JTP: Will the Jays Sell & Who’s Elite in the AL?
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Why are the Blue Jays struggling after last year's World Series run?
More of the same from your Toronto Blue Jays last night down at Rogers Center. They lose. 7-1 to the Tampa Bay Rays. Now losing to the Tampa Bay Rays has been fairly common over the years. This one feels a little bigger given the stakes, given the talking points around urgency, and given what the standings continue to look like. The Blue Jays are now a season-worst eight games below .500. Not only are they fifth in the American League East, they have the fourth-worst record in the entire American League at this point. And while those playoff odds do technically say something, 10.9% right now. They are 5.5% back of the wild card. They would have a whole bunch of teams to jump. They are not getting particularly healthy, particularly imminently.
And they've got three more against this raised team before they go to Boston for three against a team that has won 14 in a row. It is... Not a situation where there is a particularly bright light at the end of the tunnel. Sure, it's baseball. Weird things happen. No one thought the Red Sox were going to win 14 in a row. Nobody really thought the Orioles were going to win a bunch in a row there to get themselves back in the wild card race. Either... Things can happen, but things have to happen pretty damn quickly for the Blue Jays at this point for my show 13 days from now on the trade deadline to not be a seller's show instead of a buyer's show, which we all expected it would be at the start of the season.
Do we blame Taylor Walls for all of this? No, we can blame him for some of it. Let's do that with Ben Schulman, voice of the Toronto Blue Jays on the Blue Jays radio network. He joins us now. Ben, how are we doing, buddy?
Doing great. Doing great. How are you?
I mean, I'm good generally. I'm not great from a baseball and doing a baseball show standpoint, but what are you going to do? Man, I looked it up this morning. You and I were texting about Taylor Walls yesterday. It feels like he always does this to the Blue Jays. 586 career OPS against the Jays.
Yeah, so kind of career average. But this year, it's got to be like, I haven't looked at it this morning, it's got to now be like 870 or something like that.
It's pretty damning. And it does feel like maybe it's not the Taylor Walls of it all. Maybe it's just the fact that the Rays always have someone like that. It's 981 for this season, by the way. That's how you fill some air while you look up a stat. 981 in seven games against the Jays so far this year.
Yeah, I mean, it's a credit to him. The reason I've probably become fixated with it is he's a player I'm really fascinated by. I mean, I really think very few other teams would probably play him as much as they do because of his offensive deficiencies, but he's so good defensively. And so I'm just fascinated by him being a player. And then for really the qualified hitter with the worst career OPS, you know, right now in the majors, not this year, but career, to be killing the Blue Jays this year is just so Blue Jays race, like just exactly what I grew up on. So, you know, good for him. It's well time for him. I think he's a free agent coming up soon.
Yeah, there you go. And he also, 2028 free agent. Although club option, who knows? It's not a big club option. It's the Rays and anyone can do that. It is not a big club option. You will be shocked to learn when the Rays give out a multi-year deal. It is, there's not a lot going on there. By the way, on the season, so you mentioned he's the, and I promise this is not an all Taylor Walls show today, but to kind of, Paint the picture. He is the lowest career OPS of qualified hitters right now. He has a 588 career and a 613 right now, which is better than a handful of Jay's regulars. right now, which is alarming. So, look, things are bad for the Jays. It is not all Taylor Walls, although that feels particularly on point for someone like that to have outlier games and outlier season against the Blue Jays right now.
And the Blue Jays' bats are an issue. I just said it there. Some guys with a batting line worse than Taylor Walls.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
Why are the Blue Jays struggling after last year's World Series run?
0:21–8:40
2
How did the Jays' loss to the Rays highlight offensive and defensive issues?
8:40–10:18
3
What explains Taylor Walls' dominance versus the Blue Jays this season?
10:18–26:00
4
Could frustration and urgency be affecting the Blue Jays' defense and hitting?
26:00–1:39:51
Speakers
6 identifiedMore from Blue Jays Talk
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