Opinion: Blue Jays awful start due to a whack-load of injuries

Alejandro Kirk (YouTube)

Anyway you look at it, this has been a terrible start to the season for the Toronto Blue Jays. It is still early, but after 11 games the Blue Jays are at four wins and seven losses, and a major reason for their struggles in the early going have been injuries.

So far this season, the Blue Jays are without several core players. They are catcher Alejandro Kirk of Tijuana, Mexico (broken thumb), outfielder Addison Barger of Bellevue, Washington (ankle injury), starting pitchers Trey Yesavage of Pottstown, Pennsylvania (right shoulder impingement), Max Scherzer of Chesterfield, Missouri (forearm tendinitis), Shane Bieber of Orange, California (elbow inflammation), Jose Berrios of Bayamon, Puerto Rico (stress fracture in right elbow), Cody Ponce of Pomona, California (season ending anterior cruciate ligament surgery), and relief pitcher Yimi Garcia of Moca, Dominican Republic (still rehabilitating from offseason elbow surgery).

Due to the injuries, the Blue Jays have lost seven of their last eight games, are second last in the American League in runs scored (37) and have given up the fourth most runs in the American League (60). The only team that has scored fewer runs are the Cleveland Guardians (36), however their pitching has been excellent to date and that is why they are leading the American League Central.

It is still early. However, this Blue Jays team is a long way off from the club that reached game seven of the 2025 World Series. The challenges will continue for the Blue Jays on Wednesday. They will be facing Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers in a mid-week matinee.