It’s no secret that there was more bad for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2026 than good.

Finishing the season 79-83 and failing to make the playoffs after last year’s magical run is nothing short of disappointing. While we would much rather focus on the good of 2026, there was no doubt a ton of bad that happened that led to the Blue Jays’ downfall this past season. Some losses were horrible, others heartbreaking, and others just unfathomable. While it may be painful, especially after recapping the good, let’s tackle the bad ones.

While there were many losses to choose from that were beyond frustrating, this one was reassuring of the status quo of this Blue Jays team being a sub-.500 baseball club. After being down 4-0 early in this game, the Jays managed to find a way to come back and score six runs to take the lead. Luis Urías and Daulton Varsho hit a pair of two-run shots before Kazuma Okamoto’s base hit put them in front. Then the top of the ninth happened, and a catcher’s interference call on Joey Loperfido, of all people, led to a run scoring, followed by a Yordan Alvarez sacrifice fly to tie it again at 6-6.

Did you think Joey Loperfido forgot he was traded back to Houston by the team he went to the World Series with? In an act of revenge, Loperfido crushed a three-run home run to deep right field to push the Astros ahead and win the game. The Blue Jays did get a run back, but it was not enough. While the game after, where Jeff Hoffman throwing an error was just as egregious and almost made the list, this game was more frustrating, as the offence showed up only to be nullified right after.

This game was pretty boring for the most part, but the issues came all the way in the eighth inning. Tyler Rogers came in, and as he did, he generated a lot of soft contact with his unique pitching style. A leadoff base hit to David Hamilton is a bouncing ball that Rogers bobbles. The next batter up hits a ball off the ground in front of home plate, which is then bobbled by rookie catcher Brandon Valenzuela. With two on the bases in the flukiest way possible, William Contreras cashes in a base hit to score a run, and Brice Turang ends up getting the go-ahead run upon grounding out into a double play.

Not only was this game flukey in the worst possible way, but April for the Blue Jays ended with the team going 10-16 in the month, really setting them back by several games for the rest of the season. While Valenzuela showed great confidence behind the plate in other appearances, this one is one where you really need to be more heads-up and aware when making plays. It is also a sign that you can’t win every ballgame 1-0, and another case of the offence drying up when provided chances to cash in more runs. More games slipping away and more costly mistakes for a team that once upon a time was defensively sound.

This series could’ve gone either way, but the rarity of Louis Varland blowing his first save opportunity of the season really sticks out for this one. With this game being a makeup game from an earlier game back in June, this game was an awkward stop on the Blue Jays’ travel schedule. After taking two of three in Houston post-deadline, the Blue Jays had a single stop in Chicago before going to Philadelphia for three games.

The game was a rather slow affair as the Jays got one early off of all things, a balk by David Peterson. A gift of a run was then added on with an Alejandro Kirk base hit to score Andrés Giménez. Six up and six down later, in comes Varland, who at that point did not blow a save in 2026. Jinx much? After a leadoff single to Pete Crow-Armstrong, the next two batters were retired until Alex Bregman came to the batter’s box. Bregman then gets all over a curveball and smashes it to the left-field fence to tie it at 2-2.

That’s not even where the worst of the game lies. Ernie Clement made arguably the catch of the Blue Jays season in the 10th inning to keep us tied, which was great! Then the 11th happened. Michael Busch is in the box, and the Cubs initiate a double steal. Valenzuela airmails the ball past Josh Smith to score the winning run for the Cubs. Two things stung in this game: Varland’s blown save and Valenzuela’s error that cost the game for the Blue Jays. Granted, this was after the trade deadline, and we didn’t know if this team was going to push for the playoffs late, but to lose a game like that in any facet is a huge morale killer. Also spoiling a great day for  Kirk, as he went 4-for-5 with the go-ahead  RBI.

Oh Look! Another game with a catcher error costing us a win! This time it’s Tyler Heineman; remember the magician? Obviously I’m kidding, but regardless, this series really was the precedent for a nightmare-fueled 2026. With the previous game leading to Kirk missing a majority of the first half of the season due to a broken thumb, this one cost us Addison Barger for a couple of weeks, with not one, but two sprained ankles.

After being down 3-1 for most of the game, Giménez smacks a 2-run shot to right to tie the game at three. Then, going to extras, the Blue Jays are granted a gift after Munetaka Murakami does not step on the bag to retire George Springer. Then, in the bottom half of the 10th, Heineman gives it right back as his throw to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is not caught. Tristan Peters RBI base hit to right, and that’s your ballgame. Baseball giveth and Baseball taketh away. This may have been the series that set the precedent for the Blue Jays season.

Losing at home stinks. Losing at home and being blown out stinks even more. Losing at home while getting blown out while you still somehow are in a playoff hunt is next-level pain. Late August and somehow the Blue Jays were still alive in the American League Wild Card race. Just a few games within reach; every game counted.

To say Spencer Arrighetti struggled as a Blue Jay is an understatement, as he was quickly not entrusted to go deep in any game as a starter. After a lead-off home run by Carter Jensen, it was pretty much curtains from there. A fielding error by Arrighetti led to another run, and then it was just all Royals for the whole contest.

This loss is more of a loss based on the point of the season, where the team was single-digit games back of the wild card race, and to lose that badly to a team that far behind you record-wise was demoralizing. It was the game that got Simeon Woods Richardson DFA’d a day later, and this is one where you just burn the tape.

At least Springer hit a two-run home run in this game.

It’s at this point that we approach the first of sadly many Hoffman meltdowns. It really is wild to think how unlucky Hoffman was in his time wearing a Blue Jays uniform. When he was on, he was lights out. When he wasn’t, he ended up giving up big runs in big ways.

Another early game in the season saw the Blue Jays go to Chase Field, which they have not been to since 2024, and a lot has changed for both teams. Some have even compared the Diamondbacks and Jays to one another, as both went to the World Series two years apart, only to come up short.

Regardless, the game was tied 1-1 for the most part until Alek Thomas hit an RBI double off of Max Scherzer to take the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Okamoto put the game on his back and cashed in Eloy Jiménez to tie the game. Then we get a stalemate until the ninth. Then we get Hoffman, fresh off a meltdown in Milwaukee where he walks three batters and hits one to load the bases and drive in a run. This time, it’s worse. Base hit. Base hit. Walk. Grand slam. All without recording a single out. This was the game that the Blue Jays gave up on Hoffman being the sole closer, and the closer-by-committee came out of it. Still, as meltdowns go, this surely is pretty bad.

Oh, it gets Worse! You think giving up a go-ahead grand slam with nobody out was bad? This one was by far worse. The Blue Jays, up 5-1 against the Orioles, fresh off a 5-0 comeback the night before, scored three more runs in the eighth and ninth innings to soften their cushion of a lead.  Guerrero arguably had one of his best days of the season, where he went 4-for-5. Surely, what can go wrong?

Well… it started well. Striking out Samuel Basallo was good; hitting Coby Mayo, the next batter, was very much not. Leody Tavares triple. Oh no. Jackson Holiday single; here we go again. Colton Cowser doubles; my God, it can’t get worse. Hoffman then comes out of the game, and in comes, of all people, Connor Seabold. No offence to Seabold; he came in a tough situation, but to go from a probable victory to almost certain defeat is the most baseball thing ever. Bases loaded, a walk followed by a Pete Alonso base hit, and you can get the rest. Again, not to beat a dead horse, but the Miguel Rojas home run in Game 7 is earth-shattering, confidence-wise, for anyone. However, this was just a recipe for the team tempting fate and moving Hoffman to a middle relief role instead of being a back-end reliever. Worked well for the guy, but the damage of losing ballgames remains.

This game really was the dagger to any playoff aspirations for the 2026 Blue Jays. Hence why it is in the top three. While they were not mathematically eliminated from playoff contention till two days later, it still stings to lose a game when leading at any point.

A three-run first inning capped off with RBIs for Nathan Lukes, Springer, and Sean Keys helped get the ball rolling. This game might as well be called the polar bear game, as it was all Alonso. A solo home run for his 40th home run shows some life for the O’s. Brett Bateman left the game due to injury with an awkward dive for a ball, which was just the luck for a lot of Blue Jays fans who were excited for his rise in the big leagues.

Then another ironic stat: Rogers had only allowed a single home run through all of 2026, until the eighth inning, when it was Alonso, again. His 41st home run of the season helped the Orioles leapfrog the Blue Jays in the standings, as they finished last in the AL East again for the second time in three seasons. Fans can only be envious of an AL first baseman who can hit for power throughout the course of a season.

I was really tempted to put this game in the top spot. Believe me, I went back and forth a bunch on this one. To have a no-hitter going into the seventh inning by newcomer José Soriano was by far an unexpected treat, but this treat quickly turned sour. Another example of why scoring runs matter: a 2-0 game quickly fell to 4-2 Tigers. John Schneider left Soriano in too long and did not have the bullpen ready to mask a comeback by the Tigers, but Okamoto did not want to go out quietly, as his three-run home run was by far one of the loudest moments at Rogers Centre all season.

Then: Joe Mantiply came in. We did not know that a lot of the usual relievers, such as Rogers and Mason Fluharty, were unavailable. Paul Sewald, who pitched to two batters, was put ahead of Mantiply, which was by far a head-scratcher. Then the ever-reliable Varland struggled to make a catch at first to retire Hao-Yu Lee, which led to the go-ahead run scoring in the top of the ninth.

As far as a nightmare-fueled loss, this has to be the most heartbreaking in 2026. It’s almost unfathomable to go from a no-hitter to allowing six runs, but alas, the 2026 Blue Jays made anything negative into a possibility. It was just a microcapsule of how frustrating the season has been, but it all leads back to one game.

The real precedent for how 2026 was going to go was this game. Cody Ponce tearing his ACL early in his first start in the majors since 2021 was, in a way, almost foreshadowing how snakebitten the 2026 season was going to be. Ponce’s first inning was great, then when he tumbled off the mound trying to make a defensive play, you just knew it was bad.

Once you saw the cart come out, your heart breaks for the guy who spent years tearing it up in the KBO, only to tear his ACL immediately after returning to the big leagues. The rest of the game was the Rockies having an offensive mauling on the Blue Jays, with the likes of T.J. Rumfield, Ezequiel Tovar, and Troy Johnston picking the bones of a depleted pitching staff.

This injury embodied just how cursed and unfortunate 2026 was. From the injuries to the errors to the lack of offence in many instances. For a 50th season where we celebrated baseball in Canada, it just opened up some more wounds for fans that this was still a team that needed a lot of work if they wanted a taste of a championship. Magical runs can only get you so far.