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Published Apr 04, 2026  • 4 minute read
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Chicago White Sox’s Colson Montgomery runs the bases after hitting a home run versus the Blue Jays on Saturday. Erin Hooley/APArticle content
Whether it amounts to a World Series hangover, casualties of the injury bug or simply chalk it up to bad baseball.
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Suffice to say the Blue Jays’ early-season start has not gone according to plan, especially compared to the way the club ended last season, even if it did end in heartbreaking fashion.
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Three losses in a row, including Saturday’s 6-3 setback to the host Chicago White Sox, and losers of four of five, when Ernie Clement limped down the first-base line on a groundout, it seemed to perfectly sum up Toronto’s aborted start to the season.
Ever the gamer, Clement persevered through a foul tip he took off his instep in the eighth inning.
A 4-4 record is not what anyone had envisioned.
Losing back-to-back series to the Rockies and White Sox seemed unthinkable.
He winced in pain on each subsequent swing, but he was back in the field at second base.
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The following are three takeaways on a day the Blue Jays announced they had acquired utility infielder Tyler Fitzgerald, 28, from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for cash considerations and optioned him to the triple-A Buffalo Bisons.
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Are Blue Jays in tough with Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto set to pitch next week in Toronto?
What can be done with Brendon Little, the pitcher Blue Jays fans love to hate?
1. Vlad Jr. goes yard
In his second at-bat in the second game of a three-game series, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. barely missed a home run by turning on a ball that got caught at the wall in left field.
Vlad Jr. is too good a hitter to go hitless, far too accomplished to continue this early- season stretch in which no extra-base hits were recorded.
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It all changed in his third at-bat against former Blue Jays left-hander Anthony Kay.
After Davis Schneider drew a leadoff walk, Vlad Jr. sent a rocket into the seats in left field, a first-pitch no-doubter that travelled 437 feet.
Vlad Jr.’s first extra-base hit came on a dinger to officially announce his arrival, as if anyone actually thought he had disappeared.
A visibly frustrated Vlad Jr. did begin his day on a strikeout as opener Grant Taylor continued to mow down the Jays’ top of the order.
He needed nine pitches to record three outs on Friday, nine pitches to retire the side Saturday.
The lone change to Toronto’s order involved Schneider batting in the No. 2 hole for Jesus Sanchez.
As long as Vlad Jr. is healthy, there will never be a change when it comes to the No. 3 hole.
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Eight games into the season and the Jays need to have someone step up to fill the No. 2 hole and cleanup spot.
After recording the dreaded golden sombrero — baseball slang for striking out four times in a single game — Kazuma Okamoto was back at cleanup.
He singled and drew a walk Saturday.
Inexplicably, Tyler Heineman was thrown out at third base to end the seventh inning following an RBI sac fly from pinch hitter Nathan Lukes.
Even more inexplicable was Heineman’s throwing error in the eighth inning that cashed in two runs, one game after a throwing error in the 10th inning helped Chicago to its win.
2. Too Little, too late
Brendon Little started the sixth inning after Lazaro Estrada gave the Jays four scoreless innings.
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When the lefty Little took to the mound, the Jays were leading 2-1 courtesy of the Vlad Jr. belt.
One out is all Little could produce as yet another rough outing played out for the Jays’ hard-luck hurler.
And to think Little was very reliable and effective for the first half of last season.
So clean Friday, so overwhelmed Saturday, some kind of decision must be made on Little.
His fall has been quite stunning.
When Tommy Nance replaced Little, the Jays were trailing 4-2.
Little gave up two long balls, including a two-run blast Munetaka Murakami sent into dead centre to give him four on the season, that resulted in three White Sox runs.
In 3.2 innings, Little has surrendered 10 runs on nine hits.
Toronto Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. celebrates his first home run of the season against the White Sox in Chicago. Erin Hooley/AP3. Catch-22
Monday looms as a big day for the Blue Jays, a day when the club and catcher Alejandro Kirk will get a far better handle on the extent of his injured thumb.
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Fingers, for obvious reasons, are being crossed, a prayer or two being said, for a player who is among the most indispensable positional players on the roster.
An argument can be made that Kirk qualifies as irreplaceable given the drop-off, which is no slight on Heineman or call-up Brandon Valenzuela.
Not only did Kirk fracture the thumb on his glove hand (left), but he also dislocated it.
The dislocation has since been put back in place.
For the record, the fracture, per manager John Schneider, is near the knuckle toward the top of the thumb.
Injured pitcher Cody Ponce (sprained right knee ACL) is visiting a specialist in Los Angeles, while Kirk is off to Pennsylvania.
Former Jays backup catcher Reese McGuire was behind the plate for the Pale Hose on Saturday.
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Whether it’s Heineman, McGuire or Valenzuela, neither can’t hold a candle to Kirk.
To be even more blunt, sugar-coating Kirk’s injury and the potential ramifications is foolish.
Up next
Sunday’s series finale could be the ultimate trap game for the Blue Jays, who need to focus on the task at hand knowing the L.A. Dodgers will be in town Monday to begin a three-game series in what will be billed as a rematch of last fall’s epic World Series; LHP Eric Lauer is scheduled to make the start for the Jays; he pitched well in his season debut, allowing two runs on three hits, while recording nine strikeouts over 5.1 innings against the Athletics.
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