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The series against the Angels is where the 2025 Blue Jays began to turn their season around
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Photo credit: © Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Apr 20, 2026, 17:00 EDTUpdated: Apr 20, 2026, 16:52 EDT
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The Toronto Blue Jays aren’t having a good start to their season.
It may be hard to remember given how it ended, but their start to the 2025 season wasn’t much better. It started off well enough, entering April 19th’s game with a 12-8 record, before losing 12 of their next 16 games.
On May 7th, the Blue Jays carried a two-run lead into the bottom of the ninth, but Jeff Hoffman blew a save and they were walked-off. That dropped their record to 16-20, the furthest below .500 the 2025 Blue Jays dropped.
They proceeded to sweep their next series, a three-game series against the Seattle Mariners. At that point, the Blue Jays weren’t the team they’d turn into quite yet, going 6-8 over their next 14 games. A massive two-run home run in the top of the ninth on May 28th brought them to a game below .500. 
That started a stretch where the Blue Jays went 12-2, as they returned home to sweep the Athletics to climb above .500. They still had their struggles over the 2025 season, including a stretch where they went 6-8 from the middle of June until they began their 11-game winning streak.
It was that winning streak that made the season feel special, and the rest was history. But the feeling on May 7th was less than ideal, to say the least. Their opponent that walked them off? None other than the Los Angeles Angels, the team the Blue Jays begin a three-game series against on Monday evening. 
It’s hard to believe, but the 2026 Blue Jays are in better shape heading into this series than they were last season. They’re further below .500 right now than they were entering the series in 2025, but both their hitting and pitching have been better than when they entered last season’s series.
On May 5th, 2025, the Blue Jays were slashing .238/.310/.351 with 23 home runs, the fewest in the league. That was good enough for an 87 wRC+, the seventh-lowest in the league. Their starters were rocking a 4.49 ERA (fifth-worst) and 4.75 FIP (eight-worst). The lone bright spot was that their relievers were in the middle of the pack in terms of ERA and FIP, while also posting a league-high 27.5 K%.
Entering Monday’s game, the Jays’ bats are slightly below average. As a team, the Jays are slashing .252/.315/.383 with 18 home runs, tied for the eighth-fewest in the league. That’s good enough for a 99 wRC+, which is 19th in Major League Baseball. The game on Sunday helped, raising their wRC+ from 94 to 99.
The 2026 Blue Jays’ starting pitching staff has tapered off in the past few weeks, now sitting with a 4.21 ERA (18th) and 3.79 FIP (10th). Their 26 K% is fourth in the league as well. As for the bullpen, it’s one area of concern, as they have a 5.07 ERA, ninth-worst in MLB, while their FIP sits in the middle of the pack. Assuming they buy at the deadline, it’s one area they’ll need to improve on.
One area where the 2025 and 2026 Blue Jays differ is in the injury department. The 2025 Blue Jays dealt with their fair share of injuries heading into the series against the Angels, but nothing compares to the rotten luck they’ve had in the early goings of 2026. 
Andrés Giménez suffered an injury during that series, while Anthony Santander was on the cusp of his shoulder injuries. Daulton Varsho made his season debut just a week before the trip to L.A, while Nick Sandlin, Bowden Francis, Alek Manoah, Ryan Burr, Erik Swanson, and Max Scherzer were both on the injured list. That’s not great, especially with their lack of starting pitching depth heading into 2025, but it was manageable.
Entering the 2026 series in L.A. against the Angels, the Blue Jays are missing four starting pitchers and four everyday players. Not even counting Santander, they’ve lost Addison Barger, Alejandro Kirk, and George Springer, as all three players suffered unlucky injuries earlier this season. Trey Yesavage, Shane Bieber, and José Berríos began the season on the injured list, but they lost Cody Ponce in his debut. Francis, Lázaro Estrada, and Yimi García are also on the IL.
Entering Monday’s series opener, the Blue Jays have a lot of work to do to dig themselves out of the 8-13 hole they’ve created for themselves. That said, they started to look like the team they eventually became in the series against the Angels last season, hopefully they can do the same this week.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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