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The 2016 Toronto Blue Jays are showing the world that home runs are still sexy. Two games back in the American League East and in control of the second Wild Card slot, the Jays are repeating their assault on the home run records for the second year in a row. So far that is their biggest strength and greatest savior.
In 2015, the Blue Jays led all of baseball with 232 home runs and a slugging percentage of .457. This catapulted them to score 891 runs, over 100 more than the second-place team. They also had over 850 RBIs, again more than 100 above the second-best team.
So far in 2016, they are not quite as elite. The Jays are third in MLB in home runs. They also are only eighth in runs scored so far. This is in large part due to being 30 points lower in slugging percentage. Slugging percentage shows the decrease in both extra base hits and batting averages from singles. The Jays are not as good at getting on base or getting runners in as they were last season. Last year they were first in OBP in MLB. They still lead the AL in walks, but have dropped to 10th in OBP.
Looking at the individuals, many of the Blue Jays have gotten off to slow start, perhaps from aging. Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, Russell Martin and Troy Tulowitzki are all batting below .260. They are all also over the age of 30. Right now their best offensive player is left fielder Michael Saunders who, at 29 years old, is third in home runs and leads the regulars in batting average.
The Blue Jays started slow, but they have picked things up as the season has progressed. As they continue to hit home runs, they will keep pushing towards the playoffs in the hopes of getting hot when the weather gets cold.
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