JTP: Blue Jays Crowned in the East + October Questions, October Answers
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How did the Blue Jays clinch the AL East title?
For the first time in a decade and the seventh time in franchise history, the Toronto Blue Jays are American League East champions. They win out their final four to fend off the Yankees, who did absolutely everything they could over the final six weeks of the season. The lead the Blue Jays built earlier in the season just enough to hang on. The season series the Blue Jays won against the New York Yankees over the course of the year, incredibly pivotal, pivotal in a division that. ended tied at the top with 94 wins apiece. The Toronto Blue Jays are American League East champions. They are the number one seed in the American League. They have a bye through to the American League Division Series, which begins Saturday in Toronto.
They'll play the winner of the Yankees and the Red Sox who will engage in a best two of three wildcard series Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. What a weekend. What a day down at Roger Center yesterday as the Blue Jays celebrate the division crown. This is Jay Stock Plus Blake Murphy and Julia Kreutz with you. Julia, how are we doing?
Took them long enough. It was uh it was the final game of the season. Listen, fitting, really, it's the American League East. Nothing is uh is going to be easy and honestly it did make it a little bit sweeter, Blake, that uh it came down to the wire. And I don't know about you, but once the Blue Jays built, I don't know, I think it was eight to four. An eight to four lead, I stopped checking the Yankees score, but it was another day of double screening and uh and nervousness and anxiety and And then as the Blue Jays just keep hitting home runs, you stop and you think, what were people so nervous about? Yeah. John Schneider was right. The sky was not falling. And the Blue Jays had this pretty much under control.
And as you mentioned it, Blake, the importance of taking care of business in your own division and banking those wins when things are going right.
And banking those wins is huge because no, the sky, it turns out, didn't fall and and John Schneider in a sea of quotes that I'm not allowed to repeat on air today. And I even asked permission. I sent texts yesterday. I'm can I can I say this stuff? Um I d I don't know. They like we didn't we didn't edit it out on the sports at television broadcast. Very fair. Which was uh which was fun and really, you know, obviously shows the emotion of the moments and things like that. But you know, John Schneider did say last week the sky isn't falling. They had blown a six and a half game lead in the division, but Those tiebreakers. It never let anyone, and this is kind of the story of the entire Blue Jays season from a roster perspective.
Never let anyone tell you over the course of 162 that something doesn't matter. Because look, Dickie Lovelady didn't finish the year on the roster. Ryan Yarbrough is probably not going to be on the Yankees wildcard roster. So much changes over the course of a year, but a guy like Mason Fluhardy really matters. A guy like Justin Brew really matters. Matters. A guy like Braden Fisher really matters. Miles Straw, who we didn't even know would be on the roster, you can go up and down the roster. Ernie Clement, two years ago, people were saying it doesn't matter. He's a career triple A guy, like he's gonna be an end-of-bench guy. Davis Schneider was a non-prospect. a couple years ago and is now hitting second in a must-win game one sixty-two.
Eric Lauer signed out of Korea to a minor league deal, comes and wins a bunch of games as a starter for them.
All the pieces matter and that is true from a roster perspective. That is true from a regular season where They say all 162 count the same. And it's true. If the Blue Jays had lost one more game, they wouldn't have won the division. But sometimes the games earlier in the season feel like they matter a little bit more. They dictate your trade deadline strategy and things like that. That'll come up later in the show when we're talking about the Mets and the Reds. Uh and maybe the Guardians and the Tigers uh as well, because the Guardians just completed the single greatest divisional comeback in league history, and the Mets completed, I haven't quantified the
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How did the Blue Jays clinch the AL East title?
0:16–12:06
2
What impact did Alejandro Kirk’s clutch home run have on the division race?
12:06–25:10
3
Why is the Blue Jays’s bullpen considered a key to their success?
25:10–38:56
4
How did the team’s identity evolve over the season?
38:56–52:37
5
What are the implications of the bye week for Toronto’s rotation and health strategy?
52:37–1:05:47
6
How might an ALDS matchup against the Yankees or Red Sox affect the Jays’ chances?
1:05:47–1:18:03
7
What role do depth players like Ernie Clement and Miles Straw provide?
1:18:03–1:29:57
8
What are the expectations for the Blue Jays heading into the postseason?
1:29:57–1:39:53
Speakers
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