2026 Toronto Blue Jays Season Thread

[Jiggy_12]

https://twitter.com/user/status/2027027364694126634

[Roof-Daddy]

Brendan Little looks to have added a 4 seamer and he's hitting high 90's with it (98.1mph)

He's also throwing some cutters that are the same velo as his sinker (low 90's)

If he can command these pitches at all, he will be an absolute gold mine of swing and miss.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Brendan Little looks to have added a 4 seamer and he's hitting high 90's with it (98.1mph)

He's also throwing some cutters that are the same velo as his sinker (low 90's)

If he can command these pitches at all, he will be an absolute gold mine of swing and miss.

I don't think he even needs good command - if he can control a 4 seam (ie throw it for any strike, not necessarily pick the corners) he'll get more chase on his knuckle curve.

His biggest problem last year was the book on him was "don't swing, just wait for him to throw you 4 balls" which meant he had to start throwing more stuff in the zone and none of it was that good.

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

I don't think he even needs good command - if he can control a 4 seam (ie throw it for any strike, not necessarily pick the corners) he'll get more chase on his knuckle curve.

His biggest problem last year was the book on him was "don't swing, just wait for him to throw you 4 balls" which meant he had to start throwing more stuff in the zone and none of it was that good.

Yes exactly, that's more what I meant for sure. Just needs to be able to throw it for strikes and it makes the rest of his arsenal more effective. I don't think he'll ever "command" anything, but he has the "stuff" to be an elite reliever if he can get dudes to bite on his knuckle curve

[browna]

Originally Posted by bluejays

I'm in the same boat. I like him, but in hindsight the opting into the contract seems a bit fishy now. The silence around his status certainly indicates he'll be gone for awhile.

Imo a “push it for the playoffs and worry about everything else later”
direction from the club, probably discussed as early as when they traded for him. My guess is he wasn’t near 100% when he had his few weeks of rehab after getting acquired, but it was good enough for what was left in the Jays season, couldn’t do any more damage, and deal with the full rehab into 2026.

His acceptance of the contract option a few days after the WS was characterized, at least in the media, as him being a team player along with a ringing endorsement of the team and the city to take such a club friendly deal.

But if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. He grabbed the easily available money, knowing he couldn’t get any sort of payday at all from any team, with the condition his arm was in and the time he figured he needed to properly rehab. No way he would’ve passed a physical.

Knowing, and the club knowing, that he is and was always going to take as much time as required on the back end here in 2026 to make up for the rehab he would’ve done in 2025 (as if he didn’t get traded to a contender last summer, he shuts it down for the year to be ready for free agency) to get it 100% was something the club and player was fine with on the downlow back last fall.

If the Jays starters struggle to open the season, the questions may become a little more pointed towards his status and the whole scenario.

Proof of his “loyalty” will be if he misses any significant time this year to get to 100% and gives the Jays a sweetheart deal in November of this year.

[Jiggy_12]

Jayson Stark article that captures some of the despair of losing game 7 and how the team plans to turn the page (paywalled)

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/707...shared_article

[Fire]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

I have a feeling Bieber doesn’t play this season …..

That really doesn't make sense to me. He pitched in the playoffs and now suddenly he is fatigued after a few months off? If I was the Blue Jays he is suspended without pay if he doesn't return after the first month of the season.

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by Fire

That really doesn't make sense to me. He pitched in the playoffs and now suddenly he is fatigued after a few months off? If I was the Blue Jays he is suspended without pay if he doesn't return after the first month of the season.

Muscles can be odd. I don't doubt that he's experienced fatigue or whatever he's experiencing. If he wasn't properly rehabbed or was rushed last season, it can happen.

[SportsJunky]

Yesavage was #7 in Keith Law's Top 20 Impact Rookies article this week.

7. Trey Yesavage, RHP, Toronto Blue Jays
Yes, Yesavage had a tremendous October, and he has a job going into the season in the Jays’ rotation, which is a major factor in these rankings because it gives him a shot at a full year’s worth of MLB playing time. That said, there are some red flags in his 2025 performance and scouting report that make me more bearish than you might expect if you only knew of him from his major-league time.

He doesn’t actually pitch in the zone that much, relying heavily on hitters chasing his pitches — especially that wipeout splitter — out of the zone, and his fastball and slider were both hit fairly hard in Triple A and the majors. The splitter will miss a lot of bats, and you could see he’s still far from a finished product even in his postseason outings, so I’m optimistic about his long-term outlook. I just wouldn’t put him over some of the position players who also have jobs and are more advanced right now when forecasting 2026 production.

[browna]

Originally Posted by Fire

That really doesn't make sense to me. He pitched in the playoffs and now suddenly he is fatigued after a few months off? If I was the Blue Jays he is suspended without pay if he doesn't return after the first month of the season.

I think it was as simple as the fact that his recovery, to be properly healed 100% for the long term, needed to be 2 or 3 months longer than it was last year. But, he could still pitch and pitch effectively at 70% for a short term gig last year.

Talking to the doctors at the trade deadline, they probably said, well, if your innings are managed properly if you decide to pitch, you’ll probably be ok, but you’ll still need 2 or 3 months of proper rest and rehab at some point to be 100% long term and pitch another 5 years/into a new contract.

The Jays say at the trade deadline, great, if you want to take that chance to pitch now, we will, and you can pick up that option for 2026 and we will let you take as much time for rehab that you want/need in 2026, right now we are chasing down a division title and need your arm asap.

So I think this plan was in place for a while, to do what he can to help get this team as far as they can go in 2025 and kick the rehab can down the road into 2026.

He will now not pitch until he’s 100% so he can be 100% healthy and at the top of his game for his free agent year and next contract.

Obviously kept on the down low at time of the trade by the player and the Jays and again now in spring training.

He will pitch this year at some point to showcase himself. If he misses 2 or 3 or 4 months and the Jays miss the playoffs in part by not having him, and he leaves in free agency, oh well.

Doesn’t sound right to many, but making that agreement in order for him to pitch last year and it plays out that way is and was still worth it to have him last year down the stretch and in the playoffs.
He was an important contributor to getting them within inches of he prize everyone plays for and any team in baseball would have no regrets about worrying about a guys rehab next year and paying him to not play the majority of next season, if it gets them a World Series now.