The Blue Jays are still hanging around, and that alone keeps the conversation interesting in Toronto.
At 56-63, they’re not exactly sitting pretty, but they’re also not buried. Toronto is only 3.5 games out in the American League Wild Card race as the season moves into the final stretch, which means one real surge can still tilt the whole picture. If the Jays are going to make that kind of push, though, the offense has to do more of the heavy lifting.
That starts with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., George Springer and Kazuma Okamoto.
Guerrero Jr. has given Toronto the steady strike-zone control you’d expect, but the production hasn’t matched the billing. Through 110 games in the 2026 campaign, the 27-year-old right-handed star is hitting .261 with a .339 on-base percentage, seven home runs, 46 RBI and a .698 OPS.
He has 47 walks and 63 strikeouts, so the approach is still there. The issue is the damage.
His .359 slugging percentage says it plainly enough: Toronto needs him to start driving the ball again.
Everyone in the organization knows what Guerrero Jr. looks like when he’s locked in. If that version shows up over the last six weeks, the Blue Jays look a lot more dangerous.
Springer is in a similar spot, just with a different shape to the struggle. Toronto doesn’t need him to be the whole offense, but it does need more than what it has gotten.
Through 88 games in 2026, he is batting .234 with 12 home runs, 36 RBI and a .713 OPS. That’s a sharp drop from 2025, when he hit .309 with 32 home runs and a .959 OPS.
The recent stretch has only made the picture worse. Over his last seven games, Springer is slashing .158/.273/.158.
When he is healthy and doing damage, he changes how pitchers attack the lineup, and his postseason experience carries real value too. Toronto just needs that version to show up more often.
Okamoto has brought power in his first season in the majors, but consistency has been the issue. The 30-year-old has 24 home runs and 70 RBI through 116 games, yet he is batting .225 with an on-base percentage of just .728. The recent trend line is even tougher to ignore: he is hitting .190 over his last 30 games, .213 over the last 15 and .172 over the last seven.
Signed to be a middle-of-the-order run producer, Okamoto still has the raw pop Toronto wanted. Lately, though, the slump has cut into his impact.
The Blue Jays do not need a miracle to keep this thing alive. They need production.
Guerrero Jr. has to drive the ball with authority. Springer has to find something closer to his 2025 form.
Okamoto has to break out of the slump and give the lineup another threat. The talent is there.
The question is whether Toronto can pull it out in time.
In Other News...
Blue Jays May Be Eyeing An AL East Answer For Rotation Woes
With Kevin Gausman already traded and both Shane Bieber and Max Scherzer heading toward free agency, the Blue Jays are staring at a rotation picture that could look very different by the time next season opens. Toronto already tried to address the pitching depth issue by landing Jos Soriano from the Angels ahead of the 2026 trade deadline, but that move only underscored how much more work the front office may still have ahead of it.
That is why the offseason speculation around Baltimores Trevor Rogers is worth watching from a Toronto perspective, even if he is only one of several possible targets. Bleacher Report sees the Blue Jays as a fit for the left-hander, and the idea makes sense for a club that needs durable answers, not just short-term patches, after spending the year shuffling pieces and looking for stability in the rotation. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jays Bullpen Gamble Could Put Another Arm On The Bubble
The Blue Jays added another experienced arm to the bullpen mix by claiming right-hander Paul Sewald off waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks, a move that fits the clubs ongoing search for depth late in the season. Sewald has been a useful name in relief circles before, and Toronto is banking on the idea that there is still enough left there to help in some capacity, even with his season having gone sideways.
His numbers this year have been rough, which is why this pickup comes with a catch for Toronto. To make room, the Blue Jays will likely have to move another reliever off the active mix, either by designating someone for assignment or optioning a pitcher down, and that kind of transaction always puts somebody else on the edge of the roster picture. [Read more 🡒]
Vladimir Guerrero Jrs 2026 Is Testing The Blue Jays Biggest Bet
The Blue Jays made their biggest organizational bet by locking Vladimir Guerrero Jr. into a 14-year, $500 million deal, banking on his bat, his presence and the kind of durability that had long been part of his appeal. Through the early part of the 2026 season, though, the picture has been more complicated, with the sluggers health drawing more attention than it ever did before and inviting a fresh look at what the future might require from Torontos franchise cornerstone.
Guerreros underlying skills still point to a hitter who can anchor an order, but the new concern is whether the body stays as reliable as the swing. Multiple nagging injuries have already interrupted the rhythm, and the situation has been especially notable because it has come so soon after the contract was signed, turning what was supposed to be a straightforward long-term commitment into an early test of just how sturdy the Blue Jays biggest investment really is. [Read more 🡒]