5 Reasons Mets Fans Don't Want To Face The Blue Jays
By Ryan Mayer, CBS Local Sports
Congratulations Mets fans, your team has made it to the World Series! You're four games away from being able to wash away the pain of years of terrible teams. As you get ready for the World Series starting on Tuesday night, I'm sure you'll be wondering about the teams you could possibly face: the Kansas City Royals or the Toronto Blue Jays. You're probably trying to figure out which team presents the better match-up and chance for you to be celebrating come early November. That's what I'm here to help with. Here's 5 reason you don't want any parts of the boys from the Great White North.
Toronto Hits Bombs, Lots Of Them
The Blue Jays led the MLB with 232 homers during the course of the regular season. They've added on 12 more during the course of the postseason. They had three players with 39+ home runs (Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista, and Edwin Encarnacion). In addition another 4 guys in their line-up had double digit long balls this season. That's not even counting Troy Tulowitzki who has serious power potential.
They Led The League In Run Differential, By A Lot
Run differential (runs scored-runs given up) is a generally accepted measuring stick for how a team is really performing during the course of the season. A high positive run differential means regardless of their record, that team is actually playing pretty good baseball, while a negative or low one can mean they're average to below average.
MORE: 5 Reasons Mets Fans Don't Want To Face The Royals
Well, the Blue Jays run differential this season? +221. That is in comparison to the Mets +70. The Mets posted a respectable number no doubt, and yes there's a difference between the first half and second half Mets in terms of offense, but same goes for the Blue Jays after they acquired Tulowitzki and added David Price.
They Are Dominant At Home
At the Rogers Centre this year, the Jays are 53-28 and 4-1 in the post season. Their run differential is +158 at home. Why is this so important? Well, due to the AL winning the All-Star Game, the Jays would have home field advantage if you were to face them in the Fall Classic.
David Price, Marco Estrada, and Marcus Stroman
The pitching triumvirate that the Jays throw out there at the top of their rotation is deeper than either of the two teams the Mets have previously faced. David Price is a former Cy Young winner, who like Kershaw has had postseason issues in his career, but he's still a Cy Young caliber pitcher, and they tend to eventually figure it out. Marco Estrada has been the Jays best pitcher by far this postseason with a 2.33 ERA and 0.78 WHIP in 19.1 innings. Finally, Stroman is a young phenom and has given the Jays a quality start each time out. They may not look scary on paper, but each one of these guys has lights out stuff.
They're Comeback Specialists
If the Jays make the World Series by beating the Royals, that will have been the second consecutive series in which the team has come from behind to win the series. Against the Rangers they were down 2-0 and against the Royals down 2-0, then 3-1. The team just doesn't die. That should scare you.
The Mets have been very, very good in the postseason. This is not meant to dispute that or say that the Mets wouldn't win against the Jays if they were to square off. But, there are some things about the match-up that are scary for the Mets going into that series.
Ryan Mayer is an Associate Producer for CBS Local Sports. Ryan lives in NY but comes from Philly and life as a Philly sports fan has made him cynical. Anywhere sports are being discussed, that's where you'll find him. Agree/Disagree? Thoughts, comments, complaints? Email or tweet him.
