Blue Jays bashing their way up the standings

Just over two weeks ago, the Toronto Blue Jays were shutout by the Washington Nationals to fall to 23-30 on the season. An 11-game winning streak, 13 wins in 15 games and a lot of runs later, and the Blue Jays find themselves right back in the thick of things in the AL East.

At 36-32, Toronto is just two games behind the first-place Tampa Bay Rays. The Blue Jays have started up another winning streak after a brief two-game losing streak, beating the New York Mets by a combined score of 15-1 over the last two games.

In the last 15 games, Toronto’s offense has been dominant, scoring 108 runs. That’s good for 7.2 runs per game. For the season, the Blue Jays are at 376 runs, by far the most in the majors. Only four other teams have reached the 300-run mark, and the next-highest team is at 305 runs.

When you look at a bunch of the other hitting statistics, Toronto is at or near the top of many of them. They’re tied for the league-lead in hits. They have the most doubles and are tied for second in home runs. They’re third in batting average, second in OBP and first in OPS.

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The powerful lineup is led by third baseman Josh Donaldson, who’s putting up a .307/.363./.559 line with 17 home runs and 46 RBI. He’s fifth in the AL in home runs and RBI, and he’s a legit MVP candidate.

Three other Blue Jays have reached double digits in home runs. Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista both have 13 dingers, while catcher Russell Martin has gone yard 10 times.

There’s nobody else that really stands out in the lineup, but those power hitters along with a bunch of other solid players have made for baseball’s best unit. Jose Reyes has been solid (when healthy) and Chris Colabello is having a career year.

If Toronto continues to rake, they could make some noise in the AL. The Blue Jays currently have 12/1 odds to win the AL pennant, the same odds as the Rays, Los Angeles Angels and Texas Rangers, per Bovada.