Yankees Announcer Michael Kay Reacts to Callout From Blue Jays Broadcast After Sweep

The Toronto Blue Jays recently completed a four-game sweep of the New York Yankees, ascending to first place in the AL East in the process.

In the middle of that sweep, however, YES Network broadcaster Michael Kay said he didn't believe the Blue Jays had the look of a first-place team.

That prompted SportsNet's Jamie Campbell to take a dig at Kay following Toronto's sweep, and Kay of course had a retort of his own, citing that his original critique of the Blue Jays came down to a run differential that would suggest they've overachieved to this point (while implying that Campbell was a "fawning fanboy").

The Blue Jays are now 51-38, three games ahead of the Yankees (48-41). But Toronto has a run differential of just plus-11, which is worse than teams like the Boston Red Sox (45-45, plus-31), Texas Rangers (44-45, plus-28) and the Cincinnati Reds (46-43, plus-34).

Oh, and worse than the Yankees, who are plus-93. In fact, the Blue Jays have the fourth-best run differential in the AL East despite being atop the division.

Now, run differential is not guaranteed to be a determining factor in a team's win-loss record. Some groups are just very good at winning tight games. Other teams, like the Blue Jays, go on a tear after a slow start. The Blue Jays have now won seven straight games and are 25-10 since opening the season 26-28.

There have even been 11 teams in MLB history who reached the playoffs with a negative run differential (though three came in the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign and one came in the 1981 strike-shortened campaign). Only one of those teams (the 1987 Minnesota Twins) went on to win the World Series.

While the Blue Jays have surged past the Yankees in the AL East, the belief in the Bronx Bombers' clubhouse is that the team will recover. That's the message that manager Aaron Boone passed along to his team while addressing them following the series sweep.

"That we're the best team in the league," Yankees third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. told reporters when asked what Boone said to the team. "We knew we were going to hit a speed bump. Just block out the noise and go out there when we get back home in New York and do what we do."

Kay and other believers would point out that the team's run differential suggests a bounce-back is inevitable. The Blue Jays will counter that the Yankees need to prove it on the diamond.