The numbers were really rough for the Jays, who finished at 79-83 this campaign.
The Toronto Blue Jays wrapped up a frustrating 2026 season at 79-83 on Sunday afternoon by beating the Cincinnati Reds at Rogers Centre.
For a year that began with World Series aspirations, it was about as disappointing a season as you could have asked for. Between injuries and offensive regressions, the Blue Jays just never really got it going. And though they had a chance to capitalize on a poor American League in September and earn a wild card spot, they largely folded down the stretch, losing crucial series to the Athletics, Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers.
When you try to figure out why this team struggled so much, you have to point to the two things mentioned above, so let's dig a little deeper:
Injuries
The Blue Jays injury woes read like a laundry list of key contributors, and the team missed more than 2,000 cumulative days on the IL this season.
--Starting pitcher Cody Ponce, signed to a 3-year, $30 million deal in the offseason, tore his ACL in his first start.
--Pitchers Bowden Francis and Jose Berrios underwent Tommy John surgery in spring training and didn't play at all, whittling away at the team's depth.
--Shane Bieber, Max Scherzer and Trey Yesavage all took multiple turns on the injured list, with each missing significant time.
--Patrick Corbin, who was signed to help fill in the holes, also missed significant time with injury.
--Dylan Cease, who is set to finish in the Top-3 of the AL Cy Young voting, is missed time early in the year with a hamstring issue, in addition to finishing the year on the IL and missing his last start.
--Offensively, Anthony Santander, who hit 44 homers in 2024, didn't play one inning. Addison Barger, who broke out in 2025, played just nine games.
--Alejandro Kirk, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Daulton Varsho and Jesus Sanchez all mised time, with Kirk missing more than two months.
How the offense finished
Take a look at the Jays offensive numbers:
| Stat | Number | MLB Finish |
|---|---|---|
| Runs | 664 | Last |
| Hits | 1,347 | 9 |
| BA | .247 | 9 |
| Doubles | 259 | 11 |
| Home runs | 152 | Last |
| OPS | .691 | 29th |
Conclusion
The Blue Jays are a perfect test case in modern offense. They finished inside the Top-10 in batting average and total hits, but they were last in runs scored. Why? Because they were last in home runs and 29th in slugging.
As much as we all say that we want small ball to be a viable source of offense, it's just really hard to do that in today's day and age. Power wins, and unfortunately the Blue Jays didn't have it.
