Myles Straw Delivers for Blue Jays Since Dealing Away Daulton Varsho
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If there was one team that nobody would have expected to be sellers at the trade deadline, it was the Toronto Blue Jays. Their season has not gone to plan after winning the pennant just last year. That being said, the front office dealt away their Gold Glove center fielder Daulton Varsho.
There were rumors that Varsho was going to be playing in new colors, but it was seeming less likely as he was still warming up with the Blue Jays in the final hour of the deadline. But at the last minute he was sent over to the Houston Astros, creating a huge hole to fill.
It was easy to assume who would step up right away, at least defensively, as Myles Straw is one of the best gloves in the outfield, but nobody could have expected him to do as well as he has at the plate, which is highlighted by his four extra-base hits against the Astros right off the jump as the starter.
Myles Straw doubles and it's 6-1!
— Blue Jays Nation (@thejaysnation) August 13, 2026
🎥 Sportsnet | #Bluejays pic.twitter.com/wZS7Qg8SaK
Straw's timely hitting has pushed Toronto right back into this playoff race as he continues to come up big for the Jays which was on full demonstration against the red-hot Boston Red Sox as he smoked a two-RBI double in the eighth inning to secure their third straight win over the Red Sox.
Over his last 15 games, which stretch a little before the trade deadline, Straw is batting .256 while slugging .442. He rarely strikes out, and it is even more seldom when he makes a bad decision at the plate.
That, combined with his speed and high baseball IQ, means the Blue Jays find themselves right back in this thing.
Where the Blue Jays Currently Stand in the Playoff Race
It was just about three weeks ago that Toronto found itself nearly seven games outside of the bottom wild card spot, and now they are within spitting distance of the Texas Rangers, who are clinging to the final slot by the grit of their teeth.
The Rangers have been hovering around the .500 line for a while, but don't have the momentum that the Blue Jays have, as they have now won 10 of their last 14. Ultimately, that bottom wild card slot is up for grabs with a lot of teams who have thrown their hats in the mix.
Right now, three other ball clubs are a little bit closer than Toronto, as Minnesota, Detroit, and Cleveland have the slight edge. There are still too many games to be played, and this one is going to come down to the wire.
All the Blue Jays can do for now is take it one game at a time, and if they keep doing what they have been, then this team will be playing October baseball.
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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.