Welcome to meaningful September baseball. Less than a month ago, this destination seemed far less realistic for the Toronto Blue Jays. But thanks to a post-trade deadline surge back up the crowded AL wild-card standings, it’s now officially arrived.

This club will begin its stretch run at 68-70, sitting 1.5 games back of the final post-season spot with 24 games remaining, and there’s plenty of work still ahead. Most of which will come against fellow AL playoff competitors, also vying for that ticket to October. So there won’t be much, if any, margin for error the rest of the way.

As such, here are a few rest-of-season tidbits to keep in mind across these final four weeks.

Of Toronto’s 24 remaining games, the first three will consist of a pivotal road series against the Cleveland Guardians, who currently control the third AL wild-card seed. They also have three games left with the Texas Rangers and six versus the Baltimore Orioles, all matchups that could have major implications on the wild-card chase.

The outcome of those 12 contests could very well mean the difference between making the playoffs and missing by just a few games.

That’s because the Blue Jays, Orioles and Rangers comprise the most immediate threat to overtaking the Guardians, given that they’re each within two games of that final post-season spot. Meanwhile, the Twins, Mariners and Tigers make up the second group of this seven-team pact still in the hunt, as they trail by three games or more.

Being that this is a razor-thin race, another important element to monitor down the stretch will be head-to-head tiebreakers. For the moment, the Blue Jays own a 2-1 season series lead over the Guardians, adding extra significance to this week’s three-game showdown. Winning the season series against the O’s also remains within reach, as they’re 4-3 in that department, whereas a four-game sweep in late June to the Rangers has already declared that a losing battle.

After shuffling the starting rotation heading into this series in Cleveland, Toronto has ensured that not only will its top two starters, Dylan Cease and José Soriano, appear in the biggest series of the year but they’ll also be guaranteed to make five starts each through the rest of 2026.

Here’s where those projected starts are expected to line up:

It’s not a perfect setup, as Soriano will miss both series against the O’s, while Cease will appear in one of two. One of the main takeaways, however, is that they’ll both remain available for the regular season’s final series against the Reds and Games 2 and 3* (if needed) in a potential wild-card series.

Depending on whether Game 162 holds any significance, Max Scherzer would line up as this team’s Game 1 (Sep. 29) starter if they advance to October baseball.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is down to his final nine home games this season, still stuck on zero home runs at the Rogers Centre. Despite several near-misses in recent months, the wait for his slump buster continues.

If the 27-year-old is to end that drought, it’ll have to come against either the Orioles, Tigers or Reds — the club’s lone three home opponents for the rest of ’26. Barring an ALDS berth, if that moment doesn’t finally arrive this month, he won’t receive another opportunity to homer at home until April — if next season starts on time, that is.

Coming off Sunday’s 10-strikeout performance, Max Scherzer (3,535) currently sits 19 strikeouts shy of tying rival and former teammate Justin Verlander (3,554) — who hasn’t pitched since March and is on the 60-day IL — for eighth all-time in baseball history.

As of now, Scherzer should have a chance to make four more starts before the regular season concludes, assuming he stays healthy *knocks on wood* the rest of the way. Considering the ultra-competitive person he is, even at 42, he’ll surely be motivated to make a run at this — and will likely have a decent shot at it, too, since he’s compiled exactly 19 punchouts over his previous four starts.

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