7 biggest one-hit wonders in Toronto Blue Jays history

Over the years, the Toronto Blue Jays have had many notable star players that made their mark with the ballclub. In doing so, not only did they play a huge role in contributing to the team’s success, they also ended up having a prosperous career of their own as well. In terms of prime examples, big name players such as the late Roy Halladay, José Bautista, Vernon Wells, Carlos Delgado, Joe Carter, Tom Henke, Dave Stieb and George Bell to name a few automatically come to mind in such instances.

At the same time, there has also been some renowned yet forgettable one-hit wonders that have played for the ballclub in recent memory in the past. For these distinguished players, they managed to put together their best ever season in the majors while donning the Jays’ jersey. As a result of their accomplishments, many of them were looking forward to have their careers take off towards stardom in the process.

However, they eventually found out in a harsh way that it would be the one and only season in which they had such unexpected success. Moreover, they were never able to recapture the same glory in any of their subsequent playing years in the end.

Looking back into some Jays’ history, we will take a little stroll down memory’s lane to look at seven of these one-hit wonders that once dressed up in the blue and white. For the candidates to make this distinct list, the player in question needed to have their one big breakout year take place while in a Jays’ uniform while never coming close to replicating it with the same team, as well as with any other teams elsewhere in the league. In addition, we did our best to have representatives from the various positions in the field.

P Gustavo Chacin

Signed as an international free agent out of Venezuela back in 1998, Chacin arrived on the MLB scene during the time when the Jays have been desperately looking for the ideal complementary rotation piece to support team ace Roy Halladay. Chacin made the most of it when he finally got the chance to start full-time for the ballclub in 2005 alongside Halladay, Josh Towers, Dave Bush and Ted Lilly. Just looking at the rotation like that, everyone knew it needed as much help it could get.

For the 2005 season, Chacin did his part by putting together an impressive rookie season in which he went 13-9 with a solid 3.79 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, along with 121 strikeouts in 203 innings pitched in 34 starts. Those solid stats put him second on the team behind just Halladay while finishing a respectable fifth in the AL Rookie of the Year voting that season in the process.

However, he failed to sustain that success in the following two seasons. Not only was he unable to maintain an ERA below 5, he was constantly being plagued by the long ball by giving up close to two home runs per nine innings pitched. As a result, Chacin eventually found himself back in minors and was never able to regain his starting status with the ballclub. He left the organization following the 2008 season and came back as a fully reinvented reliever with the Houston Astros in 2010. But he failed to impress once again and was ultimately out of baseball following the 2011 year.

1B/OF Chris Colabello

Many will never forget the rapid rise and fall of former Jays’ first baseman/outfielder Chris Colabello. After spending two subpar seasons with the Twins, he was claimed off waivers by the Jays during the 2014-15 offseason. With a fresh start, Colabello began the 2015 season with the Jays’ Triple-A affiliate Buffalo Bisons. In the month of April, he put together an impressive showing by hitting .338 with a 1.018 OPS, 12 runs scored, 5 home runs and 16 RBI. His stellar play did not go unnoticed as Colabello earned a promotion to the major leagues with the Jays in early May and didn’t look back.

For the rest of the 2015 season, Colabello became a key offensive contributor on the seriously contending ballclub. Colabello saw time mainly in the outfield prior to the arrival of Ben Revere at the trade deadline, after which he split playing time at first base with fellow teammate Justin Smoak for the stretch run. In 101 games with the Jays, he batted .321 with an .886 OPS, 138 OPS+, along with 55 runs scored, 19 doubles, 15 home runs and 54 RBI. So basically over a full 162-game schedule, Colabello was producing at a stellar 24 home runs, 87 RBI pace. He followed that up with a solid postseason in which he hit .282 with an .830 OPS, 5 runs scored, 2 home runs and 3 RBI in 10 playoff games. However, the Jays eventually fell just short of the World Series at the hands of the Kansas City Royals in the ALCS.

Unfortunately for Colabello, that one Cinderella season became his only highlight of his career as he was subsequently hit with a PEDs suspension of 80 games the following year in 2016. That turned out to be a career-ending suspension as he never fully recovered from the incident, nor did he see another game at the major league level afterwards. He attempted to catch on later with the Cleveland Indians and Milwaukee Brewers organizations by signing minor league contracts with them, but things didn’t work out in the end and was out of the league entirely after 2017.

RP Jeremy Accardo

The Jays have had many stellar closers over the years, with many producing multiple dominant seasons before finally giving way to the next in line. But very few were just a one-hit wonder the way Jeremy Accardo was back in 2007. Accardo was initially acquired from the San Francisco Giants in July of 2006 by the Jays in exchange for disgruntled third baseman Shea Hillenbrand and reliever Vinnie Chulk.

Accardo’s tenure with the Jays didn’t start off too well following the trade when he pitched to an ERA close to 6 and a WHIP of 1.64 in 27 appearances. But when B.J. Ryan had to undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery just over one month into the 2007 season, Accardo got the opportunity to close out games for the team and ran away with it. For the year, he compiled career-best numbers in wins (4), saves (30), ERA (2.14), WHIP (1.11), and strikeouts (57). He impressed the Jays’ brass so much that he still got the chance to close games at the start of the 2008 season even when Ryan was officially back from his elbow injury.

However, despite a good start to the season in his first few appearances, Accardo completely fell apart in his following outings and eventually was demoted to the minors where he stayed for the rest of the season. In fact, he never ended up getting anywhere close to what he put up during his 2007 breakout season for the rest of his career no matter where he played. There was also a suggested controversy that arose during his tenure with the Jays which may have played a role in affecting his overall performance. But regardless, Accardo was unable to keep his WHIP below 1.5 and his ERA below 4.50 for most of his subsequent seasons following 2007 whether with the Jays or another team, resulting in his failure to live up to his expected potential.

C John Buck

For catcher John Buck, he gets the noteworthy distinction on this list as being the only player to have his best season of his career in his only single season in Jays’ uniform. That is certainly quite the accomplishment since usually players need some time to acclimatize to their new environment and ballclub. But in the case for Buck, he took off running the moment he joined the Jays on a one-year, $2M deal during the 2009-2010 offseason as a free agent.

For someone that possessed a lifetime batting average of .234, Buck posted career numbers across the board in just 118 games of action overall. In 2010, he batted a strong .281 with an .802 OPS, 114 OPS+, 53 runs scored, 25 doubles, 20 home runs, 66 RBI and 200 total bases. In doing so, Buck earned his only All-Star appearance of his career, as he joined his star teammates Bautista and Wells at the festivities.

His impressive 2010 performance earned him a three-year, $18M contract with the Marlins during the offseason as the Jays resorted to their own prospect J.P. Arencibia to fill their catching role for 2011. But Buck was never able to repeat the production he put up in his sole season with the Jays, making his $2M deal perhaps one of best value deals in the history of the ballclub. Despite being just for a single year, it sure paid huge dividends in the end.

3B Eric Hinske

Perhaps one of the most disappointing former Jays’ players following an unforgettable start to his MLB career was none other than third baseman Eric Hinske. He was acquired from the Oakland Athletics along with pitcher Justin Miller in exchange for flamethrowing closer Billy Koch during the 2001-2002 offseason. With limited options within the Jays’ organization at the time with the likes of Felipe López and company, Hinske became the Jays’ starting third baseman right from the get-go in the 2002 MLB season. 

Boy, did that decision make management look like a genius as Hinske went on to have one of the best Jays’ rookie seasons ever at the time. Over 151 games played, he batted .279 with an .845 OPS, coming one run short of the century mark in runs scored, along with 38 doubles, 24 home runs, 84 RBI, 77 walks, 13 stolen bases and 272 total bases. For his exceptional accomplishments, he ended up capturing AL Rookie of the Year honours and appeared to have a bright future ahead of him.

But who would have thought that was already his peak performance of his career, as Hinske failed to replicate his outstanding numbers from his debut season in the majors. Never was he able to score more than 79 runs, hit more than 20 home runs, drive in more than 69 runs, walk more than 59 times, or accumulate more than 214 total bases in the rest of his 12-year MLB career. For someone that appeared to be en route to becoming the Jays’ best ever third baseman to have ever played, it was why he turned out to be a much more major disappointment than it would have been due to the high expectations of him. Nevertheless, at least the Jays did end up getting their hands on one of the best third baseman in all of baseball, but just over a decade later.

DH/1B Josh Phelps

Chosen in the tenth round by the Jays in the 1996 MLB Draft, Josh Phelps was always known for his potent bat coming up from their minor league system. With respect to his offensive potential, he profiled close to a 30 homer, 100 RBI power hitter while hitting for a solid average at the same time. As a result, Phelps ended up taking the world by storm when he finally made his mark in the majors during the 2002 MLB season.

Called up to the big league team midway through the season to serve as the team’s primary designated hitter, Phelps would make sure he wasn’t going back down to the minors any time soon. In just 74 games played, he compiled an astonishing .309 batting average, .925 OPS, 41 runs scored, 20 doubles, 15 home runs and 58 RBI. If projected over a full 162-game schedule, that meant he was going at a 90 runs scored, 44 doubles, 33 home runs, 127 RBI pace. He ended up finishing sixth in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2002, but may have had a legitimate shot at winning the award had he been up with the ballclub all season.

However, Phelps was never able to produce at the pace he set during his rookie season with the Jays in his ensuing years in the big leagues. His did show some glimpses of his dominant form when he garnered some playing time with other teams in the league. Nevertheless, he was usually unable to sustain it as he failed to maintain a starting gig with any of them in the process. By the end of the 2008 season, Phelps found himself out of MLB altogether despite being only 30-years old, as another one of the Jays’ once-promising prospects flaming out in the end.