4 former players the Blue Jays missed the most during latest failed championship run

Teoscar Hernández

He may not have made the postseason this year, as the Seattle Mariners fell just short of making the playoffs, but Teoscar Hernández definitely would have made a huge difference for the Jays if he was still with the team for their championship run. After all, he had a solid offensive 2023 season with the Mariners in which he scored 70 runs, while amassing 26 home runs and 93 RBI batting mainly in the heart of their order.

More importantly, Hernández was able to produce in the clutch when batting with runners in scoring position, something the Jays sorely lacked for practically the whole season. In such situations, he hit .300 with a .790 OPS, 48 runs scored, nine doubles, five home runs and a whopping 67 RBI. More impressively with two outs, Hernández still hit a solid .301 with 28 RBI with RISP. He was even stronger with the bases loaded, posting a .350 average and .883 OPS in those situations. If one could recall the numerous times the Jays came up empty-handed in the above described situations, one would understand the extreme value Hernández could have brought to the team. In addition, his ability to be able to provide valuable protection for both Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette in the lineup during his tenure with the ballclub has been totally underestimated.

As you may recall, it was just last year when Hernández was still with the Jays when he delivered with two big home runs in Game 2 of the AL Wild Card series against the Mariners. The pitching may have failed the team as part of their epic collapse in the end, but there was no question that Hernández does not disappear in the biggest moments of the game. Even with that in mind, the Jays had a chance to re-acquire him at this year’s trade deadline, but failed to do so.