The Toronto Blue Jays are on a roll.
Entering Friday evening’s game against the Athletics, the Blue Jays are 54-39 and are coming off a 10-game winning streak that was snapped on Wednesday. The first half of this season is quickly becoming one of their best in franchise history, as their 54th win on Tuesday matched their franchise record before the All-Star Game.
Of course, that is an arbitrary number, as the All-Star game often shifts dates. Instead, we’ll compare how this season is going at the 93-game mark to other seasons in franchise history where the Blue Jays made the postseason.
The 1985 season
The Toronto Blue Jays made the postseason for the first time in franchise history in 1985. By the 93-game mark, the Jays had a 56-37 mark and finished the season going 44-25. With no Wild Card, the Jays jumped immediately into the American Championship series, going up 3-1 against the Kansas City Royals, only to lose the next three games.
Those 99 remain as a franchise best, and they should’ve been in the World Series. It’s worth noting that the two years before saw the Jays post their first two seasons above .500, with a 54-39 and 55-37 record in 1983 and 1984, respectively. They finished with 89 wins in those seasons, usually good enough to make the playoffs in the current format.
The 1989 season
In 1989, the Blue Jays had a 46-47 record after the 93rd game of the season, by far the worst of any season we’ll look at in this article. They finished the remainder of the 69 games, going 43-26, which happens to be one of the best records over the final 69 games in seasons they made the playoffs.. That was enough to finish first in the division by two games.
It was a particularly weak season for the American League East, as the Jays had the fourth-best record (89-73) in the American League, behind the Oakland Athletics (99-63), the Royals (92-70), and the California Angels (91-71), all in the American League West.
In the American League Championship series, it was clear that the Blue Jays were the weaker of the two teams, and they fell in five games.
The 1991 season
Two years later, the Blue Jays made the postseason once again. This time, by game 93, they were 55-38, and finished the season 91-71. Although they had a strong first half, the Jays finished 36-33 in the remaining 69 games, the worst record over the final 69 games for any season they made the postseason.
Once again, the Jays fell in the Championship Series in five games, this time to the Minnesota Twins.
The 1992 season
Out of the nine years the Jays made the postseason in a normal season, their 57-36 record in 1992 was the strongest for any season at the 93-game mark. They finished with 96 wins and 66 losses, the second-best record in franchise history.
Down the stretch, they were 39-30, good, but not great. That didn’t matter though, as they finally won an ALCS, defeating the Athletics in six games to move to the postseason. There, they defeated the Atlanta Braves in six games to win their first World Series in franchise history
The 1993 season
The following year saw the Blue Jays go 51-42 by the 93-game mark. They ended up finishing with a 95-67 record, going 44-25 over the final 69 games to clinch the American League East. In the ALCS, they defeated the Chicago White Sox in six games, followed by Joe Carter’s walk-off home run in Game 6 for their second consecutive World Series.
Until the Toronto Raptors won the NBA Championship in 2019, the Blue Jays’ World Series win in 1993 was the last time a Canadian team won a North American Big Four Sports Trophy.
The 2015 season
The 1993 World Series win was the high for the Blue Jays for over 20 years. They had their bright spots, such as Roger Clemens winning back-to-back Cy Young Awards in 1997 and 1998, as well as Roy Halladay winning the Cy Young in 2003.
The 2015 season started rough for the Blue Jays, as they had a 23-30 record on June 2nd. They went on an 11-game winning streak afterward, and pulled their record to 46-47 by the 93rd game. Big moves before the trade deadline helped the Blue Jays go 47-22, their best record in the remaining 69 games.
They reverse-swept the Texas Rangers in the American League Divisional Series, but fell to the Kansas City Royals in six games, just over three decades after their first loss to the Royals in the postseason.
The 2016 season
Back at it the next season, the Blue Jays had a 51-42 record at the 93-game mark. Unlike the year before, their final 69 games were nowhere near as hot as the year before, as they went 38-31 to limp into the first Wild Card spot.
Edwin Encarnación hit a walk-off home run in the Wild Card game, and the Blue Jays swept the Texas Rangers in the ALDS. However, they fell in five games to the Cleveland Guardians in the ALCS, which kick-started a rebuild.
The 2022 season
The Blue Jays made the postseason in the 2020 season, but that was a shortened season due to the pandemic. After the 93rd game in 2021, the Jays were 48-45 and finished with a 91-71 record. Unfortunately, MLB didn’t expand the postseason to six teams until the following season.
In 2022, the Blue Jays had a 50-43 record at the 93-game mark. In the end, they finished with a 42-27 record, pushing them into their first postseason in a normal season since 2016. As you know, the Jays blew an 8-1 lead in Game 2 of the best-of-three Wild Card Series to the Seattle Mariners.
The 2023 season
The Blue Jays had massive changes during the 2022-23 season. Those changes eventually led to the team the Blue Jays are today, but they also worked out for the team in 2023. At the 93-game mark, the Jays had a 52-41 record.
Over their last 69 games, the Jays went 37-32 to end the season, giving them an 89-73 record, good enough for the final Wild Card spot. For the second consecutive postseason, the Jays were swept in two games.
So what can you take away from the Jays’ record?
The majority of the time that the Blue Jays have made the postseason, they’ve had at least 50 wins, aside from the 1987 and 2015 seasons. One way to overcome a start like that is to make massive moves at the deadline, as the 2015 Blue Jays did.
However, their 54-39 record has put them in a good position to make the postseason. Those moves should still be made, but as long as the Jays finish their last 69 games above .500, they’ll more than likely finish in a Wild Card spot at worst.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.