Is there a team with more to prove than the Toronto Blue Jays? Before the season began a week ago, many already wrote the Jays off as the basement dwellers in the American League East. Six games into the season, they own sole possession of first with a 5-1 record after taking two from Texas to begin the road trip and following that up with a sweep of Baltimore, who were supposed to have leapfrogged the Jays in sheer talent. The Jays sent a message to the nation by winning their fifth straight.

Many thought their trade of Roy Halladay with the Phillies in the offseason would take them off the map. Now some are suggesting that the deal might have done the exact opposite. While the players that they received have had nothing to do with their first week’s success, the fact that they’ve played so well is already starting to change the opinions of those around the country who wrote off the Jays before things got started.

Their first and only loss came with a ninth-inning collapse from closer Jason Frasor. In their five wins, three have been by way of comeback with the Jays down in the eighth or later. Reliever Casey Janssen earned three W’s to lead the league, and Frasor has picked up three saves, while Kevin Gregg has two of his own in his Jays debut. Vernon Wells and Alex Gonzalez have combined for eight of the team’s 11 home runs.

The Jays now travel home for their home opener. They’ll welcome the Chicago White Sox and their 2-4 record into town, which includes former super-prospect Alex Rios, who has done the exact opposite of what’s been expected from his raw talent level. The boos will resound loudly, but not nearly as loud as the cheers will be if the Jays manage a sixth straight win in front of 40,000 drunken fans. But don’t get your hopes up too high for these northern birds. This is similar to the Jays’ 27-14 start last season, and we all saw how that played out.