Bautista thinks the AL East is a 2 team race

[Taz_Hokie]

As it stands right now the Jays are in a three-team race in the AL East with the Baltimore Orioles on top and the Yankees in third. Then it’s a big drop back to Tampa Bay and Boston.

Looking ahead, Jose Bautista sees it as a two-horse race between the Jays and the O’s with the Yankees falling by the wayside.

“I can’t predict the future, but you’d have to think so, especially with the reasons of the success of the Yankees (starting pitching) and what’s happening with their health as well (the loss of Masahiro Tanaka),” Bautista said. “You’d have to think that unless they have some people that come from the minors and just step up, you’d have to think that they’re going to take a step backwards. That’s just my assumption from their situation. It might not end up that way, but that’s what you can assume.

“The Orioles are doing good, they’re playing hard and tough. The other two teams (Boston and Tampa Bay) haven’t played good, so they’ve dug themselves into a hole that’s going to be hard to come out of. They’d have to do something extraordinary just to get back in the thick of things.

“I don’t see it being as tightly packed for that long at the top other than us and the Orioles just because of the way they’ve played and the way we’ve played.”

Blue Jays' Bautista: It's us and the O's | BLUE JAYS WATCH | Blue Jays | Sports

 

[UVA_Guy81]

Right now I can understand that line of thinking. The Yanks look old and their pitching staff is in shambles, and Tampa Bay and Boston definitely haven't done much of anything this year. The O's are very inconsistent, and the Blue Jays have been struggling as of late.

Though there is still a little under half a season to play which is a lot of time for teams to catch fire or go into a huge slump. I think we might have a little bit better idea come the trading deadline to see how everybody stacks up, along with who is going to be buying and selling.