In flawed AL East, inconsistency is the only constant

David DeJesus misses the intimidating Yankee Stadium.

"I don't feel it's the same, to be honest with you," says the Tampa Bay Rays outfielder, who's known excellence in the Bronx and baseball in the American League East for most of his life.

Brooklyn born, grew up in nearby New Jersey, starred down the road at Rutgers, first played in the Bronx at the height of Yankees dominance in 2004 – DeJesus remembers:

"It was packed every day. It felt like the fans were on top of you. It felt like once the Yankees started coming, they were just breathing on you."

It might not feel the same now, as Yankees fans gradually warm up to a team that's missed the playoffs the past two seasons and entered this year - the first in the post-Derek Jeter era - with tempered expectations.

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Even in a division that's traded much of its pizzazz for parity.

There was no clear favorite coming into the season, only a collection of good teams that each could tick off an "If this happens …" wish list of reasons for plausible optimism.

But it's the Yankees who have jumped to the top of an AL East in which, since April 19, every team has at least been tied for the lead. That was the only day on top for defending champion Baltimore, which was in last place four days later and now has jumped back up to second.

Through an early season in which the five teams have spent most of their time in an intradivision round-robin, it's only the Yankees who are more than two games either side of .500 after a 13-4 run that includes to a 7-3 stretch since pitching ace Masahiro Tanaka pitched for the last time for who knows how long?

Thus, while the Yankees have generated some separation, they are as much in flux as their AL East counterparts – warily eyeing the what-ifs.

Start with Tanaka, back on the disabled list with arm woes that only accelerate the concern that Tommy John surgery is in his future.

Even still, pitching is a Yankees advantage while division rivals Boston and Toronto almost daily swap places as worst and next-to-worst pitching staffs in the American League.

Pitching is what keeps Tampa Bay in the race, the Rays ranking third in the league despite seemingly crippling injuries, one spot behind the Yankees. Meanwhile, Baltimore's batters have the highest on-base- plus-slugging percentage (OPS) in the league and Toronto has scored the most runs in the majors.

The Blue Jays began with six rookies on their roster; 90% of the Yankees at-bats have come from players 30 and over.

The situations for all five are different but the balance is tenuous for all of them.

As understated Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell sums up, "I would imagine we're going to be neck-and-neck with most everybody in this division throughout."

Indeed, after sweeping the Red Sox at Fenway Park over the weekend, the Yankees promptly lost their series opener at Toronto on Monday night, with perhaps another regression to the divisional mean in the offing.

How each of the AL East teams can remain neck-and-neck – or better – and why they might not.

Yankees: Finishing kick

DeJesus wants no confusion: The current guys in pinstripes are plenty good, he says, but can't match the connection created by teams built around the Core Four of Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada.

The evolution is proceeding as smoothly as could be expected. Jacoby Ellsbury and the most prominent of the current homegrown guys, Brett Gardner, batted a combined .418 with a .473 on-base percentage over a recent nine-game stretch as the 1-2 hitters.

Start quickly and finish with a flourish.

The Yankees are getting even more dominant performances at the ends of games. Closer Andrew Miller and eighth-inning guy Dellin Betances – for the record, manager Joe Girardi refuses to officially name a closer though lefty Miller has 10 of the team's 12 saves – have allowed 11 hits and no earned runs in 28 2/3 innings while striking out 49. Michael Pineda is the only Yankees starter with more strikeouts than Betances.

"We want teams to come in here and when it gets late in the game, know the stuff that's coming of the bullpen is incredible," catcher Brian McCann says. "Nobody wants to face these guys."

Whether the current formula is sustainable depends whether the mostly-veteran (i.e. aging?) remainder of the roster can pick up the slack. Ellsbury and Gardner are the only regulars hitting better than .250, though Chris Young is over .300 and may earn a regular spot.

Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez are top-fve guys in AL homers so far, but are hitting a combined .216. Is the offense too all-or-nothing, especially when Ellsbury and Gardner can't maintain the other-worldly on-base pace?

If Tanaka misses extended time, is there any hope for 0-4 CC Sabathia to regain anything close to his previous ace status?

The idea on a tight division is to have a team that should improve as the season progresses. That could be the biggest question of all for the Yankees.

Blue Jays: Volatile youth

Toronto bought in on the concept of a team that would get better, opening the season with six rookies. Opening-day center fielder Dalton Pompey and reliever Miguel Castro – he was promoted to closer for a couple of weeks – and starter Daniel Norris already are in the minors.

But second baseman Devon Travis already is threatening a rookie of the year runaway.

Manager John Gibbons stressed patience with the young players as the season began but the leash got shorter in part because the rookies couldn't ease into lower-leverage secondary roles. Not with Jose Bautista batting .205 and Edwin Encarnacion .221 and Jose Reyes on the disabled list. Not with Mark Buehrle, R.A. Dickey and Drew Hutchison – that would be the experienced portion of the rotation – combining for a 6.04 ERA. Not with occasional closer Brett Cecil at 4.50.

The Blue Jays quietly assessed the division as balanced enough to sort through the rookies' development for half the season as well as size up how much and what type of pitching help they'll probably have to search for at mid-season. They didn't count on having to wonder about their veterans.

Perhaps no team in the division is counting more on no team playing consistently enough to take charge of the race.

Red Sox: An arms deficit?

Ask the Red Sox about counting on young players. That was last year's downfall, expecting the likes of Xander Bogaerts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and others to flourish, with no Plan B for the growing pains.

Now it's Bogaerts and Mookie Betts and, thanks to injuries, Blake Swihart who personify the future at Fenway. But adding veterans Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval and creating almost too much depth and lineup flexibility for Farrell is this year's safety net.

The plot twist for the Red Sox, though, is the pitching, especially the rotation issues. With Justin Masterson the only starter with a sub-5.00 ERA – and barely – the clamor and temptation for a Cole Hamels trade only continues to grow.

Or do the Red Sox take some of the same prospects it would take to acquire Hamels or another rotation-changing arm and promote them - making them this year's version of kids who must come through?

Touted lefty prospects Henry Owens and Brian Johnson are allowing well under a hit per inning at Class AAA but that comes with walk rates that could only be considered frightening to ex-pitching coach Farrell, who's already worried about overusing a veteran-dominated bullpen.

As with the Blue Jays, it's a matter of how long the Red Sox can afford to be patient, something the other teams in the division will help determine.

Rays: Ahead of schedule?

Tampa Bay was prepared to be patient, but guys like Chris Archer and Jake Odorizzi have other ideas.

Those two starters have allowed 52 hits in 79 innings, striking out 74 and walking 18. Both have a WHIP under 0.9.

So the Rays can continue to wait for the expected boosts from the returns of Alex Cobb and Matt Moore to the rotation and Jake McGee to the closer's role (by the way: Brad Boxberger has 16 strikeouts and five hits allowed in 10 innings filling in).

But first-year manager Kevin Cash chafes at the suggestion of biding time.

"We've asserted ourselves pretty well," he says. "The pitching that's been here has been great. Arch and Odo, what they've done has been special. A lot of guys have helped piece this together."

So have Cash and GM Matt Silverman, who have preached that the Rays' relevance is a product of their entire organization and that the off-season losses of GM Andrew Friedman and manager Joe Maddon wouldn't overshadow what the roster has to offer.

The question that always follows the Rays is, "Yeah, but will they hit?"

After all, they rank 13th in the AL in batting average. But they finished 12th or 13th in four of the seven seasons since they became a regular contender in 2008. And three of those four years were playoff years.

The formula hasn't changed. And if the pitching only gets better, the results might not be so different either.

Orioles Consistently inconsistent

And then there are the Orioles, who won the division by 12 games last year and are the only AL East team with two playoff appearances in the past three seasons.

Manager Buck Showalter well remembers the TV show "Name That Tune," where contestants would vie to identify a song the fewest notes into it. The fewer the notes, the more you won.

The Orioles win despite a baseball version of that game show, succeeding with a roster that annually seems to have fewer impact pieces. Whereas last season was salvaged in part by the last-minute signing of Nelson Cruz, if there is to be any cavalry riding in this year, it's likely to be internal.

Catcher Matt Wieters and shortstop J.J. Hardy haven't played yet as they recover from injuries. Third baseman Manny Machado, sidelined half of last season, only recently got his batting average over .200 thanks to a hot nine games (.375 with three homers) that coincided with the team's 5-1 stretch, which followed a five-game losing streak, which followed a 4-1 run.

That's inconsistency.

When the Orioles lose, they're sloppy and show the reasons some of general manager Dan Duquette's bargain acquisitions were available in the first place. When they win, they're the energetic group led by center field Adam Jones, the one Oriole all over the league leader boards.

"So we're capable of it," Showalter says of the efficiency that's necessary. "We're not the kind of pitching staff that's going to strike a lot of people out consistently so we have to do those things. We did it last year with this pitching staff and we're going to have to do it again this year."

Whether the Orioles simply prefer the low-budget route or there are more potential moves that stall on the owner's desk, we may never know, but count on Showalter to stick to the mantra that the Orioles offer opportunity.

"Plus," he says, "We're saving some of our ammo for needs. Spend all your money in the offseason, you can't do anything during the season."