The Blue Jays Postseason Success is all about the Load Management:

This morning, Torontonians, Ontarians, and Canadians alike woke up with their Major League Baseball team moving on to the American League Championship Series (ALCS). That’s right, for the first time in nearly a decade, the Toronto Blue Jays will be playing in the ALCS. 

Beating up the Yankees

For Canadians these days, that heading probably sounds particularly sweet. What’s really sweet about it, though, is how true it is. In Game 1 against their division rivals, the New York Yankees, the Blue Jays scored in the first and second innings, and then never looked back in a 10-1 statement win to open the series. The following night, they went up 12-0 before letting New York back in the game (sort of) in a 13-7 win to take a 2-0 stranglehold on the series.

Sure, the Jays gave the Yankees hope in a 9-6 loss on Tuesday, but that was merely a hiccup along the way to Wednesday’s 5-2 closing game. The final game was the closest of the series, and Toronto used the depth of its bullpen to get through it, bringing a total of 8 pitchers to the mound. That’s the second-most pitchers used in a clinching postseason win in the history of the MLB.

Taking advantage of the rest

That’s also using a lot of pitchers, which is dangerous if the team needs to turn to any of them the following day. That’s why it was paramount that the Jays won that game and didn’t allow for a New York comeback the way it did in Game 3. If they lost Game 4, their pitching options for the elimination game on Friday would have been limited.

Game 1 of the ALCS is on Sunday, which means the Blue Jays have three full days of rest. That will be hugely valuable after Wednesday night’s win against the Yankees.

No rest for the opponents

Blue Jays fans – essentially everyone in Ontario, and, indeed, in Canada – will, of course, be watching Game 5 between the Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners on Friday. After all, the fans will want to see who the Jays will face in the ALCS.

What they should be watching for, though, is how much either team’s pitchers are being used.

In other words, Jays fans should be rooting for a long game, extra innings, preferably, and one that features numerous pitcher changes. A lot of at-bats; a lot of pitches. If that’s how things play out, the Blue Jays will have a massive advantage over the winner on Sunday for Game 1 of the ALCS. 

That’s what Jays fans should perhaps be watching closest for on Friday, hoping their ALCS opponent is made tired and forced to use their best pitchers, so they need to be rested until at least Game 2 of the ALCS. 

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