2 Blue Jays who will be better in 2026, 2 who will be worse

The Toronto Blue Jays will be entering the 2026 MLB season as one of the favourites to reach the World Series. After all, with all of the major additions that they have made this offseason, Toronto has given themselves a good shot at achieving that goal once again this season. 

In order to do so, the Blue Jays will need all of their players to be at their very best to overcome the daunting AL East, as well as the many elite contenders around the league. Last season, the Blue Jays actually had many of their players perform beyond expectations, whereas for some others, they managed to underachieve instead. 2026 will be another year full of surprises and disappointments and here are the ones that will affect the Blue Jays the most.

2 Blue Jays who will be better in 2026, 2 who will be worse

Dylan Cease will be better in 2026

As one of the top pitchers already in the league, Dylan Cease is actually coming off one of the worst seasons of his career, recording career highs in losses (12) and home runs given up (21) with the San Diego Padres in 2025. Along with a 4.55 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, with a 9.8% walk rate, let’s just say it wasn’t really ace-like material for the 30-year-old right-hander in 2025.

However, if taking a look more closely as his stats, Cease has actually alternated between struggling and being elite during the past four seasons. He pitched like a star in 2022 and 2024, recording career highs in wins (14) and an ERA below 3.50 in each of those two years.

But at the same time, Cease has looked more human in 2023 and 2025, posting a losing record and an ERA above 4.50 in each of those two seasons. So if the trend continues, 2026 would once again be a better year for the righty. On top of that, Blue Jays pitching guru Pete Walker should be able to work his magic on Cease to make him pitch more effectively and more consistently in the long run.

Tyler Heineman will be worse in 2026

For Blue Jays backup catcher Tyler Heineman, he actually had a huge breakout campaign in 2025 with Toronto. Heineman registered career bests in batting average (.289), runs (25), hits (43), home runs (3), RBIs (20), stolen bases (2), walks (12) and total bases (62) in 61 games of action. However, the 34-year-old veteran has been known primarily more for his defense than his bat over his six-year MLB career, so his 2025 numbers could be an outlier.

After all, Heineman is a career .240 hitter with a .646 OPS, which is a good 131 points below the .777 OPS that he posted last year in Toronto. In addition, he had only hit one home run during his entire MLB career prior to last season. As a result, Blue Jays should temper their expectations and anticipate Heineman to be more in line with how he performed during his previous three stints with the club than what he did in 2025.

Daulton Varsho will be even better in 2026

Daulton Varsho has always been a defensive dynamo for the Blue Jays ever since joining the team in 2023. However, Varsho finally showed that he could be much more than that in 2025 with Toronto. The 29-year-old managed to compile 43 runs scored, 20 home runs and 55 RBIs in just 71 games played last season and could have been more if he hadn’t been battling injury woes over the course of the year.

Varsho carried that momentum into the playoffs where he added another three home runs and 10 RBIs in 20 postseason games to help the Blue Jays reach the World Series. The former Gold Glove winner has already gotten off to a good start to this spring with three hits in six at-bats, that included a triple, one home run and one RBI (going into Wednesday, Feb. 25).

Having fully recovered from his injuries from last season and appearing to have turned a corner offensively, look for Varsho to have his biggest season yet with the Blue Jays in 2026. In fact, a 30+ home run and 100+ RBI year wouldn’t be out of the question.

George Springer will be worse in 2026

One of the biggest bounce back players for the Blue Jays last season was offensive leader George Springer. After posting consecutive seasons of declining numbers prior to 2025, many believed that Father Time was beginning to catch up to Springer. However, the former four-time All-Star outfielder refuted that notion by posting his best performance in a Blue Jays uniform.

In 140 games, Springer amassed a stellar .309 average, .959 OPS, along with 106 runs scored, 32 home runs, 84 RBIs, while going 18-for-19 in stolen bases. With that, he ended up earned the third Silver Slugger Award of his career.

However, at 36 years of age, Springer isn’t getting any younger. With every little injury, like we saw last year during the playoffs, it ultimately affects his body overall and his effectiveness in the long run. Nevertheless, 80+ runs scored, 20+ home runs and 70+ RBIs could still be in play for Springer this upcoming season. But just don’t expect him to reproduce the gaudy offensive numbers that he managed to put up in 2025 for the Jays.