The Blue Jays have gone 10-6 this month, but the bats haven’t exactly been carrying the load. As a group, the lineup is hitting .235/.298/.335 and averaging 3.7 runs per game, which leaves plenty of room for a few guys to separate themselves from the pack.
At the top of the list is Alejandro Kirk, who has been one of the few real bright spots. In 14 games, with 12 starts, he’s hit .378/.455/.533 with a double, two homers, 10 RBI, eight walks and only five strikeouts.
He’s also been successful on 66% of his challenges, better than the 58.6% average for catchers. The throwing numbers are not as sharp - he’s only 2 for 13 against baserunners this month - but the bat has clearly come around.
Coming off a fracture and dislocation of his thumb, Kirk has pushed his OPS from .648 to .742 and raised his batting average from .236 to .271.
Andrés Giménez has been right there with him. He’s appeared in all 16 games, starting 15, and is hitting .296/.361/.407 with three doubles, a homer, eight RBI, five steals, one caught stealing, three walks and 15 strikeouts.
His defense has been a huge part of the story too. He’s sitting at +17 OAA at short, second only to Bobby Witt, Jr., and the glove has been steady night after night.
At the plate, he’s been one of the few hitters keeping the month from going sideways.
On the other end, Brandon Valenzuela has had a rough stretch. He’s played in nine games and started five, hitting just .063/.167/.125 with two RBI, two walks and eight strikeouts.
He’s thrown out two of eight base stealers, and his challenge success rate is 42.9%, which is near the bottom among catchers. After earlier success this season, he’s been producing like a backup catcher for the last couple of months - and right now, the bat is simply not doing enough.
Vladimir Guerrero has also been cold, hitting .244/.277/.333 in 11 starts over 16 games with a double, a home run, two RBI, two walks and eight strikeouts. And now he’s on the concussion IL.
Ernie Clement has been in the lineup every day, appearing in all 16 games and starting 14, but the production has slipped. He’s hitting .200/.220/.273 with a homer, a double, eight RBI, one steal, two walks and five strikeouts.
He’s split time between short, third and mostly second base, and the defensive numbers at second have dipped. FanGraphs has him at -4 OAA there, down from +5 last year, and his eight errors at second base lead the league.
Kazuma Okamoto has also cooled off. In 14 games and 13 starts, he’s hit .204/.246/.241 with two doubles, two RBI, three walks and 18 strikeouts.
He’s started five games at first, one at DH and the rest at third. His OPS has slid from .754 to .728, and the power hasn’t shown up - he hasn’t homered since July 28th.
He’s at -3 OAA this season, and the offense at third base could use more punch.
Nathan Lukes has had a rough month as well, playing in all 16 games and starting 11 while hitting .192/.208/.250 with a homer, four RBI, a steal, one walk and six strikeouts. He’s spent the month in right field, and the production has fallen from a .726 OPS entering the month to .679 now.
That continues a downturn that started after he was over .800 in early June, when he was batting .329. He’s down to .264 now, and without much power or walk rate to lean on, that’s a tough profile to carry.
He’s 32 and not a free agent until 2031, but there’s more competition for outfield time now.
George Springer has also been slumping. He’s played in 15 games and started 12, hitting .178/.240/.244 with a double, a triple, three RBI, two steals, four walks and nine strikeouts.
He started one game in left field and the rest at DH. He did put together a 10-game hitting streak from July 25th to August 4th, but since then it’s gone the wrong way.
He turns 37 in September, and after a season like this, it’s hard to see a team wanting him as a full-time DH.
Jesús Sánchez has struggled in both places that matter most: the batter’s box and the outfield. In 11 games, with nine starts, he’s hit .167/.355/.333 with a double, a home run, three RBI, one caught stealing, six walks and eight strikeouts.
He’s at -6 OAA in the outfield this year. FanGraphs’ ZiPS projection for him this year and the next two called for .246/.313/.427, 18 homers and 1.8 fWAR, which wasn’t far off the batting line he’s produced overall at .261/.318/.423 - but the value has cratered to 0.1 WAR.
What kind of deal he gets next year is an open question.
Josh Smith has barely had enough plate appearances to make much of it, and he’s hit .191/.261/.333 in 12 games and six starts with a homer, an RBI, a steal, two walks and 10 strikeouts. With just 24 PA, there’s not much to read into.
Myles Straw has landed in the middle. He’s played in all 16 games and started 12, hitting .234/.265/.404 with six doubles, a triple, four RBI, two walks, eight strikeouts and one steal.
The on-base percentage is still too low for a player with his speed, but he has chipped in extra-base hits. He’s also at +4 OAA in the outfield this year, down from +9 last year, and the team holds options on him for the next two seasons at $8 million and $8.5 million.
That makes those decisions worth watching.
Brett Bateman has given the group some lift. In nine starts, he’s hit .275/.326/.325 with two doubles, three RBI, three walks and nine strikeouts. The defense looks good too, and while he stole 20 bases in the minors with three times caught, he hasn’t swiped one in the majors yet.
And then there’s the player back in Buffalo, who is on the IL with a quad sprain and won’t be back until September at best. In 59 PA, he’s hit great for the club.
In Other News...
Brendon Little Shares A Blue Jays Moment Bigger Than Baseball
Brendon Littles time away from the Blue Jays this month had nothing to do with an injury or a bullpen shuffle. Before the final game of Torontos series against the Boston Red Sox, the left-hander was placed on the paternity list as he and his wife, Emily, prepared to welcome their daughter, Hudson, on Aug. 13, 2026.
Little was back on the roster after the birth and returned to pitch two days later, giving Toronto a familiar arm again while the bigger news remained firmly off the diamond. For a pitcher whose job is usually measured by outs and leverage, this was one of those brief stretches when the schedule mattered far less than what was happening at home. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jays Still Need One More Arm As Arrighetti Progresss Matters
Spencer Arrighetti took another step in his recovery with a rehab start for Triple-A Buffalo, working 3.2 innings and allowing two earned runs as he continues to come back from a foot issue. The Blue Jays brought him in at the trade deadline to help stabilize the rotation, but a run of injuries to other starters has kept the pitching picture from settling in the way the club hoped.
Toronto is still hanging near a Wild Card spot, so every bit of rotation depth matters as the playoff chase tightens. Arrighettis progress is encouraging for a team that needs arms, but the larger question is when he can actually factor into the mix, and whether the Blue Jays can keep pace long enough for that help to arrive. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jays Farm System Slide Comes With One Intriguing Silver Lining
The Blue Jays farm system took a noticeable hit in MLB Pipelines latest update, sliding from 15th to 22nd in the league rankings. The dip makes sense in part because Toronto moved Arjun Nimmala in a trade and lost Trey Yesavage from prospect status, two developments that naturally thinned the organizations upper-level depth and changed the look of the list in a hurry.
Even so, the system did not come away empty-handed. Toronto now has three new names sitting inside the top 10 of its own prospect group in Cole Carlon, Will Brick, and Dasan Hill, with Carlon and Brick arriving as recent draft picks and Hill coming over in a trade. For an organization that just saw its overall standing fall, that kind of turnover at the top at least gives the next wave a chance to reshape the conversation. [Read more 🡒]