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Blue Jays Minor League end of season review: Injuries to big league players hampered Buffalo’s success
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Photo credit: © Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
Cynthia Ryley Delaney
Sep 30, 2026, 19:00 EDTUpdated: Sep 30, 2026, 18:39 EDT
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Many Buffalo Bisons players in 2026 also played for the Toronto Blue Jays.
In turn, the Blue Jays’ Triple-A team didn’t have a particularly great season. In the first half, they finished seventh out of 10 in the International League East thanks to a 35-40 record. They weren’t any better in the second half, finishing with a 33-39 record, also seventh. Overall, their record sat at 68-79, you guessed it, seventh-best in the division.
It didn’t help that the Bisons had a rotating cast of players due to the Blue Jays’ injury woes. Still, there were solid performers at the level. If you missed the Double-A review, you can read that here.

Notable performances with the Bisons

Let’s start with the prospect position players. No one in the farm system had a better offensive season than Sean Keys. In 51 games with the Bisons, the corner infielder slashed .303/.422/.622 with 14 home runs in 226 plate appearances, with his 28 home runs being the most in the organization by a wide margin.
By the end of the season, Keys and Charles McAdoo were on the 28-man roster in September. With the Bisons, McAdoo slashed .269/.366/.465 with 16 home runs in 385 plate appearances, good for a 122 wRC+. We’ll see if either player sticks with the 2027 Jays.
Yohendrick Piñango also spent significant time with the big league club, but with the Bisons, the outfielder/designated hitter slashed .269/.351/.455 with 11 home runs in 308 plate appearances. After a hot start at both Triple-A and the big leagues, Piñango cooled off in the second half.
Piñango and RJ Schreck were both acquired before the 2024 trade deadline and have been teammates for most of the two years. However, Schreck has yet to make his big league debut as he spent much of the 2026 season injured. With the Bisons, he slashed .220/.378/.395 with eight home runs in 259 plate appearances, good for a 113 wRC+. He hit two more home runs on a rehab assignment.
Nick Goodwin was great in Double-A, but his numbers took a slight dip in Triple-A. In 112 plate appearances as a Bison, the infielder slashed .258/.357/.412 with two home runs, good for a 109 wRC+. Fellow infielder Josh Kasevich didn’t have a fantastic season either, slashing .282/.364/.363 with four home runs in 572 plate appearances for a 101 wRC+.
Kasevich, Goodwin, and Schreck are all Rule 5 Draft eligible this off-season, so is Jay Harry. The super utility player was great after his promotion, slashing .303/.368/.529 with five home runs and 12 doubles in 133 plate appearances. But an injury kept him on the shelf for a month and upon his return, he slashed just .248/.294/.327 with a home run and five doubles in 109 plate appearances.
It’s been tough going for Jonatan Clase since the Jays acquired him before the 2024 trade deadline, and nothing changed this year. Playing 53 games with the Bisons, the outfielder slashed .223/.321/.359 with five home runs in 217 plate appearances, though he hit two home runs in 25 big league plate appearances. Clase spent a large chunk of the season injured.
Je’Von Ward was released midway through the season, but slashed .254/.323/.463 with 11 home runs in 226 plate appearances for a 105 wRC+. The outfielder was red-hot before his release.
Davis Schneider is no longer a prospect, but he had a good stint with the Bisons in an AAAA role. In 52 games, he slashed .220/.450/.460 with 10 home runs and a 26.1 BB% for a 152 wRC+. His numbers weren’t great in the big leagues, but he appears to alternate good and bad years depending if the year is even or odd.
Daz Cameron joined the organization in July, and slashed .327/.412/.513 with three home runs in 131 Triple-A plate appearances. He earned a call-up to the big leagues and even hit a huge home run, but he was placed on the injured list and was designated for assignment in September.
Moving to pitchers, Chad Dallas made his big league debut in an AAAA role. With the Bisons, the right-handed pitcher had a 3.15 ERA and 3.61 FIP in 71.1 innings of work, with a 23.7 K% and 9.1 BB%.
Two other players served that role as well, Lázaro Estrada and CJ Van Eyk. The former posted a 3.25 ERA and 4.49 FIP in 36 Triple-A innings, with a 23.8 K% and 9.1 BB%. Van Eyk finished his Triple-A season with a 4.02 ERA and 4.37 FIP in 112 innings of work.
John Klein was acquired by the Blue Jays ahead of the trade deadline and had a rough stint in eight appearances for the Bisons, posting a 5.91 ERA and 5.80 FIP in 22.1 innings of work. His K% dropped while his BB% rose from his tenure with the Minnesota Twins’ Triple-A team. He had a good outing in his only appearance in the big league with the Jays, striking out five in four innings of work.
Josh Stephan was also acquired shortly before the trade deadline, as the Blue Jays sent Adam Macko to the Texas Rangers for Stephan and Josh Smith. Like Klein, Stephen struggled with the Bisons, posting a 6.64 ERA and 5.62 FIP in 39.1 innings of work.
Chase Lee spent some time in the big leagues and posted a 6.52 ERA and 8.58 FIP in nine and two-thirds innings. He was far better with the Bisons, posting a 2.01 ERA and 3.80 FIP in 53.2 innings of work.
Southpaw Brendan Cellucci gets a mention here for being utterly dominant in his six big league outings, but he also had a strong season with the Bisons. Over 53 innings of work, Cellucci had a 3.06 ERA and 4.26 FIP.
Cynthia Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, DFOEdmonton, and DFOCalgary. She can be followed on Twitter @CynthiaRDelaney.
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