The Toronto Blue Jays have to be seen as Major League Baseball’s biggest disappointment thus far in 2026, and while the hope was that they could go one step further after a World Series appearance a year ago, they’ve faltered significantly, becoming sellers ahead of Monday’s trade deadline.
Unsurprisingly, all eyes are now turning to the likes of Louis Varland, Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, Jeff Hoffman and Daulton Varsho, with the team expected to recoup significant assets as they look for a bounce back campaign in 2027. However, there’s still some important games to play between now and 2027 and even between now and the trade deadline, and if the Blue Jays want to win games, they landed a double return ahead of their series with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Jesus Sanchez and Braydon Fischer Return for the Blue Jays
GettyBraydon Fisher of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Those two key players would be reliever Braydon Fisher and veteran outfielder Jesus Sanchez, both of whom have shone in parts during 2026 despite the overall team struggles, with the consistency for both lacking as well. After a series victory against the Washington Nationals that got them back to 50-59 on the year, Toronto have needed another boost, and on Friday, they made it official, with Fisher and Sanchez to return to the roster.
🔹 RHP Braydon Fisher reinstated from the restricted list and will be active tonight
🔹 OF Jesús Sánchez reinstated from the 10-day IL and will be active tonight
🔹 LHP Adam Macko and OF Yohendrick Piñango optioned to Triple-A
This season, Fisher has been a solid bullpen option for the Blue Jays, posting a 4.15 ERA across 52.0 innings of work, and after making his big league debut for the team in 2025, he has solidified himself as a solid, cheap option for this team moving forward. As for Sanchez, he’s had some hot streaks, but also some struggles in 2026, and while he’s hit a solid .274, an OPS of .753 and seven home runs for a slugger like this just hasn’t helped the teams cause as they get power outages from the likes of Varsho and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Unfortunately, this means that two young, important players have to make way for the two veterans, with the team revealing (to some disappointment from fans) that both Adam Macko and Yohendrick Pinango have been optioned to Triple-A, although it’s far more likely than not that we will see them in the big leagues again in 2026.
Can the Blue Jays Save Their 2026 Season?
Obviously, the returns of Fisher and Sanchez are major boosts to this team, but with other teams in the American League East like Tampa Bay, Boston and New York running away with the division and key Wild Card spots, the chances for Toronto to turn things around grow slimmer by the day.
Ultimately, this is a team that’s just underperformed as a whole and struggled for momentum, and unless they can conjure an absolute miracle, this is a team that should be using the 2026 trade deadline to add assets for the future as they look to build this squad into one that can compete for a World Series year after year.
Blue Jays Reinstate two Veterans Ahead of the Trade Deadline