2026 Toronto Blue Jays Season Thread

[mile]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1996003987640787446

Will be interesting to see how it plays out - Scherzer in recent interviews also sounded like a guy who already knew he’d be coming back, but who knows

If I had to guess Berrios is the odd man out and gets moved after the FA starter market dries up. Scherzer stays in the Kershaw role and gets limited starts

[Jiri Hrdina]

Did this guy just suddenly figure it out last year or what’s the deal

[Jason14h]

Are we sure that isn’t Danny McBride and it’s really a new season of East bound and down

https://www.tsn.ca/mlb/article/repor...ith-rhp-ponce/

[mile]

https://lancebroz.substack.com/p/cod...n-moinelo-data

We last saw the now-31-year-old Cody Ponce with the Pirates in 2021, and he was not very good. He sat 93.3 on his four-seamer, had three glove-side shapes, and a bad changeup. He actually fared well against right-handed hitters but got demolished by left-handed hitters. Flash forward to 2025, and Ponce obliterated the KBO with a 1.89 ERA and a 30.3% K-BB in 180.2 innings. The two biggest changes are a velocity spike and a new changeup.


Ponce sat 95.5 mph in the KBO on his four-seamer, a notable increase from 2021. I have his max velocity up at 98.5 mph, routinely touching 97+ in outings.

Without even considering anything else, he becomes a viable starting pitching candidate for a team afraid to spend big money this offseason in an interesting starting pitcher market. Ponce’s new kick-changeup is intriguing.


I have confidence this changeup will send his poor lefty splits from past MLB years into oblivion. It’s a plus pitch and a key factor in why I think he’s an interesting candidate to impact MLB with his return.

Ponce feels like a great value for the price teams will pay… <$12m per year? The bet is that his fastball works at this higher level of velocity, and his changeup stymies lefites. Both are more than reasonable wagers to make given the cost involved in this decision. Mix in some projection that an MLB team makes him less four-seam reliant to right-handed hitters, and we could be looking at a strong combination of both stuff and mix.

[bluejays]

Interesting. A lot seems to hinge on Pete Walker working to maximize potential. Some worthwhile risk.

[flamingred89]

Jays are spending all the money. Love it.

I'm going to be fairly reserved on Ponce as its hard to evaluate between leagues. But you cant argue those stats.

[3thirty]

Low risk, high reward. If he even does 3/4 of what he does in Korea its a steal.

[Roof-Daddy]

Excellent gamble IMO.

Gausman
Cease
Bieber
Yesavage
Berrios
Ponce
Lauer

That is some ridiculous starting pitching depth.

[ben voyonsdonc]

Blaster has to be happy because this has to be the end of Berrios with the Jays. Even if they eat $6m of his contract, Ponce is still cheaper by a bundle.

[GirlySports]

KBO is a hitters league so those numbers are even more impressive

[Inferno]

It was destiny.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1944183062872445288

[jg13]

the right choice

https://twitter.com/user/status/1996221794609492315

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

KBO is a hitters league so those numbers are even more impressive

Isn't the KBO where guys go when they want to juice themselves up...and than hope that what they built up can last for a year or two in the bigs before the PED's wear off? I'm thinking of how Erik Thames came back from that league looking like Barry Bonds and hit 30 home runs in his first year back and eventually faded off.

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

Isn't the KBO where guys go when they want to juice themselves up...and than hope that what they built up can last for a year or two in the bigs before the PED's wear off? I'm thinking of how Erik Thames came back from that league looking like Barry Bonds and hit 30 home runs in his first year back and eventually faded off.

Does that mean we should expect a drop-off from Lauer next season?

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by ben voyonsdonc

Blaster has to be happy because this has to be the end of Berrios with the Jays.

Berrios was done with the Jays the moment he missed that start.

[JTech780]

Originally Posted by Blaster86

Berrios was done with the Jays the moment he missed that start.

Doubt Berrios goes anywhere.

There has been a lot of talk that Bieber might not be 100% healthy going into next season and that's why he accepted his player option.

Between Berrios' health and Bieber's health, that's why they brought in a guy like Ponce, to help fill out rotation depth.

As much as I think Yesavage is going to continue to be great, there is also the fact that he pitched a lot of innings last season (139.2 IP), so they might have him on more of an innings limit this season especially early in the year.

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by JTech780

Doubt Berrios goes anywhere.

I hate you.

Originally Posted by JTech780

There has been a lot of talk that Bieber might not be 100% healthy going into next season and that's why he accepted his player option.

By a lot of talk, you mean proud Jays hater and known agent mouth piece and over-all windbag Ken Rosenthal speculating he took the player option to avoid teams giving him a full medical. The thing the Jays did when they traded for him so has happened in the last 6 months.

Originally Posted by JTech780

Between Berrios' health and Bieber's health, that's why they brought in a guy like Ponce, to help fill out rotation depth.

The main reason they did this is because Berrios can't pitch. He may be a Jay, but he won't be a starter on this team outside of a string of injuries if he's here.

Originally Posted by JTech780

As much as I think Yesavage is going to continue to be great, there is also the fact that he pitched a lot of innings last season (139.2 IP), so they might have him on more of an innings limit this season especially early in the year.

I think that's a fair estimation and where Louis Varland steps in. It won't be Berrios. It can't be Berrios. They won't do that to me.

[JTech780]

Originally Posted by Blaster86

I hate you.




By a lot of talk, you mean proud Jays hater and known agent mouth piece and over-all windbag Ken Rosenthal speculating he took the player option to avoid teams giving him a full medical. The thing the Jays did when they traded for him so has happened in the last 6 months.





The main reason they did this is because Berrios can't pitch. He may be a Jay, but he won't be a starter on this team outside of a string of injuries if he's here.





I think that's a fair estimation and where Louis Varland steps in. It won't be Berrios. It can't be Berrios. They won't do that to me.

Berrios is a fine back end of the rotation starter when healthy. He wasn't healthy last year. His sinker and 4 seamer velocity dropped and thus his whiff% also dropped last year. If he can get his fastball velocity back up and keep the spin on his slurve up, he will bounce back.

I think Varland will get stretched out in spring but the chances of him being a starter are close to 0.

[Blaster86]

Berrios as a bottom of the rotation starter that you can sometimes skip would actually probably be tolerable. I'd still rather he never see his own Jays Uniform again, let alone wear one. I genuinely believe that he's out, probably in a deal for some bullpen pieces.

[bluejays]

Berrios is a true wildcard. Likely #5, but potentially a #3 if all is clicking with his injuries. I like what the Jays are doing signing guys like him but cheaper, this making him a trade chip. I agree that dangling him will likely result in a bullpen arm. It would be great to get a definitive closer for him.