First month recap

With first month of the 2026 season is coming to a close, I wanted to share my thoughts on how the Blue Jays have performed this year and their outlook heading into May and beyond.

Injury bug

Firstly, I must address the elephant in the room — injuries. The Blue Jays have been plagued by injuries all month, with much of the rotation and key pieces of the lineup having missed a considerable amount of time already.

Shane Bieber and Jose Berrios have yet to appear in a game this season, and Trey Yesavage has only made a single start since returning from injury. Cody Ponce suffered a season-ending injury, but once the other members of the starting rotation are healthy, the Jays should be in a good spot.

George Springer, who was struggling before his injury, returned last night and should provide a much-needed spark in the Blue Jays' lineup. Once Alejandro Kirk and Addison Barger also return from the injured list, the lineup will be in a comparable state to last season.

The Blue Jays' injured list as of April 8th, with not much change in the weeks since.

Overperformers

Despite losing Bo Bichette to free agency in the offseason, Kazuma Okamoto has succesfully filled the hole created by his departure. Although Okamoto is still only batting .224, his 5 home runs currently lead the club. As I mentioned upon his signing, the adjustment from Japan to MLB is massive and takes time for players to make, both on and off the field. Although Ernie Clement has only hit one home run this season, he has fairly sustained his high level of play from last year's postseason, which I was not expecting. Jesus Sanchez has been a reliable bat in the middle of the lineup, providing a spark that Anthony Santander failed to provide last season (and this season, with him currently being on the 60-day IL).

On the pitching side of things, Kevin Gausman and Dylan Cease have both performed up to expectations. With Cease's contract looking risky at the time, his performance thus far has been reassuring and his league-leading 14.1 K/9, while not sustainable, is undoubtedly a positive sign.

Following Jeff Hoffman's continued struggles in the closer role, it appears that Louis Varland has settled into the role nicely, and should serve as a reliable ninth inning arm, at least until the club looks to trade for a high-end reliever. Apart from Hoffman, the Blue Jays' bullpen has been respectable this season, though the club ought to add another arm or two by the trade deadline if they are looking at another deep run come October.

Underperformers

After an atrocious start to the season while battling vertigo, Nathan Lukes has stepped it up at the plate, although his low walk rate (only 1 BB in 56 PA) is a slight cause for concern.

41-year-old Max Scherzer has been terrible this season, with an ERA approaching 10 before being placed on the injured list. Unlike other players on the roster, I don't have much hope for Scherzer, who I was surprised to see return for his 19th MLB season.

Outlook

With only tonight's game against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field left on the April schedule, the Blue Jays are currently sitting at 14-16, matching their record through 30 games last season. Having a record slightly below .500 despite the multitude of injuries the Blue Jays have faced so far is an incredibly positive sign, as the season could not have began much worse.

While I acknowledge that last season might have been the perfect storm, the Blue Jays were still under .500 on May 28th, 2025, proving that they can play well down the stretch when games start to matter more. With many clubs in the American League, especially in the West, having poor starts to the season themselves, the postseason race is still wide open, and I expect the Blue Jays to return to the postseason once again. Due to the Yankees' solid performance and talented roster, a postseason trip may come in the form of a wild card berth, although anything can happen once a team gets into October.