Blue Jays Notes: What We Know About Jesus Sanchez, Day Off Timing Perfect
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If one series provided a perfect screenshot of the entirety of the Toronto Blue Jays' 2026 season, it was this four-game stretch against the Baltimore Orioles.
There was explosive offense, a blown save from Jeff Hoffman, rookies shining, another unbelievable injury, a large workload undertaken by the bullpen, but with all the inconsistencies across the board, the Jays walked away with a day off, holding onto the last wild card spot.
It is always easy when in the moment to be flustered in the heat of a game, and right after, when it felt like it should have been a W for Toronto — especially Saturday night. But nobody wants to relive the blown four-run lead by Hoffman.
Emotions were definitely running high, and frustrations were right up there as well, but when taking a step back, the Blue Jays are right where they need to be, in the hunt. The ballclub has travelled all over the East Coast and has played 17 games in the same number of days.
In that time frame, Toronto is 10-7 with series victories over the Marlins, Pirates, and Tigers while splitting a pair of four-game stretches. Then, there is plenty that has happened that the scoreboards don't reflect, as the injured list is haunting this team.
Injuries in the Last Two Weeks
Since the start of the series against the Detroit Tigers back on May 15, the Jays added Dylan Cease, Tommy Nance, Joe Mantiply, and Lenyn Sosa to the injured list. Then, in the same game that Cease went down, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was smoked by a pitch a mere 20 minutes later, which kept him out of the lineup for a pair of games.
The latest victim is outfielder Jesus Sanchez, who has been superb for the ballclub, highlighted by his first career grand slam back at Rogers Centre against the Marlins, so seeing him leave the game with an injury was gut-wrenching.
But it gets worse. Sanchez didn't just have to leave Sunday's game in the sixth with a wrist contusion, but it was at the hands of somebody inside the park, as a young fan thought the Jays' outfielder "wanted to play catch."
Sanchez wasn't looking when the ball was thrown at him, and it hit him directly on his wrist. The police were out there quickly, and while it doesn't sound like it was malicious, it should never have happened.
Jesús Sánchez was forced to leave the game after being hit by a baseball thrown by a fan. https://t.co/JpECpWGntm pic.twitter.com/UyKtOyreUh
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 31, 2026
Luckily, X-Rays were negative, and Sanchez was able to speak level-headed about it with an Orioles reporter, the Baltimore Sun's Jacob Calvin Meyer, in the locker room via interpreter, stating that it was a clear misunderstanding, as that isn't what he wanted to do.
This explains why Sanchez wasn't looking at the stands when the ball was thrown. It is over with now, and hopefully a day off for the team means that the bat won't be missed for Tuesday's opener against the Atlanta Braves.
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Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.