With home runs aplenty, is there any pitching in the AL East?

We know there is hitting aplenty in the American League East, but can any of the contenders pitch?

The Blue Jays won the AL home run title and the division last season. This season, the Orioles led the majors in home runs while Toronto is fourth and Boston sixth.

The Red Sox lead the AL in runs with 369. The Orioles are third and the Blue Jays tied for sixth. The Red Sox have the highest average (.291) and on-base percentage (.357).

So while there's plenty of hitting, there is a common thread with the division's pitching: None of the contenders have a surplus.

Run production is nice to have, but pitching and defense wins divisions.

The Orioles have the best bullpen, but the rotation is questionable after Chris Tillman and Kevin Gausman.

Ubaldo Jimenez is usually at best inconsistent, but he couldn't get out of the first inning Sunday in Toronto. That's not exactly what the Orioles had in mind when they signed him to a $50 million contract.

Mike Wright and Tyler Wilson are good pitching prospects. They've done alright, but their original job at the start of the season was to be in the minor leagues, polish the skills and provide late-season depth for a team making a run.

Even Yovani Gallardo, who is scheduled to return to the rotation Saturday, is a question until he pitches well.

And when does Orioles manager Buck Showalter give Vance Worley a chance in the rotation?

The Orioles rank 12th in the league with a 4.84 ERA for their rotation.

Toronto is second at 3.75, while New York is eighth (4.36) and Boston ninth (4.55).

There could be plenty of pitching on the market for trades. Oakland has Sonny Gray and Rich Hill. The Diamondbacks have reliever Daniel Hudson, who could help the Red Sox bullpen, which has been hurt by the season-ending elbow injury to Carson Smith.

The Astros have Doug Fister, the Braves Julio Teheran and Twins Ervin Santana.

The Yankees, creaking with age, are hanging in there at 31-32. That's not bad for a team that was 8-14 in April.

Their rotation has been key to the rebound, but they're still hard to figure after CC Sabathia (2.28) and Masahiro Tananka (3.08).

Sabathia is healthy, strong and comfortable with his new approach, moving from power to command pitcher. The three other pitchers - Nathan Eovaldi, Michael Pineda and Ivan Nova - have each allowed more hits than innings pitched, but have a good strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Eovaldi has a 4.42 ERA, Pineda 5.88 and Nova 4.39.

Prospect Luis Severino, who looked good in 11 starts last season, was a disaster in his six starts this year before going back to the minor leagues.

The Toronto Blue Jays' strength is their health. They are developing depth that is the best in the division. Their three best starters have been at the back of the rotation with Marco Estrada (2.57), Aaron Sanchez (3.38) and J.A. Happ (3.70).

The Blue Jays have used five starters, six if you count Drew Hutchinson's one start. Hutchinson, who throw a heavy sinker, will work into the mix as a sixth starter because the Blue Jays are aware of keeping Sanchez's innings from running wild in his first full season. Last year, Sanchez was in the bullpen.

Marcus Stroman, who missed the first five months of last season and then pitched brilliantly in September as well as the postseason, has struggled all season. The Blue Jays say he needs to improve his curveball, show maturity and learn how to make adjustments.

R.A. Dickey, a former National League Cy Young Award winner, is a knuckleballer. Expect him to be up and down. The Blue Jays' best pitching prospects are at Double-A, so their best chance at depth would come from the bullpen in Jesse Chavez, a former starter in Oakland, and Gavin Floyd, 33, who hasn't started since 2014.

In the bullpen, Jason Grilli and his experience was brought in to help balance the youth of Roberto Osuna. The set-up roles are unstable. Drew Storen, former National, can't find his command and Brett Cecil is injured.

The Red Sox are still waiting for lefty David Price to go on a run. He's given up four earned runs in his last 15 innings over two starts.

Steven Wright, the knuckleballer, and Rick Porcello, a groundball pitcher, have been the two best starters. Eduardo Rodriguez, the guy the Orioles traded to get Andrew Miller, is scuffling after coming back from injury, but he was the Red Sox's best starter last season.

Boston doesn't need a fifth starter until Friday, and so that could be Clay Buchholz, who would return to the rotation from the bullpen, Henry Owens, Sean O'Sullivan or Roenis Ellis, who has dominated in the minor leagues.