What a ride the season has been for the Toronto Blue Jays. They were a bottom-third team through just about two months. For real. I looked back and on May 26, I had the Blue Jays ranked 22nd.
And now they’ll head to August at No. 1.
After a loss on May 27, the Blue Jays were 26-28 and eight games out of first place in the AL East. We shouldn’t spend a ton of time looking at wild-card standings in May, but the Jays were three games out of the final playoff spot. Since then, they’ve been an utter wrecking crew. They have gone 37-15 — unsurprisingly, the best record in baseball — with a +70 run differential. They are averaging 5.65 runs per game in that span.
That eight-game deficit has been flipped on its head and the Blue Jays have a 5 ½-game lead, the second-biggest divisional margin in MLB. They have the best record in baseball. They have the best record in the American League by 2 ½ games. They are seven games safe in terms of a playoff spot despite the first team on the outside looking in, the Rangers, having won six straight.
Before Sunday’s loss to the Tigers, which isn’t a big deal at all, given that they took two of three on the road from one of the league’s best teams, the Blue Jays were an absurd 17-4 in July.
Now, there are just about two months left. The Blue Jays are playing like the best team in baseball. Can they make this season special? They haven’t advanced in the playoffs since losing in the ALCS in both 2015 and 2016. They haven’t even won a playoff game since then. They haven’t won an American League pennant since winning back-to-back World Series in 1992-93. The club record for wins is 99 and this group is on pace for 96 wins despite being two games under .500 in late May.
Everything is on the table for the Blue Jays. They are amazing right now. They are an easy No. 1 this week in the Official Power Rankings.
Biggest Movers
|
Rk |
Teams |
Chg |
Rcrd |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
|
So many other teams that have been in first place this season went through struggles in July while the Jays went bonkers. I’ve had some difficult decisions at No. 1 in recent weeks. This time around, it wasn’t difficult at all. | 3 | 63-43 |
2 |
|
The Brewers were playing far too well through that series win in Seattle, to the point that I wondered if a downturn was coming. They then lost two of three to the Marlins. They better hope that was an outlier, because now the Cubs come to town. | 1 | 62-43 |
3 |
|
Rookie hurler Cade Horton had a 1.52 ERA in four July starts, and in three of those he allowed zero runs. | 1 | 62-43 |
4 |
|
That’s seven in a row and everything is clicking. Good pitching, timely offense, the bullpen, etc. They’re likely getting help in the next few days, too. | 5 | 62-44 |
5 |
|
Cristopher Sánchez has a 1.22 ERA in his last six starts. He’s struck out 46 against four walks in 44 ⅓ innings. | 3 | 60-45 |
6 |
|
The Dodgers have lost 13 of their last 18. They will end up with a losing record in July, as they are 8-13 and have only three games left in the month. | 1 | 61-45 |
7 |
|
My 2016 Cubs put me through the ringer by losing 15 of 20 at one point. It no longer bothers me since they won the World Series. It was all worth it. I bring this up because the Tigers had lost 12 of 13 before busting loose with a blowout win on Sunday. Will the Tigers end up giving their fans an “all’s well that ends well” situation or was this the start of a bad finish? | 4 | 61-46 |
8 |
|
You know how I mentioned the monster turn around by the Blue Jays in the AL East? Yeah, they’ve been awesome, but they’ve had some help. The Yankees are 22-28 since May 28. That’s a two-month sample of being a bad team. And now Aaron Judge is on the IL. | 2 | 57-48 |
9 |
|
They just got outscored 32-7 in a four-game sweep at the hands of the A’s. In Houston. Yuck. | 2 | 60-46 |
10 |
|
Keep your eyes on these guys. The Reds have won 10 of 14 and now sit only one game back of a playoff spot. | 3 | 56-50 |
11 |
|
Here they come? The 2023 champs have won six in a row, 11 of 13 and are 15-6 this month. Maybe my preseason “Rangers win AL” pick wasn’t so awful after all! | 4 | 56-50 |
12 |
|
With Ceddanne Rafaela sliding in to second base, the Red Sox no longer have too many outfielders and can hang onto Jarren Duran. | — | 57-50 |
13 |
|
I love the Josh Naylor trade. Keep ’em coming. The AL West title is within reach. | 3 | 56-50 |
14 |
|
Manny Machado has never hit .300 in a full season in his illustrious career. He hit .304 in 2020, but otherwise his high-water mark is .298. He’s hitting exactly .300 in 2025. | 3 | 57-49 |
15 |
|
Justin Verlander finally got his first Giants win. That’s 263 in his career. Did you know that not only has he led the league in wins four times, but he also led in losses once? | 1 | 54-52 |
16 |
|
After being one of the hottest teams in baseball, the Guardians have now lost three of four. It’s terrible timing because it might trigger a small sell-off. The good news? The Rockies are coming to Cleveland for three games. | 4 | 52-53 |
17 |
|
They got within 2 ½ games of the Cubs for first place late last month, but the Cardinals have now lost 15 of 22. It’s sellin’ time. | 1 | 54-53 |
18 |
|
The Rays have now lost 18 of 25 and have fallen to .500. Sixteen of their next 19 games are on the road and the three home games come against the Dodgers. This is not a playoff-caliber team and things are about to get worse. | 4 | 53-53 |
19 |
|
The Marlins have moved firmly out of “pushover” territory and are quite formidable right now. They’ve won 20 of 29 and last week won series over the Padres and Brewers. | 2 | 50-54 |
20 |
|
Strong week with series wins over the Cubs and the previously surging Guardians, but is it too little, too late? It’ll be interesting to see what the next few days hold for the Royals. They are 4 ½ games out of a playoff spot and play the lowly Braves for three games before the trade deadline. | 2 | 52-54 |
21 |
|
The Josh Naylor trade most likely means Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly and Eugenio Suárez are gone too. They’ve lost five of six now. They can look ahead to building around Corbin Carroll and Ketel Marte next season. | 4 | 51-55 |
22 |
|
Mike Trout recorded his 1,000th career RBI on Sunday and he now sits with 397 career home runs. He turns 34 next month. There’s still time to tack on a bunch more! | 3 | 51-55 |
23 |
|
Since the All-Star break, the Twins have lost series to the Rockies and Nationals (Dodgers, too, but that isn’t the point I’m making). This is simply a broken and sub-par team. Time to start dealing. | — | 50-55 |
24 |
|
Have you noticed Jackson Holliday starting to put it all together? In his last 16 games, he’s hitting .319 with a .536 slugging percentage. | — | 47-58 |
25 |
|
There’s an argument to be made that Nick Kurtz’s 6-hit, 4-homer, 8-RBI game on Friday was the greatest offensive game in MLB history. He had 19 total bases! That tied Shawn Green’s May 23, 2002, game for the most ever. | 1 | 46-62 |
26 |
|
We’ve talked about them being injured. We’ve mentioned the rough schedule to start the season. We’ve wondered when they’d get hot. We’ve said they shouldn’t be counted out. All year, it’s been plain as day, though: The 2025 Atlanta Braves are a bad team. | 1 | 44-60 |
27 |
|
We’re getting into the territory where Paul Skenes is having one of the greatest starts to a pitching career ever. After posing a 1.96 ERA in 23 starts last season (the league average was 4.07), he’s now at 1.83 through 22 starts this season. The league average ERA? 4.08. | 2 | 44-62 |
28 |
|
The Nats went 71-91 in 2023 and 71-91 in 2024. They’d have to go 28-29 the rest of the way to finish 71-91 again. You can do it, Nats! | 1 | 43-62 |
29 |
|
They’ve since lost two straight, but major props to the White Sox for starting the second half by winning six of their first seven games. They are now on pace to win 58 games. You know what I’m gonna say next, right? Baby steps are still steps! | 1 | 38-68 |
30 |
|
They had won five of seven coming out of the break, but then lost 18-0 to remind everyone who they are. The Rockies are on pace to lose 120 games. | — | 27-78 |
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