2026 Toronto Blue Jays (est. 2026)

[rpriske]

April 1st, 2026

Dylan Cease went 8 innings, striking out 14, leading the Jays to a 5-0 shutout of the Rockies.

Kazuma Okomoto hit his fist homer in MLB.

WP - Dylan Cease (1-0)
LP - Kyle Freeland (1-1)

Record - 4-2

[rpriske]

Francisco Del Valle signed a minor league deal.

[rpriske]

April 2nd, 2026

The good: The Jays saw home runs from Ernie Clement, Addison Barger, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and - in his first Major League plate appearance - Brandon Valenzuela.

The bad: Jeff Hoffman blew his first save opportunity.

The worse: The White Sox walked off the Blue Jays with a 12th inning home run by RJ Schreck, beating them, 8-6.

WP - Jordan Hicks (1-0)
LP - Tommy Nance (1-1)

Record - 4-3

[rpriske]

The news on Spencer Miles is very bad. He has radial nerve compression and will miss the next six months.

Adam Macko is called up from Buffalo.

[rpriske]

April 4th, 2026

The Jays only managed two hits and lost, 4-0, to the White Sox.

WP - Erick Fedde (1-1)
LP - Trey Yesavage (0-1)

Record - 4-4

[rpriske]

New Minor League Contract signed:

Wes Benjamin
Jackson Kowar
Tyler Anderson
Nestor Cortes
Huascar Ynoa

[WarningTrakPower]

Originally Posted by rpriske

TRADE

To WHITE SOX

Eric Lauer
RJ Schreck

To BLUE JAYS

Andrew Benintendi (CWS retains 40% of remaining contract over the next two years).

Benintendi joins the big club.

Nathan Lukes is sent to Buffalo.

Max Scherzer is activated from the IL.

I am so confused. Why would you take on ~$20m of the Benintendi contract to move out Lauer who is making less than $5m?
Jays already have "too many" outfielders (you even had to send down Lukes to make room).

I actually really like RJ Schreck, I think he could be like Alan Roden 2.0 in his own way (off to a slow start IRL in '26).
Plus they have guys like Jonothan Clase in AAA waiting for an opening which is now blocked by Benintendi.

[rpriske]

One of the things to remember in OOTP, it isn't exactly the same as real life.

I did it because the team just didn't have enough offense while Lauer isn't a very good pitcher in the game. Also, they don't have anywhere close to the number of pitcher injuries the real Jays have.

Would I do that deal in real life? No chance.

(Plus, I trade way too much in the game. It is more fun.)

[WarningTrakPower]

Originally Posted by rpriske

One of the things to remember in OOTP, it isn't exactly the same as real life.

It's your sim, I don't expect it to reflect real life, but this feels like a loss on paper before you even click accept.
Benintendi has been one of the worst players in baseball the last couple years (while also on a bad contract).

I feel like a trade like this only hinders your roster flexibility as the rest of the season progresses.

Do you play with morale and team chemistry on?

[WarningTrakPower]

Originally Posted by rpriske

Addison Barger - SS
Davis Schneider - DH
Jesus Sanchez - LF
Andres Giménez - 2B

How is Addison Barger doing at SS? What a unique setup to start the year!
I will be following along as the Jays will be my first team when I buy OOTP Go!

[rpriske]

Barger at SS was one of the surprising things this year.

The bench coach (AI), is clearly not as defensive-minded as the real team.

They wanted Barger in over Ernie and they were willing to hurt the defense to do it.

I am playing along so far.

[rpriske]

April 5th, 2026

Addison Barger hit two home runs and George Springer added another. They needed it as Max Scherzer had another rough outing. His ERA is currently over 9.

Then Jeff Hoffman blew a two run lead in the 9th without recording an out and the White Sox won, 8-7.

After the game we are told Hoffman went straight to the trainer's room. There was clearly something wrong.

It was hard to celebrate after a poor showing, but Scherzer recorded career strikeout #3500.

WP - Davis Martin (1-0)
LP - Jeff Hoffman (0-1)

Record - 4-5

[rpriske]

Jeff Hoffman has a sore hand. He was willing to pitch through it but we decided to let him heal properly and put him on the IL.

Brendan Little is called up from Buffalo.

Louis Varland is stepping up as Closer.

[WarningTrakPower]

Originally Posted by rpriske

The bench coach (AI), is clearly not as defensive-minded as the real team.

They wanted Barger in over Ernie and they were willing to hurt the defense to do it.

I wonder if it is one of those situations where Gimenez position in his player editor is set to 2B (because its where he played mostly last year).
I have seen similar situations with other teams in my leagues in the past and wondering "why are they using this player in this position?"

In a GM only mode, I do my best to nudge the AI into decisions I would generally suggest (but allow them to make the batting order decisions for example).

[rpriske]

April 6th, 2026

David Schneider went 3 for 4 with a homer and a double, leading the Jays to a 6-4 win over the Dodgers.

Daulton Varsho also hit his team leading 5th home run.

WP - Tommy Nance (2-1)
Save - Braydon Fisher (1)
LP - Emmet Sheehan (0-1)

Record - 5-5

[rpriske]

Players of the Week (happen to be the reigning MVPs): Aaron Judge, Yankees & Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers

The Blue Jays have fallen to #21 on the Weekly Power Rankings.

(Incredibly, the top teams are the Orioles and Cubs.)

[rpriske]

Austin Love signed a minor league deal.

[rpriske]

April 7th, 2026

Dylan Cease pitched great but Adam Macko relieved him and gave up three runs in his Major League debut, and then Cody Ponce came in and gave up three more.

The Dodgers beat the Blue Jays, 7-2.

WP - Blake Treinen (1-0)
LP - Adam Macko (0-1)

Record - 5-6

[rpriske]

April 8th, 2026

There is rumour going around baseball that the L.A. Dodgers are a pretty good team.

They beat the Blue Jays, 6-1.

George Springer homered for the only Toronto run.

WP - Shohei Ohtani (3-0)
LP - Kevin Gausman (0-1)

Record - 5-7

[rpriske]

TRADE

To ROCKIES

Myles Straw
Micah Bucknam

To BLUE JAYS

Antonio Senzatela

One overpriced player for another.

Senzatela joins the Jays.

Adam Macko is sent to Buffalo.

Nathan Lukes is called up.