Ten games in, and the Toronto Blue Jays‘ World Series aspirations are already hanging by a thread. The White Sox recently swept them, the Dodgers destroyed them, and they have a 4-6 record. But things are taking a turn for the worse for John Schneider and co., as devastating news from the training room concerning a key arm in the rotation and a starting position player now threatens to derail their season entirely.
Underdog MLB reported, “Cody Ponce expected to miss 6 months after undergoing knee surgery.” Just before this bad news, they also reported that Alejandro Kirk will miss around 6 weeks due to a thumb fracture.
The Jays have lost Cody Ponce to an ACL injury after his start on March 30th, 2026. He pitched 2 1/3 innings, with three strikeouts, one hit, one walk, and one run allowed, before collapsing while fielding a ground ball play in the third inning. Doctors confirmed the ACL injury, and he will miss at least six months of game time.
But things get worse for the Blue Jays as Alejandro Kirk is also ruled out for thumb surgery. This comes as a result of a fracture that happened during the White Sox game on April 3rd, 2026. Kirk required surgery with a screw placed in his left thumb for stability.
Schneider: Cody Ponce expected to miss 6 months after undergoing knee surgery.
— Underdog MLB (@UnderdogMLB) April 7, 2026
These two injuries might actually derail the season for the Blue Jays if they don’t handle things correctly. But even if the Blue Jays get through this phase, they will miss these two players.
Cody Ponce signed a $30M contract with the Jays and added stability to the rotation. The Blue Jays started the season with Bieber, Berrios, and Yesavage on the IL, and if you add Ponce to it, the Jays would have lost a major part of their starting rotation.
It was Spring Training, but Ponce impressed everyone with his 0.66 ERA. In the 2.1 innings he has pitched in the regular season, he has had an ERA of 3.86. For a guy who last played in the MLB back in 2021, those numbers were good.
But it is a completely different story for Alejandro Kirk.
Alejandro Kirk was one of the most important pieces of the Blue Jays who made the postseason in 2025. In the 18 postseason games he played, Kirk had an average of .254 with 5 homers and 13 RBIs. But the start to 2026 was not good.
In the 2026 season, Kirk is batting with an average of .150 with just 2 RBIs. But his catching behind the plate was good, and that is what the Jays will miss most. In 2026, Kirk had a fielding percentage of 1.000 with 0 errors. But his replacement, Tyler Heineman, has already made a couple of errors.
With the Jays going against the Dodgers and having lost the first game 14-2, they will need to find a way to get back on track, or the season might end up worse than they expected.
The Blue Jays’ World Series hopes might be fading fast
When the season started, the Toronto Blue Jays and their fans were feeding off the energy from the 2025 World Series run. This has made the Blue Jays one of the favorites to get back in the same run again, but with all the problems the Jays are facing, it might start to get difficult.
The Blue Jays started the season strong with a 4-1 record and swept the Athletics. But now the Jays have lost five consecutive games, including the sweep against the White Sox and a 14-2 beating against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Against the Dodgers, the pitching of the Jays got exposed as they were down 9-1 in the sixth inning. The Jays’ bats simply could not get any valuable hits to bring in the runs. One of the missed chances occurred when Myles Straw grounded out with the bases loaded at the bottom of the first inning.
Manager John Schneider called out the rest of the players and said that they can’t rely on players like Vladimir Guerrero Jr and George Springer to deliver at every point of the season.
Springer is hitting 6 for 40 while Daulton Varsho has an average of .188 without any homers. Barger also has just one hit in 10 games, showing how much of a gap there is in the offense’s production.
Adding to that are the injuries to players like Trey Yesavage and Cody Ponce. Even Max Scherzer has arm problems and threw only 2 innings due to forearm tendinitis. Flu issues have also created problems, with Eric Lauer among players dealing with illness.
Before the season started, the Blue Jays were given 15-1 odds to make the World Series, which is around 6%. But with all the injuries piling up and the offense not getting hot, those chances at the World Series might be fading fast.
