Arms lift Blue Jays in strong 2016 campaign

TORONTO — The Blue Jays went into this season with a “World Series or bust!” mentality, and they almost got there, but who could have predicted that their star-studded lineup would ultimately be the main culprit as they fell short?

Toronto entered this season with a core of players from last year’s American League East division title run, but there was still plenty of uncertainty about the pitching staff. Would the starters be good enough? Did the bullpen have enough reliable options?

There were a lot of questions before Opening Day, but none of them surrounded the everyday lineup. With a batting order that included Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, Troy Tulowitzki and Russell Martin, this team was expected to score early and often, just like it did a year ago.

Things didn’t go exactly as planned. Toronto still had its moments at the plate, but this year’s run to the postseason focused squarely on the pitching staff. The Blue Jays caught everyone off-guard by piecing together the best starting rotation in the American League, but in the end, there wasn’t quite enough offense to go all the way.

Here’s a look at what went right and wrong following Toronto’s second consecutive appearance in the AL Championship Series:

Record: 89-73, tied for second place, AL East.

Defining moment: The Blue Jays entered September with a two-game lead over Boston in the AL East, and the expectation was another division title. That quickly changed over the coming weeks, as Toronto’s lineup went into a deep slumber, and the ensuing 11-16 record in September had the club in serious danger of missing the postseason. The defining moment came during the final regular-season series of the year in Boston, when the Blue Jays had to win their final two games to clinch a Wild Card spot.

The Blue Jays bounced back from a potentially devastating loss in the series opener to take the final two games. Lefty J.A. Happ allowed just two runs over 6 1/3 innings on Saturday, Aaron Sanchez surrendered one run over seven innings in Game 162 on Sunday, and Toronto celebrated clinching home-field advantage over Baltimore for the AL Wild Card game, which proved to be pivotal just a couple of days later.

What went right: It seems kind of funny now, but Toronto originally was expected to win in spite of its starting rotation, not because of it. The hope surrounding this starting five was that it would be good enough to keep the Blue Jays in a lot of ballgames, and then the offense could take care of the rest. In the end, this team won 89 games because of its rotation, which turned out to be one of the best in baseball. Toronto starters led MLB in innings (995 1/3); led the AL in WHIP (1.22), opponents’ batting average (.236) and ERA (3.64); came in fourth in the AL in strikeouts (842); and they allowed the second fewest home …

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