Fan Poll: Can the Toronto Blue Jays keep this level of play up going forward?

On May 7, the Jays had a lackluster 16-20 record and would need to leapfrog six teams in order to get into playoff position.

Six weeks later, they've flipped the script. Toronto currently boasts a robust 40-33 record that places them in the second of three AL Wild Card spots and just two games back of the Yankees for the AL East crown.

Going 24-13 over their past 37 games is certainly impressive, but it begs the question: which version of the Blue Jays is the real one?

Looking at the season as a whole, Toronto is a somewhat middling club. Their team wRC+ of 106 ranks 12th in the majors, which is solid but hardly spectacular.

The same can be said of their bullpen, which ranks 11th in ERA and 9th in FIP this year with identical 3.60 figures in both stats.

While both of those numbers are more or less in line with what one would expect from a Wild Card contender, the starting pitching is a different story.

The Jays' rotation has been a disaster this year with a 4.61 ERA (26th in the majors) and 4.72 FIP (27th).

That bottom-five rotation in the sport has left the Jays with a negative run differential, as they've been outscored by their opponents 319-315 even after this recent stretch of strong play.

A closer look at the team's performance over the past six weeks offers a hint at what's changed.

While the Toronto offense has been only slightly better than average on the season as a whole, Blue Jays hitters have been among the sport's very best from May 8 onward.

In that time, they've slashed .270/.339/.443 as a team with a 121 wRC+, second to only the Dodgers in MLB.

In other words, the team's average slash line during their recent hot streak has roughly mirrored Gunnar Henderson's overall offensive production this year.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr is a big part of this, as he's begun to heat up after a slow start to the year with a 152 wRC+ over the past six weeks. Bo Bichette (131 wRC+) and Alejandro Kirk (145 wRC+) have played closer to the star-level expectations they had fostered in previous seasons than 2024's down years during that same time frame, as well.

Not all of that success is entirely sustainable, no one should expect Addison Barger to replicate his 167 wRC+ from the past six weeks long term, but the extreme outlier performances have been balanced by injuries to plays like Daulton Varsho and slumps for players like George Springer (98 wRC+ since May 8) and both for Toronto's big offseason pickup Anthony Santander.

Lets not forget the success of the criminally underrated Ernie Clement is having this season and from out of nowhere backup catcher Tyler Heineman who pulled off the ultimate magic trick by hitting over .400 so far this season.

Even as they've found success in recent weeks, the starting pitching has remained brutal.

The rotation's ERA is actually worse over the past six weeks than it has been for the season overall, with a 4.78 ERA that comes in ahead of only the Orioles, Rockies, and Athletics.

Decent mid-rotation performances from Jose Berrios, Chris Bassitt, and Kevin Gausman haven't been enough to outweigh the struggles of Bowden Francis and the absence of Max Scherzer.

The Blue Jays have generally managed to make up for their abysmal starting pitching with a defensive unit that has been consistently excellent.

No team in baseball has come close to Toronto's defensive prowess this season according to Fangraphs' defense metric, which gives the Blue Jays a 20.3 figure that's good for more than double the second-place Braves (8.3).

According to Statcast's Fielding Run Value, Kirk and Clement have both been elite defensively, as has the center field tandem of Myles Straw and Varsho.

Andres Gimenez has also been excellent at the keystone, and even Guerrero has looked solid at first base.

While Bichette's defense leaves much to be desired at shortstop and Springer shouldn't play the field at this point in his career, it's a strong defensive unit that has managed to buoy the Jays through their pitching woes.

It wouldn't be a shock if they managed to continue fielding well enough to overcome their weak pitching, at least until closer to the trade deadline when they'll presumably look to make some external additions.

Can the Toronto Blue Jays keep up this level of play and make this years playoffs?

Tell us what you think in the poll below.