Blue Jays Discussion Thread (2026)

[bronson44]

8 minutes ago, Omar said:

Looking at the schedule the Jays could easily lose the next ten consecutive series (including a makeup game with the Cubs).  They play the Royals in late August which you would expect them to represent.

We may be at the doorstep to one of the most horrendous stretches of baseball for the team in recent memory. 

Hope I'm wrong but....

It's sad but we are an easy opponent for teams that are competing right now.

[Brownie19]

3 hours ago, Stangstag said:

When there was 0 pressure on the team to perform 

Definitely noticed this team since 2020 has cracked/failed when given big expectations, and they tend to do well when the eyes are off them and 0 expectations.

Good observation.  Nobody expected what we got last year.  Minimal expectations on them last year.  A magical season to enjoy as a fan.

[jaysblue]

4 hours ago, Stangstag said:

When there was 0 pressure on the team to perform 

Definitely noticed this team since 2020 has cracked/failed when given big expectations, and they tend to do well when the eyes are off them and 0 expectations.

The human element of the game that computers can't project. 

[Jays24]

In times like this, we need to know if Terminator still believes.  If hes off the bandwagon then its officially over :( 

[jaysblue]

15 minutes ago, Jays24 said:

In times like this, we need to know if Terminator still believes.  If hes off the bandwagon then its officially over :( 

I think after this week. If they lose each series against Tampa and Boston, it's likely over. Term even acknowledged the season is on the line. 

[Eat My Shatkins]

One of the most surprising things from this season for me is Ernie's sub par play at 2B.

I figured if he and Giminez could produce 90-100 wRC+ with all star defense in the MIF we'd be in great shape. Well, Ernie's glove is way worse than expected but he's produced a 108 wRC+ so far. The two combined are 2.8 fWAR so far. Not bad, not great either.

 

[Eat My Shatkins]

 

[Stangstag]

32 minutes ago, Eat My Shatkins said:

One of the most surprising things from this season for me is Ernie's sub par play at 2B.

I figured if he and Giminez could produce 90-100 wRC+ with all star defense in the MIF we'd be in great shape. Well, Ernie's glove is way worse than expected but he's produced a 108 wRC+ so far. The two combined are 2.8 fWAR so far. Not bad, not great either.

 

Gimenez has been putrid offensively for the 3rd year in a row now. I don’t think he’s ever sniffing his rookie numbers, the contract is terrible if he’s not at least giving us 90ish wRC+

20 million a year for 2 WAR exclusively with the glove is laughable 

Hopefully FO doesn’t fall into the same trap trying to extend Varsho

[bronson44]

4 hours ago, Stangstag said:

Gimenez has been putrid offensively for the 3rd year in a row now. I don’t think he’s ever sniffing his rookie numbers, the contract is terrible if he’s not at least giving us 90ish wRC+

20 million a year for 2 WAR exclusively with the glove is laughable 

Hopefully FO doesn’t fall into the same trap trying to extend Varsho

His contract goes up to 23.5M next year from 15.5M. Yay!

An absolutely moronic acquisition

[bronson44]

 

[Stangstag]

3 hours ago, bronson44 said:

 

Pitching matters. Also had s*** luck in the ALCS

[jaysblue]

10 hours ago, Eat My Shatkins said:

One of the most surprising things from this season for me is Ernie's sub par play at 2B.

I figured if he and Giminez could produce 90-100 wRC+ with all star defense in the MIF we'd be in great shape. Well, Ernie's glove is way worse than expected but he's produced a 108 wRC+ so far. The two combined are 2.8 fWAR so far. Not bad, not great either.

 

Defensively, this team hasn't been as sharp like they were last season. I pointed that out back in May/June, but was tarred and feathered by some for it. 

[jaysblue]

23 minutes ago, Stangstag said:

Pitching matters. Also had s*** luck in the ALCS

Price unfortunately wasn’t reliable in the postseason. He had moments, but he never really gave the Jays that true ace-level October performance they were hoping for when they acquired him.

Estrada and Stroman were both rock solid, though, and the bullpen was very strong. R.A. Dickey wasn’t really relied on much that postseason, but even in the outing he did pitch, he was fine.

The ALCS also had a lot of bad luck attached to it. That series could have swung differently with a couple of breaks, but Price not being the guy they needed in October definitely hurt.

[Terminator]

10 hours ago, Jays24 said:

In times like this, we need to know if Terminator still believes.  If hes off the bandwagon then its officially over :( 

Oh I'm definitely out. Not even I can polish this turd of a team right now.

[Stangstag]

46 minutes ago, jaysblue said:

Price unfortunately wasn’t reliable in the postseason. He had moments, but he never really gave the Jays that true ace-level October performance they were hoping for when they acquired him.

Estrada and Stroman were both rock solid, though, and the bullpen was very strong. R.A. Dickey wasn’t really relied on much that postseason, but even in the outing he did pitch, he was fine.

The ALCS also had a lot of bad luck attached to it. That series could have swung differently with a couple of breaks, but Price not being the guy they needed in October definitely hurt.

People forget but Cecil getting hurt was huge. Also you’re forgetting, Dickey pitched game 4 of the ALCS and basically tanked it. That was the one they lost 14-5 or something 

[jaysblue]

6 minutes ago, Stangstag said:

People forget but Cecil getting hurt was huge. Also you’re forgetting, Dickey pitched game 4 of the ALCS and basically tanked it. That was the one they lost 14-5 or something 

That Dickey implosion was in 2016 right against Cleveland?

Yeah missing Cecil was huge I remember that Postseason after Game 2 of the ALDS. 

 

[Jays24]

1 hour ago, jaysblue said:

Defensively, this team hasn't been as sharp like they were last season. I pointed that out back in May/June, but was tarred and feathered by some for it. 

I did the same but think Brownie mentioned we were one of the best still due to defensive WAR even though we were near the bottom in every defensive category lol.  

[Stangstag]

18 minutes ago, jaysblue said:

That Dickey implosion was in 2016 right against Cleveland?

Yeah missing Cecil was huge I remember that Postseason after Game 2 of the ALDS. 

 

No both things were 2015

[Brownie19]

3 minutes ago, Jays24 said:

I did the same but think Brownie mentioned we were one of the best still due to defensive WAR even though we were near the bottom in every defensive category lol.  

Yeah that sounds like me to use statistics to remain optimistic about my favourite team.  Defense typically doesn't drop off a cliff like this either - you don't see teams go from Top 3 (Top 1?) to below average overnight like this.  Shame on me for not pulling the fire alarm like you guys do a month into the season.

Oddly enough, we're still 6th in MLB in defensive WAR.  We know defensive WAR has it's challenges/limitations and shouldn't be leaned on too heavily, but it's still odd to see us up there when it feels like the defense has been pretty bad all year.

[Terminator]

12 minutes ago, Jays24 said:

I did the same but think Brownie mentioned we were one of the best still due to defensive WAR even though we were near the bottom in every defensive category lol.  

What categories would that be? 13th in OAA but 9th in DRS, 5th in FRV, 5th in Fangraphs defensive value, etc.

The defense hasn't been elite this year but you are completely talking out of your @ss if you think we are near the bottom in every defensive category.

[Terminator]

9 minutes ago, Brownie19 said:

Yeah that sounds like me to use statistics to remain optimistic about my favourite team.  Defense typically doesn't drop off a cliff like this either - you don't see teams go from Top 3 (Top 1?) to below average overnight like this.  Shame on me for not pulling the fire alarm like you guys do a month into the season.

Oddly enough, we're still 6th in MLB in defensive WAR.  We know defensive WAR has it's challenges/limitations and shouldn't be leaned on too heavily, but it's still odd to see us up there when it feels like the defense has been pretty bad all year.

The defense has slipped some but most of the metrics still rate us pretty well. Don't let these dumbasses sway your opinion, they don't even look at numbers they just talk out of their ass.

The real reason we suck is that we are 30th in runs scored, not the defense. 

[Brownie19]

42 minutes ago, Terminator said:

The defense has slipped some but most of the metrics still rate us pretty well. Don't let these dumbasses sway your opinion, they don't even look at numbers they just talk out of their ass.

The real reason we suck is that we are 30th in runs scored, not the defense. 

100% - I figured they'd be overstating it.  They need to go watch a team that's legit bottom 1/3 in the league defensively on a daily basis (for a couple of months) to really appreciate just how good the Jays defense has been over the last 3-4 years.

I still do agree the Jays defense has slipped a lot more than we could have reasonably expected this year, which just sucks and has compounded our issues.

I think defense gets taken for granted.  Nobody wants to pay for defense, but when you don't have good defense, it sticks out like a sore thumb.  Crappy defense really hurt the 2020 and 2021 teams.

[jaysblue]

45 minutes ago, Stangstag said:

No both things were 2015

Yeah my mistake. Dickey didn't even make an appearance in the 2016 Postseason. 

He had a good outing during the ALDS, but then yeah got bombarded during his one start in the ALCS. When I was looking at career Postseason numbers, thought that second start on the game log said from 2016.  

[Laika]

I am at a loss. 

The most frustrating thing is that it does not make sense. 

30th in baseball in runs scored. Dead last. 

In 2025 they were 4th. 
From May 1 2025 to the end of the season they were #1 in baseball in runs scored. 

FIRST TO WORST. 

And the one significant move worked out. Okamoto was a good signing. He is hitting better than Bo. 

I guess the only real mystery is Vlad. 

Barger is injuries. Kirk is a significant injury + he has not always been a consistent hitter. George is so old. Varsho is within his normal variance of overall offensive performance.

So I guess it does mostly make sense and it's just the cumulative effect of a string of underperformances and bad luck. 

But Vlad. He makes no sense. 

The Anchor. 

El Ancla. 

[Laika]

How many times this season has Vlad swung at a meatball and somehow inside-outed the thing meekly to right field or pounded it hard but directly into the ground?

150 times? 

[Omar]

Please accept our apologies.

[Eat My Shatkins]

The biggest reason for this teams drop off is the offense and the biggest reason the offense has dropped off IMO is lack of patience at the plate (pitch selection). As a group they're hacking away at pitchers pitches way too often.

[Terminator]

2 hours ago, Laika said:

I am at a loss. 

The most frustrating thing is that it does not make sense. 

30th in baseball in runs scored. Dead last. 

In 2025 they were 4th. 
From May 1 2025 to the end of the season they were #1 in baseball in runs scored. 

FIRST TO WORST. 

And the one significant move worked out. Okamoto was a good signing. He is hitting better than Bo. 

I guess the only real mystery is Vlad. 

Barger is injuries. Kirk is a significant injury + he has not always been a consistent hitter. George is so old. Varsho is within his normal variance of overall offensive performance.

So I guess it does mostly make sense and it's just the cumulative effect of a string of underperformances and bad luck. 

But Vlad. He makes no sense. 

The Anchor. 

El Ancla. 

It's insanity.

Imagine if I told you that we would be adding the following free agents to last year's team:

• The ASG starter and possible Cy Young winner
• 4 WAR infielder to replace Bo
• One of the best setup men in MLB

You'd probably think we'd win the division easily. Instead we are dead last lol.

And all this after last year's WS, the 50th anniversary, etc. 

Kill me.

[Terminator]

3 minutes ago, Eat My Shatkins said:

The biggest reason for this teams drop off is the offense and the biggest reason the offense has dropped off IMO is lack of patience at the plate (pitch selection). As a group they're hacking away at pitchers pitches way too often.

Yeah the aggressive approach worked in the postseason. We would blitz the opposing team's pitchers and before they knew it we had been spraying liners all over the park with some bombs mixed in.

Seems like teams have adjusted and now they are throwing junk off the plate and we are waving at it.

Need a total lineup overhaul this offseason but we should be able to do it with DH and OF spots being the biggest needs aside from Vlad pulling his head out of his butt.

[jaysblue]

Okamoto is a very different hitter than peak Bo. I don’t think we can just treat it like they swap out for each other and everything balances out.

When Bo is healthy and at his best, he’s one of the better pure hitters in baseball. He makes a ton of contact, puts the ball in play, sprays line drives, racks up extra-base hits, and can still run into some home runs. The Jays are missing that type of bat this season, and it shows. And who knows, maybe not having another legitimate bat like that in the lineup is impacting Vlad a bit too, even if the whole protection argument can be overstated.

Okamoto is more of a power-first bat. The power is real, and he’s definitely been a nice addition, but it comes with more swing-and-miss and a less well-rounded offensive profile. He feels a lot more like Matt Chapman offensively. He should still finish somewhere in that 3–4 WAR range, which is a good player. But offensively, I don’t think you can say he simply replaces Bo and the lineup is fine. They’re completely different types of hitters, and this team clearly misses what a healthy, top-form Bo brings.