Eleven months ago, these two teams were meeting in the ALCS. Now? Well, what a fall from grace.
Eleven months ago, the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners were battling in a seven-game American League Championship Series, which the Blue Jays won in electric fashion.
Now? Both teams are going to finish the season under .500. The Blue Jays were eliminated from playoff contention on Wednesday. The Mariners could be eliminated as early as Thursday.
It's been a stunning fall for two teams that had World Series aspirations heading into the season. It's also been historic.
As noted by @OptaSTATS, this is the first time since 1987, nearly 40 years, that the two ALCS participants from the year before will both finish under .500.
The Blue Jays enter play on Thursday at 77-82, with the best they can finish 80-82. The Mariners are 74-84, with the best they can finish being 78-84.
Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Andres Gimenez (0) greets Seattle Mariners first baseman Josh Naylor (12) during pre-game warmups at Rogers Centre. The two were previously team mates with the Cleveland Guardians. Dan Hamilton-Imagn ImagesHow did we get here?
These two teams share a lot of similarities in their failures this season:
1) Both teams dealt with injuries.
For the Blue Jays, the list is well known: Bowden Francis, Yimi Garcia, Jose Berrios and Anthony Santander haven't played a single game. Addison Barger played just nine. Cody Ponce pitched in just one.
Beyond that? Max Scherzer, Shane Bieber, Trey Yesavage, Dylan Cease, Alejandro Kirk, George Springer, Jesus Sanchez, Patrick Corbin, Daulton Varsho and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. spent time on the injured list. Some of those guys were there multiple times.
As noted by Spotrac, the Blue Jays have had 33 separate injured list stints this year totaling more than 2,190 days missed.
For the Mariners? They lost Brendan Donovan, Randy Arozarena, Matt Brash, Julio Rodriguez, Cal Raleigh, JP Crawford, Carlos Vargas, Cooper Criswell, Emerson Hancock, Victor Robles, Gabe Speier, Luke Raley, Logan Evans, Bryce Miller and Colt Emerson for various periods of times. They had 27 separate IL stints totaling more than 1,400 days missed at this point.
The injuries can't excuse everything, but they count for something.
2) Both teams have been extremely poor offensively. The Mariners rank 28th in runs scored and the Blue Jays rank 29th. The Jays are 27th in OPS. The Mariners? 29th.
3) And the stars have regressed and/or had poor years: Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez in Seattle, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in Toronto. Guerrero still only has nine home runs on the season.
Can these teams get back?
Sure they can, but with an MLB lockout looming on Dec. 2, there's less time than ever to get answers to serious questions before 2027.
