The Blue Jays keep digging themselves holes before the game really gets going, and it’s starting to look like a defining problem of their 2026 season.
On Sunday against the Texas Rangers, Toronto allowed a run in the first inning for the seventh straight game. Over that stretch, the Blue Jays have been outscored 14-1 in the opening inning. It’s the kind of early damage that leaves a team scrambling, and for Toronto it has become a recurring issue rather than a one-off lapse.
The first inning numbers tell the story. Entering Sunday, Toronto ranked 24th in ERA at 5.27 and 22nd in WHIP at 1.45 in the opening frame. The offense hasn’t done its part either, sitting 27th in runs per game at 0.39 and 21st in slugging percentage at .395 in its own first inning chances.
And yet, the Blue Jays have managed to survive more of these bad starts than you might expect. They already have 20 come-from-behind wins, which ties them for ninth in MLB.
That matches the formula they leaned on in 2025, too. Without those rallies later in games, their 39-45 record going into Jun. 29 could look a lot worse.
The bigger concern is what this says about how Toronto is playing as a whole. When a team is regularly giving up the first punch and not landing one back right away, it leaves almost no margin for error. That’s a rough setup for any club trying to stay in the race.
The last two series should have offered a chance to reset. Toronto was at home against the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers, both below .500, and Shane Bieber was back in the rotation. Instead, the Blue Jays have gone 1-6 in those games, and now they’re welcoming Bo Bichette and the struggling New York Mets for a three-game set.
That matchup at least gives Toronto a shot to break the pattern. The Mets have been slow starters too, ranking 23rd in the league in runs per game at 0.50. With Bichette returning to Toronto, the Blue Jays also have a chance to make a statement about how they can function without their former star shortstop.
For Toronto, the cleanest answer is the simplest one: stop getting beaten in the first inning and stop waiting so long to respond.
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Blue Jays Just Reached A Point Fans Have Been Dreading
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Runs have been hard to come by, especially with men in scoring position, and that has turned even winnable nights at the ballpark into frustration. With fewer than 80 games left, the pressure is not just about stopping the skid, it is about forcing the front office to decide whether this group is still close enough to justify buying at the trade deadline or whether the slide has already changed the conversation. [Read more 🡒]