Bullpen collapses and cold bats at the worst times contributed to the Blue Jays falling just short of the MLB playoffs

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This article was published 05/10/2021 (1491 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The way Marcus Semien sees it, the Blue Jays became the best team in baseball. It just happened “a tick too late.”

The San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers beg to differ but, when it comes to clubs in the American League, Semien might be onto something. The Jays’ 22-9 (.710) record over the final five weeks was tops in the AL and only two teams had a superior run differential over the entire year.

The Jays put up 91 wins, tied for the fifth most in franchise history, yet finished one game back of a wild-card spot. So, how is it that one of the most talented teams — a club the New York Yankees chose to avoid playing had a four-way tiebreaker been necessary — missed the post-season?

The answer is complicated. A slew of early-season meltdowns by the bullpen didn’t help, nor did the normally potent bats going silent for stretches at various points of the year. Shaky defence played a role too, as did a pair of crucial series losses to the Yankees, one back in June and the other just last week at Rogers Centre.

To be clear, some of these situations are unavoidable over 162 games, even for good teams. The Yankees made the post-season despite some issues in the bullpen and a seven-game losing streak in September. The Red Sox survived despite a potentially catastrophic series loss to the lowly Baltimore Orioles in the final week.

But those teams were still playing Tuesday night, the Jays weren’t. If a couple of their tough losses went the other way, that wouldn’t be the case. Here’s a closer look at the ones that got away in 2021 and contributed to them missing out:

Walking the world: Considering how the story ended, it’s easy to forget that Tyler Chatwood was an integral piece of the bullpen for the first two months of the season. He earned the role of Charlie Montoyo’s top setup man during a run in which he posted a 0.53 ERA across 17 innings. Then everything fell apart, Chatwood proved incapable of throwing strikes and his collapse decimated an already weak group of relievers.

On May 23, the Jays were clinging to a two-run lead over Tampa Bay. Chatwood allowed two hits and issued a pair of walks before he became visibly upset when Montoyo pulled him from the game. Travis Bergen entered and promptly walked three more guys as a 4-2 lead became a 6-4 loss.

Less than a week later, Chatwood was at it again. This time he was pitching in the sixth inning of a doubleheader against Cleveland. The Jays were up 4-0 and had a win probability of 95 per cent when he proceeded to walk five batters across 1 1/3 innings. The Jays eventually lost 6-5 on a sacrifice fly by José Ramirez. Over his final 14 appearances, Chatwood posted a 13.09 ERA with two losses and a blown save.

RISPy business: It’s difficult to outhit the opposition 16-8 and still come away with the loss, but the Jays made it look easy against the Red Sox on June 11. They went just 4-for-15 with runners in scoring position while stranding 13 men on base, which kept the game close and presented another opportunity for the bullpen to blow it.

Rafael Dolis took the loss, his first of two in the series, after he allowed a walk-off double to Alex Verdugo. Dolis went on to post a 5.63 ERA with three losses and a blown save before the Jays severed ties.

In Toronto’s first 20 games of June, the offence scored three runs or fewer nine times.

The Buffalo Yankees: The series responsible more than any other for the Jays missing the post-season took place June 15-17. The Jays had the lead in all three games yet didn’t come away with a single victory. In Game 1, they were up 5-2 after five innings. The next day, they were up 2-0 after six. During the series finale, they led by one going into the seventh.

With guys like Trent Thornton, Joel Payamps, Carl Edwards Jr. and Anthony Castro, along with the already mentioned Dolis and Chatwood, tossing important innings, it’s no wonder the Jays struggled. Instead of winning all three against a division rival, they were swept.

Adding insult to injury, the pro-Yankees crowd at Sahlen Field enjoyed every second of it.

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The throw: Semien was one of the reasons the Jays even had a chance late in the year. He set the major-league record for most home runs hit by a second baseman, won several games on his own and should finish top three in voting for the AL MVP award. Nobody should criticize his overall performance, but there is at least one play he would like to have back.

On Aug. 29, the Jays had a 3-2 lead over the Detroit Tigers in the top of the ninth. A routine grounder was hit to second base for what should have been the game’s final out. Unfortunately for the Jays, Semien’s throw sailed wide of first base and Willi Castro came around to score the tying run. Two innings later, the game ended in a 5-3 Tigers win.

The late-season swoon: The Jays were almost perfect in September, but there was one sluggish week that really cost them. After dropping a series in Tampa Bay, and settling for a disappointing split in Minnesota, Montoyo’s squad returned home needing a series victory over the Yankees to regain their footing.

The lineup went quiet at an inopportune time. In the series opener, despite Yankees starter Jameson Taillon getting pulled with an injury in the second inning, the Jays produced just two runs on three hits. In the finale, they had 10 hits, only one of which came with a runner in scoring position in another sluggish two-run performance. The lineup bounced back against Baltimore but by then it was too little, too late.

Gregor Chisholm is a Toronto-based baseball columnist for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @GregorChisholm or reach him via email: gchisholm@thestar.ca