With 15 games left in the season, the Toronto Blue Jays very much control their destiny if they want to play October baseball.

With them being a single game back of the Cleveland Guardians, every single game matters. After dropping two out of three games against the Athletics in the first half of the week, the team now faces the Baltimore Orioles and Detroit Tigers in the next six games before they go out on the road to face the Rangers and Orioles again.

With every single game crucial, some key players have stepped up big time for Toronto, such as Alejandro Kirk, Kazuma Okamoto, and Andrés Giménez. New faces like Brett Bateman and Josh Smith have also been key contributors for the team’s turnaround to be back within the postseason picture. Despite that, there are a number of players on the Blue Jays that need to pull up their socks if they want to be in the playoff picture with three weeks to go. Let’s evaluate who some of those players are:

To say that Guerrero has not been right all season is really just stating the obvious. Every single insider and fan can tell that if Guerrero hits like even half of what fans were used to over this major league career, this team would have a few more wins under their belt. Guerreros OPS is sitting at a career low at .682 and has an OPS+ of just 89. For comparison, Charles McAdoo, who has played only 28 games this season has an OPS + of 79, just 10 points behind Guerrero.

In August, Guerrero only hit .221/.259/.299 in 19 games, While September is looking like a slight uptick in production, the team clearly needs more for Guerrero in terms of run production. It is interesting to note that with RISP, Guerrero has been able to provide 43 RBIs in 86 games this season, When you’re second in all of MLB in grounding into double plays with 19, its clear a lot of the time contact is made, it is not good enough for being put in play. Perhaps playing the Orioles could be a good recipe for getting a groove going for Guerrero, as the 27-year old has hit .329 against the O’s, with 28 homers and 89 RBIs his whole career. Per his last 10 matchups versus Baltimore, batting .278 with 4 RBIs is definitely a step in the right direction. His last game against the Orioles this season back in May he went 4-for-5 with a double. While it didn’t score any runs, getting consistent and getting on base is better than recording outs.

It’s unlikely Guerrero has a total season stat line like he has in seasons past, but if you want your franchise first baseman to lock in, you have only 16 games left to see that through. To say Guerrero cares is an understatement, as he is still the best defensive first baseman in the world today. Baseball is a long grind and sometimes it’s more important to worry about how you finish versus how your whole season looks.

Ernie Clement’s drop off this season is something that many could suspect given how his play style is. Clement in the second half has completely vanished and positive defense aside, his bat has been replacement level. Clement has been only hitting .235 in the last month and has only two extra base hits and four RBI in that span. While Clement is not striking out a ton, he also is not getting on base either. His swing decisions a lot of the time can be very frustrating, but it is what made him an all-star.

A lot of at bats recently for Clement have barely lasted more than 5 pitches, as his plate discipline is something of frustration. While peaks and valleys are always going to come for a contact hitter, the issue comes with your selection of pitches. Since the all-star break, Ernie had had a -0.4 WAR and has had a lot of tough luck at the plate.

Perhaps with the emergence of Smith providing a lot of pop in his bat with five home runs since joining the Blue Jays, Clement can get some games off to reset and regroup his approach in the batters box. Sure, keeping Clement in the lineup is key for his glove, but a reset is something you may need to do for a game or two, despite the fact his competitive nature wanting to be in every game from start to finish.

Springer’s season has been a tale of two seasons, from struggles and injuries in the first half, to more of what Springer is more capable of in his tenure with the Blue Jays. Springer’s season is the epitome of streaky, July and August were his best months by far, as he hit six home runs and cashed in 24 RBIs. It’s that kind of production the team needs out of their designated hitter to truly be effective. Springer has also found some success since being moved to hitting fourth in the lineup, with him posting a .853 OPS in 40 games.

Alas to start September, Springer is stumbling out of the gate as he is only hitting .125 in the last week. Sure, a small sample size is not reflective of his whole entire season, but to have Springer getting hot along with the middle of the lineup with Kirk and Okamoto, can be spelling danger for a lot of MLB teams.

Going into potentially his last few games as a Blue Jay, Springer is going to want to give it everything he has if he wants to get back to the postseason, where he has had a lot of success for his career. “All we need is a chance”, is the best way to sum up how things are for the 2026 version of the Blue Jays, which is what Springer said after Wednesdays 2-o loss against the A’s.

Since being acquired at the trade deadline, Arrighetti had some hiccups in the minor leagues with a foot injury, but since being activated from the 15-day injured list in late August he has been arguably the worst starter that the Blue Jays have. With a depleted rotation, Arrighetti is all but the team’s fifth starter, but the team is starting to run out of patience with the 26-year-old right-hander. In 8 games, Arrighetti has an 8.04 ERA, allowing 14 earned runs across 15.1 innings.

Across that span, in each of his appearances for the Blue Jays, he has given up a home run, something that he struggled dating back to his rookie season with the Houston Astros in 2024, where he gave up 21 in 145 innings. While the only other option the Blue Jays have to grind out innings is Michael Lorenzen who joined the club back at the end of August, but with a 6.23 ERA in 8 innings, its not much of an improvement.

Arrighetti since joining the Blue Jays has relied heavily on the usage of his changeup and curveball, but his fastball and sinker have been hit tremendously hard. The teams tried to use the opener strategy they have used for pitchers like Eric Lauer and Simeon Woods Richardson respectively this season, but has not worked out in their favor. With 15 games left, it is lined up that Arrighetti is going to make three more appearances for the team in the rotation, but with how easy he’s been hit off since becoming a Blue Jay, can the team afford to take the risk with playoff ambitions?

Mad Max has looked a little bit more like a capable major league pitcher over his last couple of starts. In the second half, Scherzer has a 3.76 ERA which is a huge step forward from his injury-riddled first half ERA of 10.23. While you may not be getting the Scherzer that went seven strong against the Seattle Mariners and struck out 10 batters, you may be more inclined to get the Scherzer who can go the minimum of five innings while allowing two-to-three runs at most.

While you don’t have 3x Cy Young pitcher in his glory years, Scherzer knows what it takes to win, and he is someone who wants to contribute in every way he can. The fact we all got to see Scherzer become ninth all-time in MLB history in strikeouts is a great feat to be able to watch for fans, but knowing how close a postseason spot can be, if you can get a decent pair of starts from Scherzer, it can help alleviate the pressure off a effective, but taxed Blue Jay bullpen.

Scherzer’s slider is a pitch that has had mixed results this season, while he has batters swinging at a 27.4% whiff rate, it has also led to seven of his 12 home runs allowed this season. When the Blue Jays need Scherzer to step up, we know he is up for the task with last years postseason being a huge example of what he can be for you in key situations. With his next few starts upcoming against the Orioles, Tigers and Rangers, getting control of his stuff is going to be key for Scherzer to record outs. The Orioles, Tigers and Rangers do not chase pitches as high as a team like the Blue Jays do, but it must be key for the team to manage Scherzer’s workload as right now he is listed as the teams third starter as of current writing.

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