The Biggest Thing Separating the Blue Jays From MLB Remaining Contenders
In this story:
It is not fair by any means to point to the failure of a team at one single person, but when a ballclub triumphs, the All-Star usually gets a lot of the credit. Unfortunately, that's the same case when the team flops, as the Toronto Blue Jays did in 2026.
Keep in mind, this was the same organization that was one out away from taking down the reigning world champions in last year's Fall Classic, but the unfathomable demise of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at the plate directly coincided with the team's woes.
Now, nobody is saying the worst offense in the league strictly falls on Vladdy's shoulders. However, when paid half a billion dollars, he is going to take the brunt of the criticism, as the teams that are still playing baseball right now had their studs show up from the jump.
The final four teams, three of which have been fighting for their chance at a World Series berth: the Milwaukee Brewers, the Tampa Bay Rays, and the Cleveland Guardians.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hits his first HR since July 11th
— Underdog MLB (@UnderdogMLB) August 8, 2026
Only his 7th HR this seasonpic.twitter.com/e1vNArm0LV
The Brewers have taken a commanding lead over the reigning world champs, which is in large part due to the key guys not performing for the Dodgers, like Shohei Ohtani and Will Smith going a combined 4-for-23 in these playoffs; teams cannot win without their studs playing well.
Taking all of that into consideration, William Contreras is coming through in the clutch for the Brewers, as he has smoked three home runs in the six games that he has played this postseason.
It is also impossible to ignore the fact that the Guardians have come to life now that Jose Ramirez is on a five-game hitting streak after starting the playoffs 0-for-6 in their first two games. Since then, he has been hitting .429, has driven in eight runs, and has logged four extra-base hits.
The big guns have to perform when it matters, and that was never the case for Guerrero in 2026, and without him, as well as another proven bat, the team will face the same fate in 2027.
Just How Horrendous Vladdy Was in the Clutch in 2026
When the season ended for the Jays' first baseman, he immediately underwent corrective eye surgery, hopefully solving most of his problems, as he was consistently lunging at balls outside the zone and failing to handle a middle-middle meatball thrown to him.
If there were two outs and runners in scoring position, he posted a .623 OPS, and unfortunately, it was always like that whether there was an out on the board or not; he simply couldn't bring his teammates in as he truly became a rally killer.
There were times that he had a player on third when he was up in the box, and both his on-base and slugging percentages were below .300.
Everyone knows what Vladdy is capable of doing; it just wasn't the case this year, and that 100% ties into the fact that this was the worst offensive club in baseball.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
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.