The 2025 Toronto Blue Jays season was a great success, bouncing back from a 74-88 season in 2024 to finish 94-68, good enough for the best record in the American League and third-best in all of Major League Baseball, and nearly winning the World Series.
The Blue Jays received many contributions from players all throughout the roster, whether it was George Springer’s bounce-back year, Eric Lauer stepping in to provide many quality innings, or Addison Barger taking a big step in his first full MLB season.
But for all that went right with the Blue Jays in 2025, some players didn’t perform as well as hoped or expected by many people’s standards. Here is a look at three Blue Jays who could bounce back to help this team continue its success in 2026.
Three Blue Jays Hoping to Bounce Back in 2026
Anthony Santander
The first year of Anthony Santander’s five-year, $92.5 million contract he signed with the Blue Jays in January was by all accounts a failure. The 31-year-old appeared in only 54 games with the Blue Jays, slashing .175, with only six home runs and 18 runs batted in, totaling 194 at-bats. Santander went on the injured list on May 30, with left shoulder inflammation and didn’t rejoin the roster until Sept. 23, with six games remaining in the regular season.
Santander was announced on the Blue Jays’ playoff roster for both the AL Division Series and AL Championship Series, appearing in five games, batting .200 and driving in only two runs. Santander was pulled in Game 3 of the ALCS with a back injury, then was a late scratch from the lineup in Game 4, forcing the Blue Jays to replace Santander with Joey Loperfido on the ALCS roster, ending Santander’s season.
This was a far cry from the player who over the previous three seasons averaged 153 games played, 35 home runs and 95 RBI. Santander was especially impressive in his final season in Baltimore, batting .235 with 44 home runs and 102 RBI en route to the outfielder’s first All-Star appearance.
If Santander can rebound and get back to the 25-to-35 home run range, the Blue Jays fans and management will start to feel better about the contract that was handed out to the Venezuelan native.
Bowden Francis
Bowden Francis was the Blue Jays’ number five starter when the team broke spring training to head to Toronto to open the 2025 season. Francis’ 2025 started strong over his first five starts, pitching to a 2-3 record, 3.58 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and didn’t allow more than three runs in any of these starts.
The wheels started to fall off after that as he struggled with the long ball and control, and his season came to an end in June after going on the injured list with right shoulder impingement. Francis finished 2025 with a 2-8 record, 6.05 ERA and 1.531 WHIP, a falloff from what 2024 was.
In 2024, Francis became almost unhittable to close out the year, pitching to a 1.05 ERA in August and 2.16 ERA in September to have his season numbers finish at 8-5, 3.30 ERA and 0.926 WHIP. Many fans remember two starts late in 2024, where Francis took no-hitters into the ninth, first against the Los Angeles Angels, then again when he squared off with the New York Mets, but was unable to achieve the feat in either start.
Bowden Francis, K’ing the Side in the 1st. pic.twitter.com/sQyJsuIXUH
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 18, 2024
Through 62 games in Francis’ career, the right-hander has a career 3.87 ERA and 1.099 WHIP, so this is a pitcher capable of giving quality innings. With the additions of Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce to a rotation that already includes, Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, Trey Yesavage and José Berríos, Francis’ role going into 2026 is unclear but in baseball, you can never have enough depth for a rotation that could have four pitchers that are at least 30 years old when the season opens in March.
Yimi García
Yimi García, like Francis, dealt with the injury bug for much of the 2025 season. Originally placed on the injured list on May 24, with right shoulder impingement, he returned for only one outing before injuring his ankle in early July. The final dagger to García’s 2025 was surgery on his throwing elbow in August to clean up scar tissue in the surrounding area.
Yimi García will undergo season-ending surgery to clean up scar tissue in his elbow, John Schneider announced.
He’s expected to be ready for 2026 Spring Training. pic.twitter.com/u9gUUKK9m9
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) August 29, 2025
García finished his 2025 campaign with a 1-2 record, 3.86 ERA and 1.190 WHIP over 22 appearances. His 2025 start was one of the best stories to begin the year for the Blue Jays, as the reliever opened his season by not allowing a run over the right-handers’ first 14 appearances. García struck out 18 batters over those 14 innings, giving the Blue Jays confidence in García as a set-up man to closer Jeff Hoffman. Over the final seven games prior to the injury, García pitched to a 7.11 ERA and 1.74 WHIP, so the Blue Jays will be hoping for the start-of-season García in 2026.
The Blue Jays signed another set-up reliever in Tyler Rogers this offseason to help build on the back end of Toronto’s bullpen. Rogers pitched to a 1.98 ERA and 0.944 WHIP over 81 games in 2025 with the San Francisco Giants and the Mets, consistently getting soft contact due to his funky arm angle. Rogers brings such a different look to a bullpen, in which could allow García to return to form and be the effective reliever he has been for the majority of his career, having pitched to a 3.61 ERA over parts of 11 seasons.
The Blue Jays expect García to be ready for spring training when pitchers and catchers report to Dunedin in February.
Main Photo Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images