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The Blue Jays’ struggles to begin 2026 are nothing new
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Photo credit: © Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Apr 6, 2026, 18:15 EDTUpdated: Apr 6, 2026, 18:10 EDT
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To say the start of the 2026 Toronto Blue Jays’ season has been a disaster would be an understatement.
After a three-game series sweep of the Athletics, the Blue Jays lost two of three to the Colorado Rockies, then were swept by the Chicago White Sox. Last season, the Rockies had a MLB-worst 43-199 record. The White Sox weren’t much better, finishing with a 60-102 record.
A 4-5 record with that type of schedule isn’t encouraging, to say the least. In the series against the White Sox, the Blue Jays were 2-22 with runners in scoring position. They weren’t much better in the series against the Rockies, going 4-24, but were strong in the series against the Athletics, going 10-29. Seven of the 10 hits came in their 8-7 win, the lone time the Jays have scored more than five runs in a game over their first nine games.
With runners in scoring position, the Blue Jays have the third-worst batting average (.213), the worst slugging percentage (.267), and fourth-lowest wRC+ (68). It’s a far cry from last season with runners in scoring position, when they finished with a league-high .292 batting average, third highest slugging percentage, and the second highest wRC+.
It’s a shame too, because their starting pitching has been great. Through nine games, their 2.58 ERA ranks as the third-best, while their 2.29 FIP is the best. That’s carried by an incredible 35.7 K%, while their walk rate ranks in the top 10 as well. Even relief pitching hasn’t been that bad when Brendon Little or Tyler Heineman haven’t been on the mound.
Heineman, a catcher, gave up five earned runs in the series opener against the Rockies. Of the 18 earned runs the Blue Jays relievers have given up, 13 have been with Little on the mound. That’s 10 earned runs tagged to Little, while three inherited runners have come in to score.
The thing is, the 2025 season didn’t start off all that well either. In the season opener, they split four games with the Baltimore Orioles, before sweeping the Washington Nationals, two teams that finished near the bottom of the standings. They then were swept in their third series (albeit against the New York Mets), moving to 5-5 in the year.
After a few more series and a win against the Seattle Mariners on April 18th, the Blue Jays had a 12-8 record. They then lost 12 of their next 16 games, moving to 16-20 on the year. Obviously, things changed after they were walked off by the Los Angeles Angels on May 7th, winning five of their next six games. 
Eventually, Bo Bichette hit a massive home run to take the lead against the Texas Rangers in late May, with the Blue Jays eventually overtook the New York Yankees who had an eight game lead for the division in late May. A four-game series sweep over the Bronx Bombers to start of July made this team special, then they were on to Game 7 of the World Series.
But going back in time, the Blue Jays numbers on May 7, the rock bottom of the 2025 season, weren’t great either. Their starters had a 4.44 ERA, fifth-worst in MLB, while their 4.87 FIP was sixth-worst. They weren’t striking out batters at nearly the same clip either, rocking a 22.3 K% and 8 BB% after the May 7th game.
Their offence wasn’t much better either. On May 7th, the Jays had a .241 batting average, middle of the pack, but had the fourth lowest slug in MLB. At that point, they had an 87 wRC+. Of course, 36 games is a far larger sample size than nine games, but my point is that as bad as this start has been, it’s far too early to give up on the season.
But there are a few concerning trends for the Blue Jays so far this season. Daulton Varsho, who missed all but one month of the first four months of the season, has struggled. So too has their best hitter in 2025, George Springer. Addison Barger has one hit, while Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has one extra-base hit.
It’s still early and these numbers will normalize, but the Blue Jays look like a much different team in their at-bats than they did last season, even in their first 36 games. This is an alarming trend that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.
The Blue Jays had some key injuries early into last season, including Max Scherzer, Anthony Santander. Bo Bichette missed the last month of the season, Yimi García and Nick Sandlin missed the second half of the season, and Alejandro Kirk and George Springer both had a stint on the injured list. However, through nine games, the Jays have been hit hard by the injury bug.
Santander, García, José Berríos, Shane Bieber, and Trey Yesavage all began the season on the Injured List. But early into the season, they’ve been joined by Cody Ponce and Kirk, with Addison Barger’s health still being up in the air. This is also an alarming trend, one they can’t really control.
All that being said, it’s still early into the season, and despite some alarm bells ringing regarding injuries, poor starts, and struggles to hit with runners in scoring position, the Blue Jays are in okay shape when using last season as a template.
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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