The Toronto Blue Jays are in 4th place in the A.L. East at the All-Star break with a 45-47 record which has them 11 games behind the Red Sox in the A.L. East and 10 games behind the Yankees for the A.L. Wild Card. The Blue Jays have played hard every night but they just seem overmatched in the A.L. East a lot of the time and the Jays have been unlucky with injuries so far in 2011. Here is a look at the players who made the biggest impact in the first half of 2011:

Team MVP: This was an easy choice as 30-year old righty swinging RF/3B Jose Bautista is the man in Toronto. Bautista played in 84 games in the first half of the 2011 season for the Blue Jays and he is 100 for 299 (.334 avg, 1.170 OPS) with 73 runs scored, 31 homers, 65 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Bautista has already walked 74 times while whiffing 54 times this year. If Adam Lind stays healthy behind Bautista in the second half of 2011, he’s going to still see a lot of fastballs to hit.

Biggest Surprise: 27-year old righty starter/reliever Carlos Villanueva has been great this year no matter what role the Blue Jays have needed him in. Villanueva has pitched in 22 games (9 starts) for the Blue Jays so far in 2011 and he is 5-1 with a 2.99 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. He has only allowed 62 hits in his first 78 1/3 innings as he is further cementing his job in the starting rotation.

Biggest Disappointment: The Blue Jays dealt for 31-year old righty reliever Frank Francisco to close for them but it just hasn’t worked out yet. Francisco has pitched in 29 games (0 starts) for the Blue Jays so far this year and he is 1-4 with 10 saves, a 5.92 ERA and a 1.85 WHIP. He has given up 31 hits and walked 14 batters in his first 24 1/3 innings while whiffing 29 batters. The stuff is there but the location has been way off.

The Toronto Blue Jays got off to a good start last weekend as they took 2 out of 3 games from the Minnesota Twins. They brought the whopping sticks as the Jays whacked 7 homers over the weekend. They outscored the Twins 22-8 in this series as they also got really solid pitching, especially from Kyle Drabek who only gave up 1 hit in 7 innings last Saturday. If the Blue Jays continue to get solid pitching they are going to be very, very tough in the A.L. East as the hitting is going to be really good again in 2011.

The Blue Jays started this season strongly but they lately they look like a car trying to drive with a flat tire. The Blue Jays are in 4th place in the A.L. East with a 44-45 record which has them 12.5 games behind the Yankees. The Blue Jays have had some surprises and disappointments so far this season and here’s a closer look:

Pleasant Surprises: 29-year old catcher John Buck was signed over the winter with not much expectations from the Jays. But he has been solid in the first half earning himself his first trip to the All-Star Game tomorrow night. Buck has played in 71 games for the Blue Jays this season and he is 64 of 235 (.272 avg, .808 OPS) with 27 runs scored, 13 homers and 41 RBIs. The Blue Jays also signed shortstop Alex Gonzalez hoping that he would play decent defense and hit a homer once in a while. Gonzalez has been much more than that especially with a bat in his hands. Gonzalez has played in 85 games for the Jays this year and he is 85 of 328 (.259 avg, .793 OPS) with 47 runs scored, 17 homers and 50 RBIs. He should have made the All-Star Team. 29-year old 3B/RF Jose Bautista has put on a power display that no one could of predicted out of him. Bautista has played in 88 games this season for the Jays and he is 72 of 304 (.237 avg, .903 OPS) with 55 runs scored, 24 homers, 56 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He, like Buck, is making his first All-Star appearance tomorrow night. 34-year old righty reliever Shawn Camp is pitching the best baseball of his major league career right now. He has pitched in 40 games (0 starts) for the Jays this year and he is 3-1 with a 2.53 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP.

Disappointments: 28-year old 2B Aaron Hill is coming off a career year for the Blue Jays. But this year has been completely opposite as his numbers have taken a nosedive. Hill has played in 71 games for the Jays this year and he is 53 of 281 (.189 avg, .631 OPS) with 33 runs scored, 12 homers and 33 RBIs. 27-year old Edwin Encarnacion came over in the Scott Rolen trade with the Reds with the idea that he would replace him as the starting 3B. This year he was so bad early that the Jays actually designated him for assignment and outrighted him to AAA. But he got his head on straight in the minors earning another chance with the Jays. Encarnacion has played in 45 games for the Blue Jays this season and he is 33 of 149 (.221 avg, .767 OPS) with 20 runs scored, 10 homers and 24 RBIs. 26-year old lefty swinging OF/DH Adam Lind also was coming off a monster 2009 season for the Jays (like Aaron Hill) and he has been awful this season (also like Aaron Hill). Lind has played in 86 games for the Blue Jays this year and he is 69 of 322 (.214 avg, .640 OPS) with 33 runs scored, 12 homers and 40 RBIs.

The Blue Jays had a rough time over the weekend against the Angels as they were swept. The Jays are now 7-6 on the season as they have now been outscored 58-57 on the year. They are now 3 games behind the Rays in the A.L. East and they are sitting in 3rd place in the division. The Royals come in for three games this week and then the Blue Jays have a big three game series over the weekend in Tampa.

I now it’s early but the Blue Jays are sitting atop the American League East with a 5-1 record. They have outscored the competition 29-18 this season. All five of the wins have been close enough that the Jays have a save in each win. Jason Frasor has 3 saves and Kevin Gregg has 2 on the year. It’s good to have to capable closers so that they won’t wear one out. I have a feeling that the Jays are going to be playing a lot of close games this season so protecting leads late in games will be very important and they have a solid, deep bullpen in place for 2010.