Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins was in a cheery mood meeting with the media on Monday after his team swept the NL-leading Atlanta Braves over the weekend.
"So many good things I could highlight," Atkins began the scrum in Toronto's home dugout.
The Blue Jays general manager went on to praise the club's coaching staff, the bullpen and a few individual performances, while insisting the best from these Blue Jays is yet to come. Here are three more takeaways from the GM's meeting with the media:
Areas For Improvement?
The Jays have "weathered" an early schedule with plenty of road opponents, Atkins noted, putting the club in a good spot at the quarter mark of the season.
However, the GM still sees potential upside and areas for improvement across the roster. Atkins pointed to expected improvements from OF George Springer and SP Alek Manoah, but noted the bulk of any improvement will come from more consistency across the 26-man roster.
"I think when you see stretches of 30 to 45 games and really good outcomes you typically have the bulk of your roster, if not all of your 26-man roster performing at at least their potential, or a really high level, in some cases above it," Atkins said. "And we just haven't hit that point yet, which I'm very confident that we will."
The GM pointed to the Rays' first month of the season and the Dodgers' current hot streak as examples of when a team's entire rosters click at once. The Blue Jays are currently on pace for 97 wins, despite players like Manoah, Springer, Cavan Biggio, and Danny Jansen playing under their career norms.
"I think there are some individual aspects to our roster that I think are going to correct," Atkins said. "We've already seen some of that with Brandon Belt and Dalton Varsho. And then I think we're gonna see things sync up better."
AL East Presents Unique Challenge
Despite a 97-win pace, the Blue Jays wouldn't even host a playoff series if the season ended today. All five teams in the American League East entered Monday with a winning record and the Jays sat in third in the division and in the AL's second wildcard spot.
It's not an unfamiliar feeling for the Jays to be stuck in a competitive AL East, but this year's divisional setup is a bit different. With MLB's new balanced schedule, the Jays play fewer games within the division, seeing each East team 13 times instead of last year's 19.
The new balanced schedule is a positive as it prevents "cannibalizing" within the division, Atkins said, but it also allows the other teams in the division to beat up on lesser opponents, raising win totals across the East. The result is a division with all five teams on pace for 87 or more wins and the same old tough AL East.
"I think in the long run there are ways to benefit from it," Atkins said. "Albeit with some challenges."
Injury Updates
Top prospect Ricky Tiedemann is "feeling back to himself," Atkins said. The lefty pitcher has been out since May 4th with biceps soreness, after posting a 4.97 ERA in his first four starts at Double-A this year. Tiedemann should be back throwing shortly, Atkins added.
Chad Green and Hyun Jin Ryu continue to recover from their respective Tommy John surgeries. Both pitchers underwent surgery in June of last year and are back throwing bullpens at Toronto's player development complex in Dunedin, Florida. Both are on a mound progression and could return to facing hitters and game action in June. Atkins is hopeful both Green and Ryu can impact the Blue Jays "at some point this summer," he said.
"Everyone's progression is different and everyone's progression typically has a setback or two," Atkins said. "So you have to account for those, and that's somewhat built into our timelines."
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