TORONTO, Ont. – Sometimes, the fall from grace is inevitable. From the rooftop of the baseball world to the dungeon in one season, the Toronto Blue Jays suffered the kind of humility that does not escape even the hearty.
At this time a year ago, the Jays captured the American League East crown with a mark of 94-68 and five victories off the franchise record set in 1985. After the 2026 season concluded, the Jays’ record of 79-83 represented walking the plank and was as painful as likely predictable.
Just 12 months ago, the Jays took the AL East title in a tiebreaker over the New York Yankees. For the recently concluding season, the math was a drop of 15 victories and a last place finish in the division.
A combination of factors can be attribute to the Jays’ decline but reliever Louis Varland, who led the Jays with 35 saves as the closer, summed up the common refrain, simply, “it sucks.” Varland’s declaration exhibited the kind of frustration teams experience and the kind of marked reality which proclaims, “what have you done for me, lately.”
“This season was not ideal, from the way played to the injuries,” Varland said in the Jays clubhouse prior to a season-ending series against Cincinnati. “There were some breaks we manage to catch, or did not catch, for that manner. Disappointing. We are all frustrated and easily disappointed, collectively, as a group. We’re prepared to work in the off-season and come back to do what we should do.”
With a curtain call eluding, the Jays’ season was a roller-coaster of challenges.
Consider …
- The biggest factor was likely injuries. The Jays’ pitching staff was especially hard hit. The club lost Jose Berrios, Shane Bieber, Trey Yesavage, Cody Ponce and free agent Dylan Cease was inconsistent. Though Cease was tied for second place in strikeouts, he developed shoulder inflammation and was shut down by mid-September.
Add Addison Barger with time lost due to ankle strain and elbow inflammation, Alejandro Kirk with thumb fracture, Nathan Lukes with hamstring strain, George Springer with toe fracture, Anthony Sandtander with knee ACL sprain and shoulder labral tear, Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. with hamstring issues, lower back and right elbow contusion, Max Scherzer with forearm tendinitis, ankle inflammation and back spasms and Yesavage with knee inflammation and shoulder impingement, the collective time in the trainer’s room added to the club’s play over the course of 162 games.
- The Jays experienced a power failure and that was especially true of Vladamir Guerrero, Jr. With only one home run in his home park of Rogers Centre all season and combined with lower back issues and knee problems Guerreo’s season was the benchmark for the Jays’ failure to score at critical times.
- No electricity The Jays home run production fell from 2025 to 2026. In the AL pennant-winning season of 2025, Toronto blasted 191 round-tripper and for 2026, hit 152 homers. That’s a drop of 39, a decline of 0.24 home runs per nine innings, or a drop of just over 20 percent. Scoring runs was also a challenge in 2026, Toronto’s run production declined by 18.8 percent.
Overall, the drop in scoring and combination of injuries to key personnel were contributing factors why the Blue Jays are now establishing tee times.
“This was one of those years and it’s baseball,” said Jays reliever Mason Fluharty during the final series at home against Cincinnati. “Some years are better than others and some games are better than others. This season, we struggled with injuries and some set-backs. Many of the games just did not go our way. I think the biggest factor was the injuries we had.”
An admission … After telling a Spanish media outlet that “the money they gave me wasn’t for what I’m doing, it was for I already did,” Toronto first baseman Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. was contrite. The comments were generated toward a 14-year, $500 million deal he recently signed. For the 2026 season, Guerrero’s production declined considerably. He managed just one homer at home during the 2026 season and that was on Sept. 13 against Baltimore.
His lack of 2026 production was the catalyst for such remarks.
Compared to his monster post-season form 2025, Guerrero’s drop was abrupt and rapid. In the 2025 post-season, in which the Jays eventually lost to the Dodgers in the World Series in seven games, Guerreo hit .397 and led all players during post-season competition in OPS, total bases, extra base hits and runs scored.
His comments to that Spanish media outlet drew sharp criticism from fans and media and to a level that Guerrero felt compelled to respond.
Before the Jays opened their final series of the season at home against Cincinnati, a remorseful and apologetic Guerrero met the media. Speaking in Spanish and through an interpreter, he said through a thicket of microphones that he wanted to apologize and establish a process of understanding.
“The reason I’m here (before the media) is I regret my comments the other day,” Guerreo said. “The main reason is that I felt from my heart that my fans and my teammates needed an apology from me and that’s why I’m here. I’m also here that I want to tell everyone I will continue to work hard and to make my contract a great one.”
For the 2026 season, Guerrero appeared in 142 games, hit. .263 with nine homers and drove in 56 runs. In his final game of the 2026 season, Guerreo was 0-4 in a Jays’ 5-1 loss to Cincinnati on Sept 26.
