Two Blue Jays who need to play more down the stretch—and two who should play less

It’s officially crunch time for the 2026 Toronto Blue Jays. Every at-bat matters. Every pitch matters. As such, manager John Schneider has to be deliberate with every decision and unafraid to make tough choices with his roster.

April and May are the time to let everyone play. September is the time to put your best guys on the diamond in hopes of winning some baseball games. It doesn’t matter what someone did last year or even what they did three months ago. All that matters is what they’re capable of giving you right now with the final Wild Card spot still in reach.

So, with that in mind, here are two players who need more playing time—and two who deserve to play less over the season’s final weeks. 

There are two Blue Jays who deserve more playing time right now and two who deserve less 

Play him more: Josh Smith

It was a bit of a head-scratcher when the Blue Jays acquired Smith from the Texas Rangers in exchange for Canadian pitcher Adam Macko. Smith, who had a solid track record, had been absolutely dreadful at the plate up until that point in 2026. 

His season-high in home runs is just 13, yet he’s already launched five balls over the fence in his first 51 plate appearances as a Blue Jay. He’s also played solid defence in the infield. While he shouldn’t be expected to keep slugging like Aaron Judge, he absolutely should be in the lineup against right-handed pitchers until he cools down.

Play him less: Jésus Sánchez

Does this one really need explaining? Sánchez is an outfielder who can’t catch flyballs. He can’t go more than a few games in the field without dropping a pop-up that just about every other big-leaguer catches with their eyes closed. The margin for error is too thin right now to give him opportunities out there while he’s playing like this. 

The issue is that he isn’t faring much better at the plate. He was acquired to provide some thump yet has hit just two home runs since the beginning of June. Far too many of his at-bats are non-competitive to warrant slotting him in as the designated hitter. 

Play him more: Sean Keys

Keys is still very much a work in progress at the plate without a true home on defence. The argument for getting him in the lineup is nonetheless clear: he has the kind of raw power that the Blue Jays’ anemic lineup so desperately needs right now.

If Toronto intends to keep platooning someone with George Springer at the DH spot, it should be Keys who gets the at-bats rather than Sánchez. He might run into a few home runs even if he doesn’t hit for a high average—and that might make all the difference.

Play him less: Brandon Valenzuela

Valenzuela’s bat has gone ice cold after a strong start to his rookie season. No level of defence behind the plate is good enough to justify being an automatic out at the plate, especially on a team as starved for offence as the 2026 Toronto Blue Jays. 

Alejandro Kirk can’t catch every day, but we’re at the point where he should be in there at least five or six times per week—and that break could be beginning as soon as the first week of October if the Blue Jays don’t nail down the final AL Wild Card spot. 

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