3 players who need to step up to avoid the Blue Jays being trade deadline sellers

The Blue Jays moved back to the .500 mark on the season on Thursday thanks to a domintant win over the Athletics. That been a familiar theme for the Blue Jays so far this season, as they've danced around the .500 mark for the better mark of a month.

And while being at .500 will be enough for the Blue Jays to avoid being trade deadline sellers. they're about to enter a tough month that will likely make or break their season. Here are three Blue Jays who need to step up the most for the team to avoid being sellers at the deadline.

3 players who need to step up to avoid the Blue Jays being trade deadline sellers

1. Anthony Santander

It's no secret that Santander has struggled so far this season. His lackluster .577 OPS has him the bottom 10 among qualified MLB hitters. 

The Blue Jays likely didn't expect this outcome when they signed Santander to a five-year, $92.5 million deal in the offseason since Santander was coming off a 44 home run campaign with the Orioles.

However, we sit here at the end of May in the midst of a disappointing season for Santander. Nevertheless, both the Blue Jays and Santander seem to have faith that a turnaround is possible.

While the Blue Jays offense has shown some signs of life as of late, they'll need Santander to get going if they want to make it to the postseason. Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. are both on hot streaks, and the Blue Jays lineup will be tough to beat if all three of them get hot at the same time.

2. Bowden Francis

Francis entered this season with a ton of hype around him after he had a 1.80 ERA over his final 65 innings of the season and carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning in two separate starts.

However, the 2025 season hasn't gone as well for the 29-year-old, as he boasts a 5.04 ERA through 11 starts. He's allowed tied for the MLB lead in home runs allowed (15).

But even with his struggles, Francis should still have plenty of runway in the Blue Jays' rotation since Max Scherzer's return is not imminent, while Spencer Turnbull and Alek Manoah are both still rehabbing.

So, long story short, the Blue Jays desperately need Francis to find his 2024 form.

The good news for the Blue Jays is that he turned in his best start of the year his last time out when he threw five scoreless innings against the Rangers with six strikeouts. The Blue Jays will need more of that from Francis if they want to stay in the postseason race.

3. Jeff Hoffman

Hoffman hasn't been horrible in first season north of the border (he's tied for fourth in the American League with 12 saves), but he's had a couple of blips that have cost the Jays some wins over the past couple weeks.

While relief pitchers are always going to have a few outings that go sideways from time to time, the Blue Jays need the best version of Hoffman going forward. With Yimi García on the IL with a shoulder problem, there'll be even more pressure on Hoffman to preform.

Yariel Rodríguez, Brendon Little and Mason Fluharty have all been pleasant surprises out of the Jays 'pen this year, so Hoffman should get plenty of save chances — he's just going to need to be on the top of his game going forward.

The Blue Jays cannot afford to lose games in the ninth inning in this stretch.