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With a 6-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks yesterday, the Toronto Blue Jays have now lost their sixth consecutive series and suffered their fourth straight defeat.
No matter how hard you look for the positives, it's hard to pinpoint what's working right now.
Corbin Carroll sent the Chase Field crowd into a frenzy by breaking a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the eighth inning with a grand slam off Jeff Hoffman. The Jays' top reliever is once again under fire following another poor outing, overshadowing a solid performance by his teammate Max Scherzer.
CORBIN CARROLL CLEARS THE BASES WITH A BIG FLY!
DBacks take the lead in the 8th.
(Via: @MLB) pic.twitter.com/s6kTGqjAz1
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) April 19, 2026
The Blue Jays starter allowed two earned runs to the Diamondbacks, giving up five hits. The veteran struck out only one batter from the home team, a rather unusual occurrence for him. We know he recently left a game due to arm discomfort that was affecting the velocity of his pitches. It's clear that Scherzer isn't what he used to be in his prime, and that's to be expected.
Returning to the Toronto team's whipping boy, Hoffman was charged with the loss, his second of the 2026 season. For several seasons now, the Jays' bullpen has come under heavy criticism, and Hoffman clearly does not have everyone's support.
Yesterday, following his team's loss, manager John Schneider came to the defense of his closer, stating that he still had confidence in him and that every future save opportunity would involve him again. While this is certainly a strong show of support from the team's manager, Hoffman will still need to deliver to effectively fulfill his role.
John Schneider
:“I know there may be people who don't want to hear this, but I've got a lot of trust and confidence in Jeff Hoffman.”
“If there's a situation to close out a game, I'll take Jeff Hoffman.” #BlueJays
— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) April 19, 2026
Over the past few weeks, the Jays have been struggling, and the numerous injuries don't explain everything. Performance on the field has too often been lackluster. The Blue Jays are dead last in the American League East and will need to turn things around before it's too late. This division is highly competitive, and a lackluster start to the season can come back to haunt them.
Even though they're only five games out of first place, the Blue Jays will have to catch up to several teams to reach their goal of making the playoffs again in 2026. To do so, the offense, defense, and pitching staff will need to combine their efforts and execute the fundamentals perfectly.
Yesterday, the offense went 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position. This lack of opportunism largely explains why the team is struggling to string together wins and is becoming less and less threatening as the season goes on.
Today, Kevin Gausman will try to get his team back on the winning track against Ryne Nelson. Unlike the Jays, the Diamondbacks (13-8) are on a roll right now, having won their last four games. They sit in third place in their division, two and a half games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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