Blue Jays: A strong August gives hope for the 2027 season
Photo credit: © Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
By Nick Prasad
Sep 22, 2026, 18:15 EDTUpdated: Sep 22, 2026, 17:50 EDT
The Toronto Blue Jays at least made the 2026 season interesting.
Back on September 5th, the Jays 4-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals put them over .500 for the first time since early April. Leading up to All-Star weekend, the Blue Jays looked nothing like the team that won the American League pennant in 2025, having a whimper of a chance to make the playoff.
Before the trade deadline, the Blue Jays pulled off a hybrid deadline, acquiring a controllable starter in José Soriano. They also shipped off expiring contracts like Kevin Gausman and Daulton Varsho, while also trading away Jeff Hoffman.
In turn, their play started to improve, going 24-13 from July 27th until September 5th, the day the jumped over the .500 record mark and ended the night in a final wild card spot. They remained in the hunt for the final wild card spot for a couple more weeks, but blew chances to gain ground and are all but eliminated with just five games to play.
That said, there are a few positives to take away from the final two months of this season, which can also be used as building blocks for 2027 and beyond.
A strong August made the season interesting
The month of August gave some optimism for a Blue Jays playoff run, even if they’ve failed to capitalize on it.
Over the 28 games, the Jays went 17-11, finishing with a .256 batting average, .317 on-base percentage, and a .389 slugging percentage. It wasn’t an easy schedule either, at least to start. From August 3rd until August 23rd, the Jays faced the Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees (in two separate series) and Tampa Bay Rays.
This stretch saw them go 12-8 against mostly playoff teams. From then on out, the Blue Jays mainly played teams fighting for a wild card race or toward the bottom of the standings, going 8-4 over their next 12 to get back into a playoff spot, albeit briefly.
The month’s performance was not exactly a power-hitting month, but an all-around fundamental hitting month. They put up good at-bats, along with extra-base hits, situational hitting, strong baserunning, and small-ball attack. Of course, that has all but disappeared since September 6th, as that and injuries to their rotation has really started to take hold.
But looking at August gives some optimism for the future, even if that future is next season. In August, the Blue Jays did not wait for runs to be accessible; they manufactured them. A great example of this was August 18th against the Tampa Bay Rays. Toronto scored 10 runs on 17 hits, with three home runs and three doubles. The club held a .386 batting average that night.
When the Blue Jays offence found success in 2026, their lineup put pressure on the opposing pitching staff thanks to the ability to hit to all fields, put the ball in play more often, and move runners across. It’s what made them so successful in 2025, and hopefully what can make them success in 2027.
An offensive emergence is key to the lineup
A big reason for the Blue Jays’ resurgence in August and early September is thanks to centre fielder Brett Bateman.
Acquired from the Cubs for Kevin Gausman, Bateman has quickly become a fan favourite and has already earned the everyday starting centre fielder job for the 2027 season. Since being called up on August 7th, Bateman is slashing .320/.394/.413 with two home runs in 172 plate appearances, good for a 133 wRC+ and 1.7 fWAR.
Bateman is never going to hit 15+ home runs in a season, but he is the perfect table setter for the team moving forward. He can draw walks, he can make things happen on the bases, he hits for a high average, and plays stellar defence in the outfielder. Bateman is a prototypical lead-off hitter of a bygone era, perfect for the Blue Jays’ lineup if they wish to continue with their small-ball base approach in 2027 and beyond.
When the Blue Jays were at their best offensively this season, it wasn’t just Bateman. Alejandro Kirk has been their most productive hitter since returning from injury, while Kazuma Okamoto has been the only hitter to give them consistent slug in 2026. Even George Springer has been playing better since full recovering from his toe injury suffered in early April.
The Blue Jays almost certain to miss the playoffs, the building blocks are there for a rebound season in 2027. All they need is for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to remember how to hit.