5 best moments from the Blue Jays’ 2026 season

Just when the hangover from the marvellous 2025 season wore off, and the dread of looming labour negotiations arrived, the 2026 Toronto Blue Jays began their new season with high hopes.

It didn’t take long for those hopes to turn into despair as the Blue Jays continued their slide and filled their injured list to the brim. All of a sudden, the 162-game season became a dark and twisted game of musical chairs where the only answer Toronto could choose was crashing out rather spectacularly.

Even in this forgettable season, the 2026 Blue Jays still had good moments to look back on. Here are five of those days that will go down in history.

1. March 27: Opening Day (Athletics at Toronto Blue Jays)

Though the Blue Jays fell short of winning it all in 2025, the first day of the 2026 season was a memorable one that blended their unforgettable postseason run and the celebration of their 50th anniversary.

As a franchise with multiple decades under their belt, the Blue Jays earned the right to reflect on where and how they started. Each game was part of a memory, and when that memory all comes together, it turns into a history. That’s the kind of memory the Blue Jays celebrated; it was about who they have been and will become.

The projection of these core memories on the field from 1977 and 2025 was a lovely gesture for Toronto fans of all ages. When Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and George Springer came up to help unveil the American League Championship banner, that moment simultaneously conjured up the joy of last year’s miracles and the bittersweet feeling of not getting the job done.

To punctuate the perfect Opening Day ceremony, the former American League Champions fought tooth and nail in a pitcher’s duel to secure their first win of the season against the Athletics.

The bottom of the ninth eerily resembled Game 7 of the 2025 World Series when the Jays had men on base with two outs. This time, they wrote a different ending to the same story with Andrés Giménez’s walk-off single. That’s how it should have ended a year ago.

1. July 25: Dylan Cease’s complete-game shutout (Toronto Blue Jays at Boston Red Sox) 

At first, the Blue Jays’ seven-year, $210-million deal with former Cy Young finalist Dylan Cease felt like a massive overpay, despite his rather consistent track record.

But the Blue Jays’ game against the Boston Red Sox on July 25 confirmed exactly why they went out of their way to pay Cease whatever he wanted. The right-hander quieted Boston’s lineup from the start and kept his composure inning after inning.

Toronto’s offence came alive at the right time to score five runs by the top of the third, which gave Cease more than enough room to work with as he continued to mow down the Red Sox’s attempt at sparking any momentum.

The 30-year-old pitcher was throwing a no-hitter until Andruw Monasterio broke it up with his stand-up double at the bottom of the sixth. Instead of coming out of the game, Cease worked around the double, racked up 12 strikeouts and pitched all nine innings on his own without giving up a single run.

This decisive game at Fenway Park crowned the Georgia native as the new ace in the Blue Jays’ rotation. He was no longer an overpaid player; he was the ultimate prize who’s worth every penny.

1. August 1: Kevin Gausman’s final appearance (St. Louis Cardinals at Toronto Blue Jays) 

Kevin Gausman embodied the soul of the Blue Jays for years since he signed with Toronto five years ago. From his cool nonchalance on the mound to chewing a new piece of gum for every inning he pitches, he showed what it meant to have a level-headed player with a big heart in the clubhouse.

But all good things must come to an end, and most fans, people around the Blue Jays and even Gausman himself knew August 1 was most likely the last game he would pitch in Toronto’s uniform.

The hard part was figuring out which version of Gausman would show up on the mound. The 35-year-old used to be sharp with his deadly splitters, but that magic began to fade this season as he struggled to find his rhythm.

Thankfully, Gausman was as sharp as he could be for as long as he could throw. He may have surrendered nine hits, but to his credit, he gave up only one run against the St. Louis Cardinals for 5.2 innings. When he exited the mound after getting the second out at the top of the sixth, the fans were on their feet to acknowledge and congratulate Gausman on everything he had done for Toronto. It was as if everyone knew this would be the preparation for an agonizing goodbye ahead of the trade deadline.

As a parting gift for Gausman, the Blue Jays’ offence lit up the fire and scored three more runs to win the game against the Cardinals with the final score of 5-1. The idea of trading away the beloved ace was something nobody dreamed of, but that satisfying win on the first day of August made everyone forget the pain of going separate ways for a second.

1. August 29: Buck Martinez’s induction to the Hall of Excellence (Seattle Mariners at Toronto Blue Jays)

Need we say more? Buck Martinez worked with the Blue Jays for more than 40 years in a wide range of roles. His iconic “swing and a drive” call became the sound of summer for many Blue Jays fans across the country. So, for the nation to think of not hearing his voice was a hard thing to accept when Martinez announced his retirement before the 2026 season.

Recognizing the former backup catcher and a decorated Blue Jays announcer, the Blue Jays invited Martinez back to induct him into the team’s new Hall of Excellence on August 29. Boy, was that ceremony done right in every single way. The video that told Buck Martinez’s story with countless voices from different parts of Blue Jays’ history moved everyone to tears, and so did his final call, “swing and a drive, and I’m gone,” at the end of his speech.

It was only right for the Blue Jays to win for Buck, but coughing up three runs by the fourth inning wasn’t an ideal path towards that noble goal. The Blue Jays somehow had to wear down the Seattle Mariners’ strong pitching depth to score at least a couple of runs to have a shot at coming back.

The 2026 Blue Jays knew their weakness was scoring runs; they had to exercise more creativity to do the impossible. And they did just that when Brett Bateman snuck in to score the second run at the bottom of the fifth. That laid the foundation for the Blue Jays to write their comeback story. With Alejandro Kirk’s single in the bottom of the sixth, Toronto scored two more runs to take the lead, and they never let that go. They wouldn’t have dared to, not on Buck’s big day.

1. September 27: Last regular-season game (Cincinnati Reds at Toronto Blue Jays)

This couldn’t possibly be how the 2026 Blue Jays ended their season. After missing a myriad of chances to redeem themselves, the Blue Jays plummeted until they eliminated themselves from playoff contention.

In all technicality, their last game of the season didn’t count toward anything. But it didn’t completely lose its meaning because it marked the end of an era for veterans and clubhouse leaders Max Scherzer and George Springer.

Neither wanted to end their career with the Blue Jays without getting back to the playoffs, but the Blue Jays fans, players and staff showered them with standing ovations from start to finish to show their appreciation for what Scherzer and Springer have done for the team.

The beautiful part about this game was how the Blue Jays rose to the occasion to establish dominance from the beginning. They even scored multiple runs and hit two home runs, which was a rare sight for the 2026 Blue Jays.

It wasn’t the perfect ending anyone was imagining, but the series win and heartfelt Gatorade showers for Scherzer and Springer were more than enough to make up for a season full of regrets and what-ifs.

Baseball is a cruel, cruel game, and the 2026 Blue Jays couldn’t escape that cruelty. They can only hope to break that cycle soon.