Toronto Blue Jays in thick of playoff race entering final week of regular season

After a busy off-season with some big-name signings, the Toronto Blue Jays began the regular season feeling bullish about their chances of a playoff return.

TORONTO — After a busy off-season with some big-name signings, the Toronto Blue Jays began the regular season feeling bullish about their chances of a playoff return.

Entering the final week of the 2021 campaign, the Blue Jays are right in the thick of the wild-card chase.

The Blue Jays have been trending upward the last two seasons after a deep rebuild, and a strong September has improved their chances of making the post-season cut this year. Boasting a deep, homer-heavy offence and an improved starting rotation, Toronto could prove to be a frightening opponent in October.

“I talked to the team in spring training and I said everybody talks about our hitting and rightly so, because we’re going to swing the bats and we’ve got a good offence,” Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said on a recent media call. “But at the end of the day in the big leagues you win with pitching and defence.

“Our pitching has been so good, our starters have been great and our defence has played well. That’s one of the reasons we’re doing so well here lately.”

Toronto is chasing American League East rivals Boston and New York in the race for the two American League wild-card spots. The Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics also have a chance at making the cut.

The wild-card teams will meet in a play-in game Oct. 5 with the winner advancing to the AL Division Series and the loser going home.

Sluggers Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., and Marcus Semien are having MVP-calibre seasons for the Blue Jays, Bo Bichette and Teoscar Hernandez have provided middle-of-the-order pop and starter Robbie Ray is in the running for the Cy Young Award.