The Toronto Blue Jays rank near the bottom of the league in scoring runs, and it showed again when the Tampa Bay Rays swept them this week. After losing five of seven games on a road trip, the Blue Jays sit at an ugly 16-21 record. Following a 3-0 loss on Wednesday, veteran pitcher Max Scherzer gave his teammates a blunt warning about saving their season.

“It’s not just going to happen,” Max Scherzer said Wednesday. “We’re not just going to go out there and go on a crazy winning streak. We have to go make that happen.”

Last year, the Blue Jays started 14-16 and actually dropped to 16-20 by this time. They quickly caught fire after that, winning 94 games and taking the AL East title. This season, they sit at 16-21, but the mood feels much worse. The team is at the bottom of the division, and people are starting to panic. Fans worry this slump looks like their bad 2024 season, when a roster full of stars kept losing games.

That’s why Scherzer mentioned that winning won’t happen automatically. The other teams wouldn’t just lose to them. They have “got to go beat them.”

The Jays have retained most of the key players like first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., outfielder George Springer, catcher Alejandro Kirk, and breakout pitcher Trey Yesavage, among others, for 2026. But the Blue Jays are yet to elevate themselves to the same level they were last year. They have enough good players, but Scherzer thinks having a good team doesn’t guarantee wins.

“We’re all going mad trying to figure out how to be consistently good,” he said.

Toronto has had some dominating wins. A 10-4 and an 11-4 against the Twins, another 10-4 against the D-backs, and even a 7-1 against the Red Sox. But they have won only 4 series so far. That’s why Max Scherzer isn’t urging for anything miraculous from his teammates. His clear appeal to the clubhouse was, “not do more than your job, but just do your job.”

On Wednesday, the pitching did its job. Starter Patrick Corbin recorded a 3.60 ERA in 5.1 innings. But he allowed five hits and two runs, getting only one strikeout. Louis Varland did a stellar job, allowing only one hit and one run as he recorded a 0.48 ERA. But the offense failed to get going. They only got four hits and scored zero runs. However, manager John Schneider refused to impose any unnecessary panic on the players. In fact, he almost echoed the message Scherzer delivered earlier.

“Do your thing. Know what you’re good at. And then it gets contagious,” Schneider said. He acknowledged the anxiety among the players during their at-bats due to a lack of hits and scores. But the overall numbers might not be as easy to ignore. 

Blue Jays’ offensive struggles go far beyond batting average

Toronto has a batting average of .249 this season. This doesn’t look too bad, as they are 8th in the league. But one look at the run production will give you a broader and contrasting story. The Blue Jays are 26th in MLB with just 147 runs from 311 hits. And their average OPS of .690 is also towards the bottom of the table. 

Guerrero Jr. has a .319 AVG resulting from 21 runs and 16 RBI in 2026. But there seems to be an absence of power from the slugger as he has hit only two homers. Springer is much worse in comparison. He has also hit just two HRs, but only managed four runs through a .189 AVG. 

And the Blue Jays’ offensive struggle isn’t limited to these two. Davis Schneider has a concerning AVG of .132, and Tyler Heineman produced only four runs from 53 at-bats. Daulton Varsho hasn’t been able to recreate his previous-year form. Kazuma Okamoto leads the team in HRs, but has struck out 44 times in 36 games. 

Key players like Alejandro Kirk, Nathan Lukes, and Anthony Santander are on the injury list, making the situation all the more complicated for Toronto. Max Scherzer himself is on a 15-day IL, and he isn’t recovering at the expected speed. 

That’s why Max thinks urgency alone wouldn’t do the job. The team needs to start producing. There is still time for the Blue Jays. But to reach the playoffs, they need to start scoring runs right away.