The Blue Jays Put On Another Defensive Masterclass in 2026

Last week, the Toronto Blue Jays won their third AL Gold Glove Team Award. They also claimed the honour in 2023 and ‘24. While I have my gripes with the Gold Gloves in general, the Team Award is slightly different from the others. It is determined solely by the SABR Defensive Index; no voting is involved. This means the results are more closely aligned with modern metrics than the individual player awards. 

Moreover, regardless of my feelings about the Gold Gloves, I was excited when I saw the Jays had won a major award. It was especially satisfying that it was an honour they’ve claimed in three of the last four years. This achievement rightly acknowledges the work the front office, coaching staff, and players have done to put an elite defensive unit on the field.

In 2026, the Blue Jays ranked third in the AL in Defensive Runs Saved (DRS), second in Baseball Prospectus’s Deserved Runs Prevented (DRP), and first in Statcast’s Fielding Run Value (FRV). The Rays held a substantial lead over the Jays in DRS and DRP, but Toronto wildly outperformed Tampa Bay, and every other AL team, in FRV. 

DRP loved the Rays because it saw Chandler Simpson as far-and-away the best defensive player in the majors. Similarly, DRS loved the Rays because it was much higher on Taylor Walls than other metrics. Meanwhile, FRV thought Andrés Giménez was a top-tier shortstop (16 FRV), though DRP (0.9) and DRS (2) weren’t so sure. 

So, there’s no question the Jays were a strong defensive team in 2026. The question of just how strong comes down to what you think about Giménez as shortstop, and, relatedly, how heavily you choose to weigh Statcast’s defensive metrics compared to the other options out there. I know I want to trust the Statcast data…

One thing every metric could agree on was that the Blue Jays’ catching trio was phenomenal. Good catching has been a priority in Toronto for over a decade, since they signed Russell Martin to what was, at the time, the largest free agent contract in franchise history. That theme continued in 2026, when all three of Alejandro Kirk, Brandon Valenzuela, and Tyler Heineman were exceptional behind the dish. If any one of them had played a full season, he could have given Dillon Dingler a run for his money for some hardware. Seriously:

The set of columns on the left shows the actual 2026 numbers for Valenzuela, Kirk, and Heineman and how they compare to those of Dingler, the AL Gold Glove and Fielding Bible Award winner. The set of columns on the right shows the totals Valenzuela, Kirk, and Heineman were on pace for if they had caught the same number of innings as Dingler. On-pace projections aren’t the most scientific analysis, but I’m not trying to be scientific here. I just think it’s pretty cool that Toronto had three catchers who combined to play just as well as the top defensive backstop in the sport. There’s no better example of the front office decision-makers, the coaching and development staff, and the players themselves working together to create an organizational strength. 

In addition to Giménez and the catchers, the Blue Jays also got a solid showing from their center fielders. Different metrics provided varying evaluations of Daulton Varsho, Myles Straw, and Brett Bateman. Yet, between the three of them, Toronto finished above league average in all the major metrics. 

The Blue Jays also graded out well in right field, thanks largely to Nathan Lukes’s right arm. Lukes was one of only seven players with 10 or more outfield assists in 2026, and he played significantly fewer innings than any of the other six. He also ranked among the league’s top five outfielders in the arm components of both DRS and FRV.

Addison Barger added some value with his cannon, too, in the few games he was able to play. Altogether, the combination of Lukes, Barger, and Straw helped the Jays’ right fielders rank third in the AL in both DRS and FRV. DRP was less impressed with their work, but DRP is generally skeptical about how much value outfielders can ever add with their arms. 

The last player I should mention is former Gold Glover Vladimir Guerrero Jr. I used to call him that with my tongue firmly in my cheek, because I didn’t think he was a particularly deserving winner in 2022. Yet, the metrics suggest Vlad has really stepped up his defensive game over the last two seasons. 

For the second year in a row, Guerrero ranked among the top five first basemen by DRS in 2026. He also had the first season of his career with an FRV above zero; his 6 FRV ranked sixth among first basemen. 

Where his glove most stood out was on plays that required him to move toward first base and foul territory. He led all first basemen in OAA on such plays, and that definitely passes the eye test. If there’s one thing I picture when I think about Vladdy playing defense, it’s him laying out to his left to snag a ball that’s heading down the first base line.

Interestingly, Toronto collectively led the league in one more statistic I conveniently forgot to mention earlier: errors. The Jays' 98 errors were the highest total in the AL, while their .983 fielding percentage was the lowest. If you know much about fielding metrics, you probably understand that errors are no longer considered a reliable measure of defensive value. Still, I can see why someone might be confused about how a Gold Glove-caliber team could make so many errors. 

Part of the problem for the Blue Jays was pitcher errors. (I wrote about this in May, and the problem continued through the season.) Their pitchers led the Junior Circuit with seven fielding flubs and 13 misthrows for a combined 20 errors. That was six more than any other club. Take out the pitchers, and Toronto would only rank fifth-last in the AL in errors and fielding percentage. This doesn’t excuse the misplays (an error from a pitcher hurts just as much as an error from anyone else), but it helps to explain why an otherwise strong defensive team accumulated so many.

Another point to note is that a passed ball – one of the most common ways a catcher can mess up – is not considered an error. So, a stat like errors ignores a lot of the excellent work the Blue Jays did behind the plate. If you subtract pitcher errors but add passed balls, all of a sudden, the Jays rank right in the middle of the pack.

Finally, when you consider that (a) the Blue Jays added more value from pitch framing than any other element of defense and (b) errors have no relationship with pitch framing, it all starts to come together. It turns out it isn’t that surprising at all that one of the best defensive teams in the majors could also lead the league in errors.

I will always have my issues with the Gold Gloves, no matter how many the Blue Jays win. At the same time, it is a nice sign of progress that a club can lead the league in errors and still take home a defensive prize. Defense was one of the few things that was consistently great about the 2026 Toronto Blue Jays. And I’m glad this award gives us a chance to celebrate that.

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