Alyssa Dool
Staff Writer
@excalweb
It’s another Wednesday afternoon and my brother and I are on the four-stop O-train, streamlining from nearby the Ottawa river to Ottawa South. The O-Train is Ottawa’s light rail line. It’s a step up from busing with its comfortable cushioned seats, and wide walkways. Trying to pass the time and fill in the silence of the cart, typical conversation topics of weather, school, and sibling foolery are skimmed over until we arrive at sports, specifically baseball.
We both know the Jays are stuck in the fourth league spot. They haven’t made it to the playoffs in over two decades. And they’re stuck in what most people say is the toughest division in the league.
So where does that leave a Blue Jays fan like myself?
Stuck, on a four-stop train. Or that’s what I thought, until the new wild card position was announced.
Major League Baseball has finally introduced the second wild card position. Instead of four teams advancing from each league, there will now be five. Baseball is a game of little change and it’s these kind of announcements that shake up the league.
The second wild card will add more excitement to a season that’s considered the longest of most sports. There are 30 teams in the MLB, and up until this season only eight teams would advance to the playoffs, giving each team only a one-in-four chance of making it to the post-season.
Now, 10 teams will be advancing to the playoffs, bringing up the odds to one in three. Statistically speaking, there’s a good chance of seeing teams advance that never really have before.
So what does the new wild card position mean for the Jays?
Well, it means they just have one more reason to make it to the playoffs. The thing that people don’t know about our bluebirds is that they aren’t a bad team. But they aren’t a great team either. I have a feeling that this year is going to be different. I feel like the Jays are working themselves up for something new and distinct.
Because the Jays have adopted a new mentality, an “I don’t give a fuck” one.
It seems where once there was a revere for big teams like the Yankees and the Red Sox, there’s now a complete disregard for their reputations. The bluebirds have a young team and these youngsters are brazen.
I could go on about the Jays’ strengths in the bullpen. But the bullpen shouldn’t be the reason they don’t make the playoffs. The Blue Jays have the players and the heart. And did I mention the players?
Seriously though, they have an all-star pitcher Ricky Romero, and a pitcher who should be stumbling into his prime anytime now, Brandon Morrow. This, along with new additions Yunel Escobar, Colby Rasmus, and Kelly Johnson.
Ricky Romero is the most consistent of the Blue Jays’ players and that’s what the Jays are going to need more than ever. Romero is among the best of the players in the American League, he’s an all-star with clutch experience, wins to back him up, and a 2.92 ERA.
Morrow has been a hope for the past few years. Every year we expect him to make that season his, but we’re always left a little disappointed. But this guy is just hitting his prime, with growing improvements, he will ignite this season.
“Continuity in the staff is huge,” Alex Anthopoulos told Greg Brady and Jim Lang on Sportsnet 590. “There’s a lot more defined roles from the bullpen to the position players. […] From that standpoint this is the best collection of talent we’ve had in the organization since I’ve been general manger, at the big league level and at the minor league level.”
Anthopoulos isn’t going to plan around the second wild card though.
“We still need to build a team that can win the AL East,” he said. “Because I can imagine, going forward, that there are going to be a lot of teams that are going to get bounced in that one-game playoff that were probably a much stronger team over the course of six months.”
I know the Jays have the talent and the heart. I have my fingers crossed that this is the year they get out of their fourth-spot rut. I’m not asking for them to win the World Series, all I want is to get in the playoffs. Two decades is a long time—the Jays need to advance. And their fans? They deserve it.
So, Jays? Why don’t you put this train on warp speed and fly off the four-stop track.
