This story was excerpted from Keegan Matheson's Blue Jays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

This is when it starts to get fun.

June and July always have their stretches of slog, too early in the season to look at the postseason race but too late in the season to feel fresh. Come August, though, Major League Baseball gets its second wind.

The Blue Jays are on the rise, playing a more inspired and aggressive brand of baseball under interim manager John Schneider. A softer spot in their schedule hasn’t hurt, either, but things really begin to ramp up now with a stretch of play against American League rivals, including the Orioles. Yes, the mighty, scrappy O's.

At their best, the Blue Jays can be a World Series contender. It sounds like a steep hill to climb, given the strength of the Astros, Yankees, Dodgers, Mets and Padres, but once you get in, anything can happen. Just ask the 2021 Atlanta Braves, who snuck in with 88 wins -- the lowest win total of any playoff team -- and won the whole thing.

With 53 games to go, let’s take a look at what can go right or wrong for the Blue Jays.

THREE UP

Bats on bats on bats
Even when we criticized the Blue Jays’ lineup, it was one of baseball’s best. That criticism was still warranted at the time, when Toronto battled some individual slumps and a bizarre inability to hit with runners in scoring position, but lately this lineup has caught fire. The Blue Jays entered Monday’s series opener against the Orioles leading MLB with a .264 average and third in OPS (.764), behind only the Yankees and Dodgers. On days they’re outpitched, this lineup is fully capable of winning a 9-8 game.

Elite pitching … Well, at the top
Kevin Gausman and Alek Manoah could both finish in the top five of AL Cy Young Award voting. Both are sticking around for a while, too, so there’s plenty to dream on for the Blue Jays, and they’ll gave the pitching advantage -- or at least a draw -- in Game 1 and 2 against many clubs. Gausman, who is starting to look like a sure bet as the Game 1 starter again, is coming off AL Pitcher of the Week honors after throwing 14 scoreless innings, striking out 15. If a hitter grips the bat a little tighter come playoff time, that splitter will make them look foolish.

The highs are high
In MLB.com’s most recent power rankings, the Blue Jays come in at No. 8. That’s rarely how they play. Some days, they look like baseball’s 15th-best team; other days, they look like a legitimate No. 1. It’s not always the most consistent, but given the pure talent on this roster, few teams -- if any -- are capable of Toronto’s peaks. Get ready to hear a lot more about “peaking at the right time," and while there’s some risk involved, October rewards the bold.

THREE DOWN

The rest of the rotation
By October, we could still easily be discussing José Berríos as the third member of a “big three” in this Blue Jays rotation. He looked great in July before a tough outing in Minneapolis, but he’ll need to keep rolling to earn that trust. Once you get to the group of Ross Stripling (IL), Mitch White and Yusei Kikuchi, though, Toronto might find itself at a disadvantage against some teams. If a top starter goes down with injury or Berríos fades again, this would become even more pronounced.

Bullpen questions
This bullpen is good. There’s a difference, though, between “regular season” good and “World Series” good. Many clubs will have more firepower on the back end than the Blue Jays, especially when it comes to swing-and-miss stuff. Having Jordan Romano at closer is great, but by the end of October, the last teams standing tend to have two, three or four relievers capable of being a closer.

Giants at the top
The 2022 season seems to have more Goliaths, doesn’t it? Even with the Yankees’ recent spiral, they’re a great team. The Dodgers are scary, the Astros aren’t getting enough attention as a beast and the Padres, with Juan Soto, are a completely different threat now. All season long, we’ve talked about a “postseason race," but that shouldn’t matter for the Blue Jays. This team, with these expectations, should only be held up against the league’s three or four elite teams, and that’s a crowded group this season for a team with flaws.