Lineup:![\"Oct](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/d2fed68c245743be1cb2a6e131f3b184.jpeg\"\/)
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Oct 19, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (27) celebrates after a double play in the fourth inning against the Seattle Mariners during game six of the ALCS round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
This lineup is one of the toughest ones to navigate in the league. They put the bat on the ball, they have some big power hitters, and they have a good mix of righties and lefties.<\/p>\n
Vlad Guerrero Jr. is the main attraction, but George Springer, Dalton Varsho, Alejandro Kirk, Ernie Clement, and Addison Barger can all make an impact.<\/p>\n
The newly acquired Kazuma Okamoto is unknown in MLB, but he was excellent in Japan and should contribute in the bottom third of the lineup.<\/p>\n
Rotation:![\"Oct](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/15574f65531fcbc5a8db49f3d560c1d4.jpeg\"\/)
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Oct 20, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman (34) throws in the seventh inning against the Seattle Mariners during game seven of the ALCS round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
The top four in their rotation are one of the best in the American League, if not all of MLB. Led by Kevin Gausman and the newly acquired Dylan Cease, the Jays are loaded with starters who can not only rack up strikeouts but also not issue too many free passes.<\/p>\n
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They can give length in their starts and offer consistency. Shane Bieber and Trey Yesavage should both be more than a strikeout per inning this season and pick up double-digit wins as the number three and four starters.<\/p>\n
Bullpen:![\"Blue](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/39f0d0e790902e1b7f3b14b2590670a3.jpeg\"\/)
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Oct 20, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Jeff Hoffman (23) and catcher Alejandro Kirk (30) celebrate defeating the Seattle Mariners in game seven of the ALCS round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
There aren\u2019t many big names in this bullpen, but it is a bullpen that gets the job done as evident by the success a year ago. Expect Jeff Hoffman to enter the season and be the team\u2019s closer for the second consecutive season. Set-up man Yimi Garcia and converted RP Louie Varland would both be in line for saves at some point if Hoffman gets hurt or struggles.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Enjoy free coverage of the top news & trending stories on The Big Lead <\/a>\u2014<\/p>\n OLYMPICS: Norway skier goes viral after displaying insane Winter Olympics speed<\/a><\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n SUPER BOWL: Ranking the last 10 NFL Super Bowl champions<\/a><\/p>\n MLB: Texas Rangers\u2019 Nolan Ryan jersey giveaway is a bloody mess<\/a><\/p>\n MEDIA: Photos of potential suspect in Nancy Guthrie disappearance released by FBI<\/a><\/p>\n NBA: NBA Power Rankings ahead of 2026 All-Star Break<\/a><\/p>\n VIRAL: Norwegian Olympics star makes stunning girlfriend admission after winning bronze medal<\/a><\/p>\n The post Have the Blue Jays offseason moves kept them in the 2026 World Series conversation? \u00a0<\/a> appeared first on The Big Lead<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What a season it was in 2025 for the Blue Jays. They finished with the best record in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":570381,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2288],"tags":[6081,1869,3426,152,5,377,88,39,76,6130,311,380,3685,389,27591,2328,2304,10498,620,4,2305,2303,7512,3285,1271,69,1414,282,5196,93,142,2077],"class_list":{"0":"post-570380","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb-postseason","8":"tag-addison-barger","9":"tag-alcs","10":"tag-alejandro-kirk","11":"tag-american-league","12":"tag-baseball","13":"tag-blue-jays","14":"tag-bo-bichette","15":"tag-dodgers","16":"tag-dylan-cease","17":"tag-ernie-clement","18":"tag-george-springer","19":"tag-jeff-hoffman","20":"tag-kazuma-okamoto","21":"tag-kevin-gausman","22":"tag-louie-varland","23":"tag-major-league-baseball-playoffs","24":"tag-major-league-baseball-postseason","25":"tag-mandatory-credit","26":"tag-mariners","27":"tag-mlb","28":"tag-mlb-playoffs","29":"tag-mlb-postseason","30":"tag-ontario","31":"tag-rogers-centre","32":"tag-shane-bieber","33":"tag-texas-rangers","34":"tag-the-blue-jays","35":"tag-toronto","36":"tag-trey-yesavage","37":"tag-vladimir-guerrero-jr","38":"tag-yankees","39":"tag-yimi-garcia"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=570380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/570381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=570380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=570380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=570380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}