The Toronto Blue Jays are heading back to the postseason. On Thursday afternoon, the Blue Jays clinched a wild-card berth in the American League thanks to the Boston Red Sox defeating the Baltimore Orioles. The Yankees have already clinched the AL East, so Toronto will be one of the three AL wild-card teams. Exactly which one remains undecided.
The Blue Jays entered Thursday with a 1 1/2-game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays for the top wild-card spot and thus home-field advantage in the best-of-three Wild Card Series. Barring something crazy, the three wild-card teams are set with the Mariners and Rays joining the Blue Jays, though the seeding is very much up in the air. They're all still aiming for the top spot and home-field advantage. (The Orioles, the only other team mathematically alive for a wild-card spot.)
The Blue Jays came into the season as a trendy World Series contender and a bona fide threat to win the AL East. They've had a very good season, though underperformance by Jose Berrios and Yusei Kikuchi, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. being merely great rather than MVP caliber, are among the biggest reasons they'll settle for a wild-card spot.
On the bright side, young Alek Manoah emerged as an ace and a legitimate Cy Young contender in his first full MLB season, and Alejandro Kirk broke out as one of the game's top hitting catchers. Top prospect Gabriel Moreno made his big league debut as well and figures to play a larger role next year, unless of course he's packaged in a blockbuster trade.
For the Blue Jays, this is their first postseason trip since being the No. 8 seed in the expanded 16-team field in 2020. It is their first postseason trip in a full 162-game season since 2016.
The Astros have clinched the AL West and the Guardians have clinched the AL Central. Only the two remaining wild-card spots are to be decided in the AL.
