn this thing around.
Which they will.
For more on the Blue Jays, see the opinion column ‘Cheap Seats’ on A13
