Leo Morgenstern

No one knows how CBA negotiations between MLB and the MLBPA will affect the 2027 season. However, we now know what the schedule will look like, presuming no prolonged work stoppage. The season will begin with one game on Wednesday, March 24. The teams for that game have not yet been announced. Opening Day for the Blue Jays will be Thursday, March 25, 2027, unless they're chosen to play the day before. They will take on the Yankees in a three-game set in the Bronx, before travelling to Baltimore for a series with the Orioles. The home opener is set for Friday, April 2, against the Mariners. The Jays will be home for Canada Day (facing the Angels) before departing on a 10-game road trip heading into the All-Star break. The Midsummer Classic is scheduled for July 13 at Wrigley Field. Finally, the Blue Jays will end their 2027 regular season at home with series against the Yankees and Rays, wrapping up on September 26. You can find their full 2027 schedule here. View full rumor

The American League cruised to a 4-0 victory in last night's All-Star Game, and the Blue Jays' representatives all did their part to help the cause. Here's how each of them performed. Dylan Cease By the time Dylan Cease threw his first pitch, he was already working with a comfortable lead. The AL All-Stars sent eight batters to the plate in the top of the first – the whole starting lineup except for Ernie Clement – and scored three against the Phillies' Cristopher Sánchez, much to the chagrin of the passionate Philadelphia crowd. It turns out that a one-run lead would have sufficed. In his inning of work, Cease set the tone for the AL pitching staff, throwing the first of what would be nine scoreless frames. First, he embarrassed MLB home run leader Kyle Schwarber. Cease got Schwarber to swing through two heaters down the middle before making him chase a slider well below the zone. Next up was Juan Soto, arguably the hardest out in baseball. Yet, Cease only needed four pitches to retire the Mets slugger. Known for his keen eye at the plate, all Soto could do was watch as Cease floated a knuckle curve and a changeup past him for strikes one and two. After Soto fouled off a sinker to the moon, Cease called his shot: "fastball down and away." (Both he and catcher Shea Langeliers were mic'd up for the inning. I have very mixed feelings about the "in-game mic'd up" thing, but it was interesting to hear Cease call some pitches over the broadcast.) The plan worked, and Soto's face said it all as he walked back to the dugout: The next batter was beloved Canadian / bitter World Series enemy Freddie Freeman, who battled his way to a nine-pitch walk. Oh well. It wouldn't be a Dylan Cease outing without a high pitch count and the occasional control issue. And it wouldn't matter anyway. The final batter of the inning was CJ Abrams. The Nationals shortstop gave Cease a beautiful whiff for his third swinging strikeout of the inning. You can't ask for much more than that. Ernie Clement Clement went 0-for-2 at the bottom of the AL lineup, grounding out on the first pitch in both of his at-bats. However, he still made his mark on the game. In the fifth inning, Clement ran into the outfield on the left side of second base to grab a hard grounder up the middle. Then, he leapt into the air and launched it to first base in time to steal a base hit from Andy Pages: For many, Clement included, it instantly called to mind the catch Pages made last fall to rob Clement of the hit that would have won the World Series. "Yeah, I had to get him back for what he did to us in the World Series... Getting him back a little bit, it felt pretty good," Clement said after the game. While it would have been nice to see him get a hit, I'm so glad Clement had his moment to shine in the All-Star Game. The way Blue Jays fans supported him in the voting was incredible, and being there clearly meant so much to the man himself. "I believe that I could help a team win in the big leagues, but this is just way farther off my radar. I never would have dreamed of it, and I'm just lucky to be here." Louis Varland Louis Varland didn't get to finish the game like I was hoping. He didn't even get a hold, like the seven pitchers who threw before him, because the AL had increased its lead to 4-0 by the time Varland came on for the bottom of the eighth. Still, I'm grateful he got to pitch a full inning. Varland started things off with a triple-digit heater (way outside) to James Wood, perhaps just to show he could. He would quickly retire Wood, perhaps the NL's most dangerous hitter right now, as well as Hunter Goodman and Iván Herrera. The only blemish on his line was a groundball single to NL MVP contender Pete Crow-Armstrong. John Schneider It's hard to argue with the way the AL skipper deployed his pitchers. He gave every available arm a chance to throw in the game, and those arms put on a masterclass against the best competition the NL had to offer. The AL pitchers held their opponents to three hits and two walks, never letting a runner reach scoring position. Most impressive was their 15 strikeouts. By strikeout rate, this was the most dominant showing by a pitching staff in All-Star Game history: League + Year Strikeouts Batters Faced K% AL 2026 15 32 46.9% AL 2019 16 35 45.7% NL 2015 15 39 38.5% NL 1968 11 30 36.7% AL 2014 13 37 35.1% As with the pitchers, it was admirable that Schneider got every eligible position player on his roster into the game. However, his starting lineup decisions were a little more questionable. Hometown kid Mike Trout leading off in Philadelphia was a great call, as was batting AL MVP favourite Yordan Alvarez second. It was a little harder to understand why Langeliers was batting third, considering how cold he's been for the past two months. Similarly, batting Cody Bellinger ahead of Ben Rice and Riley Greene seems to indicate a complete lack of awareness of how badly Bellinger has been playing as of late. That said, Bellinger would go on to win All-Star Game MVP honours, so maybe I'm the one who doesn't know what I'm talking about. (And of course, it's not like it really matters.) Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't include this screenshot, showing the moment broadcast accidentally confused John Schneider with Mike Trout. Personally, I make that mistake all the time, so I totally get it. Crunching the Numbers The Blue Jays franchise record for most representatives at the All-Star Game was set, unsurprisingly, in 1993, when Toronto sent seven players to the Midsummer Classic. While the Jays only had four All-Stars this year (including Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who did not participate), they did have a record number of All-Stars in another way. Sort of. I'll let Jays Centre contributor Mike LeSage explain: Anyway, that's it for our 2026 All-Star Game coverage. Good luck surviving the next two days with no baseball, and get ready for a whole lot of trade deadline talk over the next 20 days! View full article

When the Toronto Blue Jays signed Dylan Cease to a seven-year, $210 million contract, some fans were surprised. That's No. 1 starter money, and not everyone viewed him as a surefire ace. The Blue Jays saw a pitcher who compiled more than 20.0 fWAR over the past five seasons, with two top-five Cy Young finishes to his name. Others saw a pitcher with a mid-4.00s ERA in two of the past three seasons, who had never even made an All-Star team. Any questions about Cease's acehood are looking awfully foolish half a season into his Blue Jays career. His ERA is two runs lower than it was in 2025, and he has finally made his first All-Star team. Not only that, but he'll be starting the game for the AL squad. Let's take a quick look back at the other Toronto pitchers who had that honour before him. Dave Stieb, 1983 Dave Stieb made back-to-back All-Star teams in 1980 and '81. In 1981, he became the first Blue Jays pitcher to finish an All-Star Game, something I'm hoping Louis Varland will get to accomplish tonight. Stieb failed to make the squad for a third straight year in 1982, although he earned his first Cy Young votes at the end of the season. Then, in 1983, he went 10-7 with a 2.54 ERA over a league-leading 148.2 innings in the season's first half. That performance earned him the ball to start the Midsummer Classic. The Blue Jays' ace threw three innings, striking out future Hall of Famers Mike Schmidt, Andre Dawson, and Tim Raines, as well as two-time MVP Dale Murphy. Stieb gave up a run in the first inning, due to an error of his own doing, but quickly settled in. He was the winning pitcher in a 13-3 AL victory. Stieb wasn't quite as dominant in the second half, but that's only because of how high he set the bar for himself. He finished the year with a 3.04 ERA in 36 starts. While he didn't earn any Cy Young support, he led the Junior Circuit in bWAR for a second year in a row. Dave Stieb, 1984 At the halfway mark of the 1984 season, Stieb was 9-3 with a 2.42 ERA in 137.2 innings pitched. He had fewer complete games, but other than that, he looked every bit as dominant as he had in the first half the year before. Unfortunately, he wasn't as successful in the All-Star Game. Stieb threw two innings and gave up two runs (one earned), this time taking the loss in a 3-1 game. By FanGraphs and Baseball Reference WAR, the 1984 season was the best of Stieb's career. His 7.9 bWAR led the major leagues, as did his 267.0 innings pitched and 146 ERA+. Despite that, he didn't get much love in the Cy Young voting at the end of the year. At least he got to start the All-Star Game for the second time in a row. Hard to complain about that. Fun fact: After seven years of only having one representative in the game, the Blue Jays had three All-Stars in 1984. Joining Stieb were second baseman Dámaso García and shortstop Alfredo Griffin. David Wells, 2000 David Wells began his career with the Blue Jays from 1987 to '92. Three years after he left Toronto, he became an All-Star for the first time with the Detroit Tigers. Another three years later, he made the All-Star team again as a member of the New York Yankees. The 2000 season was arguably the best of Wells's 21-year career. He made 35 starts, won 20 games, and led the majors with a 3.2% walk rate. His first half was particularly strong; he went 15-2 with a 3.44 ERA. Wells threw two scoreless innings for the AL All-Stars in 2000, striking out Sammy Sosa and Jason Kendall. The AL won the game, but they didn't score until the third inning, so Wells had to settle for a no-decision in his third and final All-Star Game appearance. Roy Halladay, 2009 Roy Halladay made six All-Star teams during his tenure with the Blue Jays, and he pitched in four of them (2002, '06, '08, and '09). In his last appearance for the AL squad, he finally earned his first start. He would go on to make two more All-Star teams with the Phillies, starting the game again in 2011. Funnily enough, he is the most recent pitcher to start the game for both Toronto and Philadelphia. That will change for both teams this year, when Cease faces off against Cristopher Sánchez tonight. Anyway, back to Halladay. The right-hander was 10-3 with a 2.85 ERA at the end of the first half. His performance in the Midsummer Classic wasn't his best work – he gave up three runs (two earned) in two innings – but it was still a historic performance. Halladay remains the most recent pitcher (Shohei Ohtani excluded) to take a plate appearance in the All-Star Game. (Don't hold your breath; he struck out.) Halladay went on to finish fifth in Cy Young voting in his final season in Toronto. He led the majors with four shutouts, nine complete games, and a 5.94 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Dylan Cease, 2026 Cam Schlittler of the New York Yankees is the AL Cy Young front-runner, but he'll be sitting out the All-Star Game after pitching on Saturday. For what it's worth, John Schneider claims he would have gone with Cease for the start no matter what. Whether that's homerism or a little white lie, Cease is certainly deserving of the opportunity. His near-no-hitter last week brought him to the top of the AL fWAR leaderboard, with 3.7 fWAR to Schlitter's 3.4 (in three fewer starts!). Cease also leads the AL with 148 strikeouts, a 2.85 xERA, and a 2.96 SIERA. It's going to be fun to watch him take the mound tonight, and even more fun to see what he has in store for us in the second half of the season. View full article

The Blue Jays are six games below .500. They've fallen behind the Red Sox and Orioles in the AL East. They're still only 2.5 games back of a Wild Card spot, but they have the fifth-worst record and run differential in the American League. This wasn't the way the Jays were hoping to end the first half of the season, but hopefully, they can take this time off to reset before embarking on a make-or-break 16-games-in-17-days stretch leading up to the trade deadline. Toronto Blue Jays Week in Review (July 6-12) Monday, July 6: SFG 10, TOR 1 Blue Jays finally (and just barely) break their run-scoring drought. Kevin Gausman takes his fourth loss in a row. The bottom five in the order go hitless. Tuesday, July 7: T0R 9, SFG 3 Jonatan Clase hits his first big league home run since last June. (To be fair, he's back in the big leagues for the first time since last June.) The home run dragon is born. Spencer Miles goes four innings against his former organization. The 18 batters he faced in this one set a new career-high. Wednesday, July 8: T0R 10, SFG 0 Dylan Cease takes a no-hitter into the ninth. Daulton Varsho preserves the no-no with a spectacular catch. Kazuma Okamoto hits a grand slam. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and George Springer go back-to-back. Friday, July 10: TOR 5, SDP 3 Shane Bieber struggles through another uninspiring start – though he persevered after a long first inning. Okamoto hits his 22nd bomb, tying Shohei Ohtani's record for the most home runs hit by a Japanese-born player in his rookie campaign. Louis Varland earns his 19th consecutive save. He's the first Blue Jays pitcher to save that many games in the first half without any blown saves. Saturday, July 11: SDP 8, TOR 7 Trey Yesavage ends his first half on a rough note. (1.2 IP, 4 ER, 1 H, 7 BB, 1 K) Clase hits his second home run of the week. Guerrero homers for the second time in three days. Alejandro Kirk doubles for the second game in a row. He previously only had two extra-base hits since his return from the IL a month ago. Mason Fluharty makes his 50th appearance of the first half. That's one short of tying Trever Miller for the Blue Jays franchise record. Sunday, July 12: SDP 5, TOR 4 Ernie Clement homers, heads into the break hot. The first-time All-Star had a hit in every game this week. Gausman makes a quality start, but the Blue Jays drop their sixth straight game with him on the mound. He hasn't collected a win since May 22. Jeff Hoffman blows it for his fourth blown save and fifth loss. He was so close to entering the break on a hot streak. Toronto Blue Jays Transactions of the Week Chad Dallas recalled (and optioned again). Yohendrick Piñango optioned. Daz Cameron signs an MiLB deal. Ryan Sprock in, Tommy Nance out. (Trade thread) CJ Van Eyk gets his first MLB call-up. Blue Jays select 19 amateur players in the 2026 MLB Draft. Toronto Blue Jays Injury Updates of the Week Max Scherzer makes another rehab start. (4.0 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 5 K) Jesús Sánchez is getting ready to start a rehab assignment. Addison Barger will be "reevaluated" after the break. Auspicious or ominous? Yimi García is supposedly building back up again. View full article

The 2026 MLB Draft took place over the weekend, and we covered it all here at Jays Centre. Click the links below to read about each of the Blue Jays' selections, including No. 39 overall pick Cole Carlon. No. 39: Cole Carlon No. 103: Ryan Cooney No. 131: Will Brick No. 164: Nolan Higgins Rounds 6-10 Gable Mitchell Dean West Jake Bennett Joey Urban Bryce Chance Rounds 11-20 Brayden Martin Santiago Garcia Mathis Nayral Connor Kelley Oliver de la Torre Carson Cormier Landon Waters Jake McCoy Cole Travers Eddie Rosado Jr. You can also find the complete list of Toronto's selections on our 2026 Blue Jays Draft Pick Tracker. This tool will be updated as players sign. View full article

On Saturday, the Blue Jays made their first three selections of the 2026 MLB Draft. You can read more about each selection by clicking on the links below: No. 39: Cole Carlon No. 103: Ryan Cooney No. 131: Will Brick Today, the draft continues, with the final 16 rounds taking place from 11:30 am to 7:30 pm Eastern. The Blue Jays lost two of their top five picks for signing a free agent who rejected the qualifying offer (Dylan Cease), but they'll have a selection to make in every round of Day 2. The action resumes with pick No. 136, belonging to the Rockies. The Blue Jays will have to wait until pick No. 164 to start their day. Here is the full list of their remaining draft slots: Round 5: No. 164 (Slot value: $421,300) Round 6: No. 193 (Slot value: $330,300) Round 7: No. 222 (Slot value: $262,300) Round 8: No. 252 (Slot value: $219,500) Round 9: No. 282 (Slot value: $202,100) Round 10: No. 312 (Slot value: $191,900) Round 11: No. 342 Round 12: No. 372 Round 13: No. 402 Round 14: No. 432 Round 15: No. 462 Round 16: No. 493 Round 17: No. 523 Round 18: No. 553 Round 19: No. 583 Round 20: No. 613 Like yesterday, you can follow the team's selections on our 2026 Draft Tracker, which we'll continue to update throughout the day and during the post-draft signing period. You can also continue to share all your thoughts in this Day 2 thread. View full article

The Blue Jays still have two games left to play before the break, but the All-Star week festivities are already getting started. The HBCU Swingman Classic was last night, and the Futures Game is tomorrow. The Home Run Derby is set for Monday, and then you can watch Ernie Clement, Dylan Cease, and Louis Varland suit up for the AL All-Stars on Tuesday night. Today, however, might have the most anticipated event of them all. It's Day 1 of the 2026 MLB Draft. This afternoon, representatives from every team will head to the Pennsylvania Convention Center. At 1:00 pm Eastern, the White Sox will kick it all off with the first overall pick. The Blue Jays won't make their first selection until the start of the second round. Initially, they were slated to pick 29th due to their AL pennant-winning season. However, their highest pick was pushed back 10 spots because their 2025 payroll exceeded the second luxury tax threshold. As I write this, our Mock Draft Consensus Board has the Blue Jays taking two-way prospect Archer Horn with the 39th overall pick. At previous points in the draft cycle, the Consensus Board also linked the Jays to Texas A&M outfielder Caden Sorrell and prep infielder Cole Prosek. In total, Toronto will only make three picks today: No. 39, No. 103, and No. 131. In addition to having their highest pick moved back 10 slots, the Blue Jays sacrificed their second- and fifth-highest picks when they signed Cease. The right-hander recevied a qualifying offer from the Padres last November. That fifth-highest pick was the one the Jays would have received as competition for losing Bo Bichette to the Mets; like Cease, Bichette also rejected a qualifying offer. Unfortunately, the Blue Jays also won't have a big bonus pool to work with in this year's draft. The fewer picks a team has and the lower those picks are, the lower the cumulative slot value of all that team's picks is going to be. Toronto's $5,543,100 bonus pool is the second-lowest in the 2026 MLB Draft, ahead of only the Dodgers ($3,951,900). For comparison, the Pirates have the largest bonus pool, with $19,130,700 to spend. Speaking to Sportsnet's Shi Davidi, Blue Jays amateur scouting director Marc Tramuta addressed how his team's small bonus pool could affect the draft strategy: "It's probably difficult to say I'm going to take more than a couple high school players, just given the size of the bonus pool...That's not going to take us out of the market on anybody. It just might not be the volume that we did last year.” Obvious talents like Trey Yesavage and JoJo Parker won't be so readily available for the Blue Jays this year, but that doesn't mean the draft will be any less exciting – it just means the Jays will have to be more strategic with their picks. You can follow their selections on our 2026 Blue Jays Draft Tracker, which will be kept up to date throughout the draft and the subsequent signing period. More importantly, you can voice all of your opinions about Day 1 in this thread. Let's get started! View full article

In a surprising move, the Blue Jays are trading right-handed reliever Tommy Nance to the Twins. ESPN's Alden Gonzalez was the first to report the trade. According to Sportsnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith, the Blue Jays will receive catching prospect Ryan Sprock in exchange for Nance. This news might concern Blue Jays fans with the implication that the team will be selling at the deadline. However, it's more likely that they simply got an offer that they decided was too good to pass up for a middle reliever who's out of options. If the Jays pursue bullpen upgrades later this month, there's a good chance Nance would have been out of a job anyway, and this move guarantees the Blue Jays don't lose him for nothing. View full rumor

I'm still not ready to entertain the possibility that the Blue Jays will be sellers at the trade deadline. As I write this, the Jays are six games below .500 with a -38 run differential. They're only three games back of a Wild Card spot, but they would have to surpass three teams (and stave off several more) to put themselves in the playoff picture. If Toronto can't stop losing over the next couple of weeks, eventually Ross Atkins will have to face reality. But we're not there yet. For now, this is still the team that made it to Game 7 of the World Series last year. This is still the team with a top-five payroll in the sport. This is still a team that should absolutely have eyes on the playoffs. Of course, if they're going to get there – and give themselves the best chance to advance when they do – they'll have to bring in some reinforcements. The Blue Jays need another starting pitcher. Dylan Cease is a stud and Kevin Gausman is a horse, but I'm worried about Trey Yesavage and Spencer Miles running out of steam down the stretch. I'm also concerned by what we've seen from Shane Bieber so far, and I'm not counting on anything from Max Scherzer at this point. Patrick Corbin can rejoin the rotation as needed, but the Blue Jays can and should aim higher. I know I just named seven guys there, but if the 2026 Blue Jays have taught us anything, it's that we shouldn't ever worry about having too much starting pitching. If the Jays ever end up in a situation where they do have too many guys, they can figure it out then, but that possibility shouldn't affect their deadline strategy. So, Toronto needs to shop for a starter. There are plenty of options to consider, but thankfully, DiamondCentric has a list of the top 40 trade candidates I can use to narrow my search. Let's take a look at some of the top-ranked names. Tarik Skubal (No. 1) Not happening. I'd love to see the back-to-back Cy Young winner in Toronto, but the Blue Jays aren't in a position to make this kind of blockbuster. We can reconsider Tarik Skubal if they go on a 15-game winning streak. Joe Ryan (No. 2) DiamondCentric's second-highest-ranked trade candidate is a much more realistic target for the Blue Jays. The Twins ace might cost nearly as much as Skubal in terms of prospects; he's making a lot less money, and he's still under team control through arbitration in 2027. However, that's exactly why he makes sense for Toronto. If the Jays were to trade for Skubal and still miss the playoffs, it would be a disaster. If they trade for Joe Ryan and miss the playoffs this year, it would be disappointing, but they would go into 2027 with Cease, Ryan, and Yesavage atop their rotation. That's a great top three to build around, and even in his final year of arbitration, Ryan will come significantly cheaper than re-signing Gausman (or an equivalent free agent replacement). Here's what DiamondCentric's Matthew Trueblood has to say about Ryan: Reid Detmers (No. 4) Reid Detmers is under team control for two more seasons after this one. The left-hander would bring some much-needed variation to Toronto's rotation; the only lefty on their depth chart right now is Corbin. The downside with Detmers is that he's never pitched a full, qualified season. He threw a career-high 148.2 innings back in 2023. The next year, he technically threw 165.1 frames, but almost half of those were at the Triple-A level. In 2025, he threw 63.2 innings, all of them out of the bullpen. Detmers has looked great this year, but ultimately, the Blue Jays need a high-floor guy more than they need a high-ceiling guy right now. Kevin Gausman (No. 6) The next-highest starting pitcher on our rankings is a very familiar face, given that he already pitches for the Blue Jays. Jim Scott wrote an interesting piece about the possibility of Toronto flipping Gausman at the deadline, but I still think DiamondCentric's No. 6 trade candidate is staying put. Freddy Peralta (No. 7) My gut reaction here was no. The Blue Jays should stay away from Freddy Peralta. He's a rental, and he's pitching uncharacteristically poorly. Then I reconsidered. For one thing, Peralta won't cost anything close to the kind of prospect return the Tigers will demand for Skubal. And even in a down year, he has already reached 100 innings with a mid-4.00s ERA. His upside is similar to Ryan's, and his floor would still improve Toronto's staff. Here's what Matthew Trueblood wrote about Peralta: Sonny Gray (No. 8) I'm a big fan of Sonny Gray, who has been one of the more underrated frontline starters in the game for years. Since 2019, he has made 200 starts with a 3.44 ERA. In that span, he ranks fourth in FanGraphs pitching WAR behind Zack Wheeler, Gausman, and Logan Webb. His ERA right now is a career low, and his underlying numbers are as strong as ever. His strikeout rate is down, but he hasn't had any trouble compensating in other ways. Here's the problem: Gray is a very expensive rental. He'll have about $10 million in 2026 salary remaining at the deadline, plus a $10 million buyout on his mutual option at the end of the year. The Blue Jays could probably get the Red Sox to eat some of that money, but the way to do that would be to offer some enticing prospects to a division rival. I don't see that happening. José Soriano (No. 10) There's a lot to like about José Soriano, who owns a career 3.77 ERA and 4.13 xERA in 430 innings. The 27-year-old has come back to earth since his phenomenal March/April, but he's a reliable pitcher with plenty of skills the Jays would love to build on. Like his teammate Detmers, Soriano is under contract through the 2028 season, and I'm more convinced of his high floor. However, I'm less convinced the Angels will be shopping him. I think they'd only give him up for a price higher than the Jays might be willing to pay. Here are Trueblood's thoughts: Casey Mize (No. 12) This is another one where I'll say, "Let's reconsider if the Jays go on a winning streak." Casey Mize is a free agent after the year, and the Blue Jays cannot give up too much for a rental unless their playoff odds are significantly higher three weeks from now. What's more, the other rentals I've discussed so far (Skubal, Peralta, and Gray) all have longer track records of success. When it comes to Mize, the Tigers will be hoping his old prospect pedigree and excellent first-half results convince a team to pay a frontline-starter price for a pitcher who had never warranted that label before. Some teams might be willing to do that, but Toronto shouldn't be one of them. View full article

Well, that certainly was a week of Blue Jays baseball. The Jays snapped a six-game losing streak last week, taking two of three from the Mets. Unfortunately, they followed that up by dropping a series against the Mariners. The most painful part of it all was an 11-0 drubbing in Seattle, which was followed by another shutout loss. It's now been 24 innings since Toronto scored a run. Indeed, while the Jays went 3-3 on the week, all three losses were shutouts, leading to a -9 run differential. An even week means the Blue Jays are still six games below the .500 mark, but now they only have four weeks left before the trade deadline. Despite a 42-48 record and -42 run differential, Toronto is only three games back of a Wild Card berth. Considering that, and all the talent on this roster, I'm still inclined to view the Blue Jays as buyers this month. However, they need to string together some more wins if they're going to convince Ross Atkins to make some needle-moving additions. Toronto Blue Jays Week in Review (June 29-July 5) Monday, June 29: TOR 2, NYM 1 Bo Bichette gets a standing ovation in his return to the Rogers Centre. Trey Yesavage notches another quality start. George Springer hits a little league home run. Tuesday, June 30: NYM 3, TOR 0 Kevin Gausman rights the ship after a pair of rough outings. Blue Jays shut out for third time in 2026 (first time since May 6). Loonie Dog night record falls to 4-4. Wednesday, July 1: TOR 9, NYM 3 Blue Jays improve to 5-1 when Braydon Fisher "starts." Spencer Miles touches 99 on the radar gun for the first time (and tops out at 99.4). Sean Keys hits his first MLB home run. Patrick Corbin earns a five-inning save. Friday, July 3: TOR 2, SEA 0 Dylan Cease dominates on the seven-year anniversary of his big league debut. (He'll be named to his first career All-Star team the next day.) Louis Varland (soon to be named an All-Star himself) earns another save. He's 18-for-18 on the year. Saturday, July 4: SEA 11, TOR 0 Shane Bieber gives up seven runs. His first three starts haven't been very promising. Adam Macko falters. The Canadian rookie has been great this year, but he couldn't stop the bleeding on Saturday. Myles Straw takes the hill. The outfielder made his second scoreless pitching appearance of the season. Logan Gilbert and Cole Wilcox of the Mariners held the Blue Jays to one baserunner; Yohendrick Piñango singled in the fifth. Jonatan Clase makes his 2026 debut. Sunday July 5: SEA 4, TOR 0 The offense lets down Yesavage, who makes another quality start. The Jays managed a whopping three hits in this shutout, including a double from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Toronto Blue Jays Transactions of the Week Simeon Woods Richardson outrighted to Triple-A Buffalo. Jonatan Clase recalled for first time in 2026. Max Scherzer sent to High-A Vancouver for rehab start. (3.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 K) Matt Bowman, Josh Fleming, and Justin Topa released from minor league contracts. Toronto Blue Jays Injury Updates of the Week Addison Barger diagnosed with stress fracture in his back. He will be shut down for at least another week. Scherzer expected to need two more rehab starts before returning. Could be back shortly after the All-Star break. Lenyn Sosa started a rehab assignment on June 22, but the infielder hasn't played since June 26. View full article

Nolan Perry earned our Minor League Pitcher of the Month honors for both April and May. The right-hander remains the story of the season in the Blue Jays' system, as he recently made his Double-A debut, striking out seven in three scoreless innings. However, he only made three starts in June, including a couple of less-than-stellar outings in his final two starts with Vancouver. So, for the first time this season, a new pitching prospect tops this list. Honourable Mentions Brendon Little, Buffalo Bisons Brendon Little also earned an honourable mention in April. His excellent work in the minors only makes his major league struggles more frustrating. The southpaw threw 7.2 scoreless innings for Buffalo in June, striking out 12. He gave up four hits and four walks, never allowing more than two baserunners in an outing. Unfortunately, in his one appearance for the big league team, Little gave up four runs in a lone inning of work. He was demoted the next day. Johnny King, Vancouver Canadians Johnny King is the top-ranked pitching prospect in the organization, and he enjoyed another solid month in June. The left-hander pitched to a 3.75 ERA in five starts, working into at least the fifth inning in all five games. Walks were a problem in a couple of his outings, but he struck out more than a quarter of his opponents in the month. The highlight of his June was an eight-strikeout gem against the Tri-City Dust Devils. No. 3: Gage Stanifer (New Hampshire Fisher Cats) 5 starts, 3.28 ERA, 33 K, 9 BB, 4 HR Gage Stanifer was the runner-up to Perry on last month's list, and he had himself another great month in June. The 22-year-old struck out 32% of the batters he faced, and his 8.7% walk rate represented a big step in the right direction. Stanifer finished the month by going six innings in a start for the first time since last summer. He struck out nine in what was easily his best game since his promotion to Double-A New Hampshire. No. 2: Troy Guthrie (Dunedin Blue Jays) 5 starts, 3.04 ERA, 24 K, 6 BB, 0 HR Troy Guthrie had a rough go of it in his final start of June, but he also made three quality starts in the month. All told, he struck out 24 batters and walked just six, finishing June with a 3.04 ERA and a 2.70 FIP. The 11th-round draft pick isn't a particularly well-known name, but his great control is helping him pitch deep into games. He's an arm to keep an eye on. No. 1: Danny Thompson Jr. (Vancouver Canadians/New Hampshire Fisher Cats) 5 starts, 1.52 ERA, 27 K, 10 BB, 1 HR Danny Thompson Jr. earned a mid-month promotion to Double-A New Hampshire, and he didn't miss a beat. In three starts post-promotion, he threw 14.1 innings, allowing one run on four hits. The 23-year-old right-hander isn't on our organizational top prospect list yet, but his strong work so far surely merits more consideration the next time we rank our top 20. View full article

Rosters for the 2026 All-Star Futures Game were announced this morning. Two Blue Jays will represent the American League in the exhibition matchup: shortstop JoJo Parker and right-handed pitcher Nolan Perry. Parker was Toronto's first-round pick last summer. He is Jays Centre's No. 1 prospect and is widely considered a top-100 prospect in the sport. In his first professional season, he has an .853 OPS and a 129 wRC+ in 64 games with Single-A Dunedin. Perry, a 12th-round pick in 2022, is enjoying a breakout campaign. The righty has already been promoted twice this season, and he recently shot up to No. 8 on our latest prospect ranking update. In 54.2 innings with Dunedin, Vancouver, and New Hampshire, he has 85 strikeouts and a 2.47 ERA. This year's Futures Game will take place on Sunday, July 12 in Philadelphia. View full rumor

Last week, the Blue Jays designated Simeon Woods Richardson for assignment. Often, that means goodbye. However, the right-hander cleared waivers, which means none of the league's other 29 teams were willing to take on his salary and add him to their active roster. So, the Blue Jays were able to send him outright to Triple-A Buffalo. While some players can reject an outright assignment, electing free agency instead, Woods Richardson does not have that option; that's because he has less than three years of MLB service time and has never previously been outrighted in his career. All of this is good news for Toronto. Thirty different players have thrown a pitch for the Blue Jays in 2026. (Only the Cubs, with 31, have used more pitchers this year.) Even if you don't count position players pitching, the Jays have used more pitchers than there are spots on the active roster, and the season is barely past its halfway point. Pitching depth is critical, and the Blue Jays know that well. So do all of us watching. Now, the next time the team needs a multi-inning arm – and there will be a next time – they'll have one at the ready. Woods Richardson is no longer taking up a spot on the 40-man roster, but the Jays can add him back to the 40-man whenever they please. That's a luxury. Of course, there's a reason Woods Richardson cleared waivers in the first place. He owns a 6.40 ERA this season, with equally distressing ERA estimators (FIP, xERA, SIERA, etc.). While he didn't allow a run in the 10 innings he threw for Toronto, the righty looked just as ineffectual as he had earlier this year in Minnesota, struggling to throw strikes or generate weak contact. In 57.2 innings between the Blue Jays and the Twins, Woods Richardson has 31 strikeouts to 32 walks. His 11.7% strikeout rate is the lowest among the 153 MLB pitchers with at least 50 IP, and he's the only arm in that group with more walks than strikeouts. That would be a huge problem even if he wasn't giving up so much hard contact in the air. Yet, a much more effective pitcher might still be hiding underneath it all. From 2024-25, Woods Richardson was a solid, back-of-the-rotation starter, pitching to a 4.11 ERA and 3.93 xERA in 245 innings. His strikeout-to-walk ratio was a perfectly respectable 2.38 (224 K, 94 BB). Opponents still hit him hard, but fewer walks and more strikeouts allowed him to hold things together. Woods Richardson won't turn 26 until September. His days as a top-100 prospect might be long behind him, but his days as a capable major league starter are not. It's hardly far-fetched to wonder if he's a few small adjustments away from looking like his 2024-25 self again. That's another reason the Blue Jays are lucky that Woods Richardson passed through waivers. They can use him as depth if they want to. He can be the next man up in case of injury. But they can also keep him in Buffalo as a longer-term project. In the minors, he can try to throw more strikes without worrying about the negative consequences of lobbing one down the middle. He can refine his new splitter without counting how many times it ends up in the seats. The Blue Jays can wait to select his contract until, hopefully, something clicks. As I said before, there's a reason Woods Richardson is still a Blue Jay. Every other team had a chance to claim him, and every other team said "no thanks." He's not Dylan Cease. He's not Trey Yesavage. With the right adjustments, however, perhaps he's better than Patrick Corbin. And if not, at least he's nice to have as extra depth. View full article