Looking at the 5 best performing Blue Jays in the postseason
Photo credit: © Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
Nov 10, 2025, 18:00 ESTUpdated: Nov 10, 2025, 05:25 EST
The Toronto Blue Jays’ 2025 postseason run will never be forgotten, even if they didn’t win the World Series.
It’s been well over a week since they were just two outs away from winning the World Series. Losing in the World Series, especially in the way they did, still hurts, but I no longer want to crawl into a ball and cry whenever I think about it. How they lost will always be bittersweet, but it was still a great experience that I and many others will remember until our final days.
The Blue Jays got to Game 7 of the World Series thanks to contributions up and down the batting order and strong pitching performances. In this article, we’ll look at five standout players from their 2025 postseason.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. wasn’t just the best Blue Jay hitter throughout their 18 games, but he had one of the best postseasons of all time. Coming into this postseason, there were a lot of question marks about whether he could perform in the postseason, but that was quickly answered when he hit a home run in his first plate appearance of the postseason.
The first baseman was incredible in every round. In the Divisional Series, he slashed .529/.550/1.059 with three home runs, including a massive grand slam to blow open Game 2. His 324 wRC+ was tied for second-best among players in the divisional series.
Guerrero Jr. didn’t register a hit in the first two games of the Championship Series, but that didn’t matter. In 31 plate appearances, Guerrero Jr. slashed .385/.484/.846 with three home runs for a 250 wRC+, the third-best wRC+ in that round. His performance was so good that he won the ALCS MVP.
Had the Blue Jays won the World Series, there was a strong chance Guerrero Jr. would’ve won the World Series MVP as well. In seven games, Guerrero Jr. slashed .333/.474/.600 with two home runs in 38 plate appearances for a 192 wRC+, once again the third-best in the series.
As a whole, Guerrero Jr. slashed .397/.494/.795 with eight home runs in 89 plate appearances. Guerrero Jr.’s performance in the postseason was easily the best from any Blue Jay and one of the best postseason performances in history.
Ernie Clement
All Blue Jays fans knew of Ernie Clement heading into the postseason. In 588 plate appearances, the utility infielder slashed .277/.313/.398 for a 98 wRC+. He was so good defensively that he was nominated for two Gold Gloves and should’ve won the utility Gold Glove award.
After the postseason, Clement is a household name around Major League Baseball, especially since his name will be etched in the record books for some time. Clement had 30 hits in the postseason, breaking Randy Arozarena’s record for most hits in a single postseason.
Clement was the lone Blue Jay who rivalled Guerrero Jr. for the team MVP throughout the postseason. The 29-year-old slashed .411/.416/.562 with a home run in 77 plate appearances for a 171 wRC+.
He wasn’t the only Blue Jay to etch his name in the record books, as Louis Varland pitched in 15 games, a new postseason record. Consider this an honourable mention.
Addison Barger
Addison Barger had a rough end to his season. From Aug. 2 until Sept. 28, Barger slashed just .204/.270/.344 with five home runs in 174 plate appearances for a 71 wRC+. Coming into that Aug. 2nd game, Barger had a 126 wRC+ through 328 plate appearances.
Those struggles briefly continued into the postseason, as the 25-year-old had one hit in his first seven plate appearances. Then, the rest of the postseason happened, as Barger slashed .396/.475/.642 with three home runs in 61 plate appearances over the remaining 15 games.
From Game 3 of the ALCS until the end of the postseason, Barger failed to get a hit in just one game, which was Game 2 of the World Series. In fact, Barger was the best hitter in the World Series, finishing the seven games slashing .480/.536/.680 with a home run in 28 plate appearances for a 243 wRC+. Aside from Game 2, Barger finished with two hits in the other six games.
With a strong postseason, Barger has cemented himself as a regular heading into the 2026 season.
Trey Yesavage
Switching gears to pitchers, the Blue Jays don’t make it to Game 7 of the World Series without Trey Yesavage. What a whirlwind of a season it was for the Blue Jays’ 20th overall pick in the 2024 draft, as he started three regular season games to end the season.
It was the postseason where Yesavage made a name for himself, finishing with a 3.58 ERA and 3.61 FIP in 27.2 innings pitched. Yesavage struck out 35.8% of the batters he faced while walking 10.1% of them.
In his postseason debut, he struck out 11 New York Yankees in five and one-third hitless innings. He struggled in his next start in Game 2 of the Championship Series, but he started Game 6 of the ALCS and won it thanks to five and two-thirds strong innings to keep the Blue Jays’ hopes alive.
Yesavage, who had made just six big league starts in his career, was named as the Blue Jays’ Game 1 starter of the World Series. In four innings, he allowed two earned runs as the Blue Jays smoked the Dodgers 11-4.
His magnum opus of the postseason was in a pivotal Game 5, as he pitched seven innings, striking out 12 while allowing just one earned run in what happened to be the Blue Jays’ final win of the season. On just two days’ rest, Yesavage pitched in Game 7, giving up an earned run to make it 4-3, which leads into the next player…
Jeff Hoffman
Jeff Hoffman’s postseason will be remembered for the home run he gave up to Miguel Rojas. The Jays were just two outs and four strikes away from winning their third World Series in franchise history before Hoffman hung the slider.
There will be two things overlooked when reminiscing on the World Series. Firstly, the Blue Jays were 3-17 with runners in scoring position in Game 7 and 4-26 in the final two games. The other is that Hoffman pitched fantastically in the postseason, even when including the Rojas home run.
At points during the regular season, a common thought was that Hoffman should probably be moved away from the closer role because of how many home runs he gave up. But in the postseason, one hanging slider aside, Hoffman was nails.
The 32-year-old appeared in 10 games, posting a 1.46 ERA and 2.73 FIP in 12.1 innings pitched, with a 37.5 K% and an 8.3 BB%. Hoffman was on the mound when the Jays defeated the Yankees. He then struck out the side in order in Game 7 against the Mariners after throwing 35 pitches the night before.
Hoffman should’ve got the final two outs, and we’ll always wonder what if he did, but the other nine games shouldn’t be ignored.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.