The On Deck Circle

This article has been submitted by the debuting Jason Petznick.

Will the Jays break the .500 mark before the All-Star Game?

As I’m writing this, the Toronto Blue Jays are down three runs in the bottom of the 6th against the L.A. Angels, and A.J. Burnett is on the verge of another lacklustre outing. Never mind, make that a five run deficit.

Lets face it Jays fans, the odds of the boys in blue breaking the .500 mark before the All-Star break are slim-to-none. Even if they manage to pull off a win tonight, they still have to finish up with at least a 6-2 record (something they haven’t done since the end of May) going in to the break.

The Jays will have two more games against the Angels, three games against the Orioles and three games against the Yankees to try and make this happen. None of these teams are currently below .500, and all of these teams are currently leading their season series against Toronto. In fact, New York is the only one of these three teams that is currently below .500 in their last 10 games.

Don’t hang up your caps yet though Jays fans.

While the schedule may not get any easier for Toronto, with six games against the American League leading Tampa Bay Rays in their first 13 games following the All-Star break, I firmly believe the Jays will find their form with the addition of Adam Lind and the returns of Aaron Hill, Shannon Stewart, and, most importantly, Cito Gaston.

This is a team that, when it’s on top of its game, has shown it can be the best in baseball. I think the Blue Jays will finish the first half of the season 4-4 on the backs on Halladay and Litsch, head in to the All-Star break with a record of 45-50 on the season and have a lot of catching up to do in the second half. Don’t worry though ladies and gentlemen, it’s just a matter of time before the boys in blue find their groove again.

This article has been submitted by the debuting Jason Petznick.