One of the clearest offseason priorities for the Toronto Blue Jays sits right in the middle of their lineup construction: they have to fix what happened when their left-handed bats ran into left-handed pitching.
That problem showed up in ugly fashion in 2026. Toronto’s left-handed hitters posted the league’s worst walk rate against lefties at 3.6 BB%, the second-worst on-base percentage at .272, and a fourth-worst 66 wRC+.
The issue was made harder by the fact that the Blue Jays kept running out players they could not easily replace. Andres Gimenez, Daulton Varsho, Nathan Lukes, Jesus Sanchez, before being released in mid-September, and later Brett Bateman all ended up as part of the conversation, even though the overall results were not good enough.
Bateman was the one exception who showed any real steadiness. After arriving in Toronto in the trade that sent Kevin Gausman to the Chicago Cubs, he debuted in early August and produced a .293/.333/.362 line with a 96 wRC+ against left-handed pitching.
Varsho, who played for the Blue Jays before being traded to the Houston Astros at the trade deadline, managed a 94 wRC+ but only a .303 wOBA. Addison Barger also belongs in this discussion, even though he barely played in 2026 and will have a tough time here too because of his struggles against left-handed pitchers.
The rest of the production simply didn’t hold up. Jesus Sanchez was the roughest miss of the bunch, finishing with a -1 wRC+ and failing to make up for it enough when he saw right-handed pitching.
Toronto’s lack of depth against left-handed pitchers only made the situation worse. Three of the club’s main starters - Gimenez (139), Lukes (85), and Varsho - averaged only 102 games during that span, which left the team with very few ways to adjust when matchups turned against them.
So if the Blue Jays are going to reshape this group, the answer starts with adding more right-handed balance. Randy Arozarena of the Seattle Mariners and Seiya Suzuki of the Chicago Cubs, both set to hit free agency at the end of the season, are two names Toronto should be looking at.
That kind of move would also pair neatly with Barger’s return and could give the lineup a better mix of lefties and righties. Anthony Santander should also be ready to be in the lineup on Opening Day if we are fortunate enough to have baseball in 2027 and a lockout does not prevent it.
Barger remains an important piece here after his impact in last year’s postseason and his role in helping the Jays reach the World Series. The next step is seeing whether he can adjust his approach and finally find a real answer against left-handed pitching.
If Toronto can get Barger back on time and add one or even two outfielders, Lukes’s role as a starter would shrink. The Blue Jays would also have more depth if they could land a legitimate center fielder. In that setup, Gimenez and Barger would be the only left-handed hitters who should be in the lineup every day against left-handed pitchers.
Nothing in baseball is guaranteed, but the recent track record is clear: Toronto’s contact-oriented left-handed hitters have not been able to produce consistently against left-handed pitching.
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The problem is that the bat has become much harder to trust, and that is where the lineup question starts to loom. Gimenezs offensive production has slipped enough to raise real concerns about how much everyday value he brings if the defense and baserunning are doing most of the lifting. The Blue Jays do not have to solve the issue today, but they do have to keep asking whether his overall profile still works if the hit tool keeps lagging behind the glove. [Read more 🡒]