How the Blue Jays Playoff Chances Look With 16 Games to Go

Written By Jason Green | Published at September 9, 2026

Sizing up the Blue Jays playoff chances as the season end is not far off. The Blue Jays are fighting with a few teams for the last AL Wild Card. — Sep 8, 2026; West Sacramento, California, USA; Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (27) catches a line drive against Athletics left fielder Carlos Cortes (not pictured) during the ninth inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Lee-Imagn Images

As summer winds down and the NFL season is just getting started, MLB is entering the stretch run.

The Blue Jays won their last game on Tuesday night to climb back to the .500 mark, and they have 16 games remaining in the regular season. Let’s size up the playoff chances for a club that came within one game of winning the World Series last season.

Blue Jays Out of AL East Playoff Picture

The Blue Jays are out of the AL East race, but if there is a silver lining to that, they are not in the basement of the division anymore, which they have been for much of the season. Their playoff hopes are for the final AL Wild Card, where they are not the only team chasing that slot.

As of Sept. 9, Toronto is one game out of the final Wild Card, trailing the Cleveland Guardians, from whom they took two of three games in the series before the last one. They are a half-game up on the Texas Rangers and four games clear of the Baltimore Orioles. The Blue Jays face both those teams with Texas once and Baltimore twice, and those games could determine who is in and who is out.

While the top Canadian sportsbooks, such as Sports Interaction, have the Blue Jays with long-shot odds to win the AL Pennant and the World Series, they came oh-so-close last season, and anything can happen in the playoffs.

A Soft Schedule Remains for Jays

After their current series finale tonight on the left coast facing the Athletics, the Blue Jays are back at home, three games each facing the Orioles and the Tigers. Then they hit the road for two big series against the Orioles and the Rangers before finishing the season back at home in a three-game set with the Reds.

Blue Jays Control Their Playoff Destiny

For the rest of the season, the Blue Jays won't face a team with a winning record. Let’s check out the remaining schedules for the teams battling with Toronto for the final Wild Card and the key teams they face.

Cleveland Guardians

@ Minnesota, vs. Chicago White Sox, vs. Athletics, @ Boston, @ Kansas City.

Key Teams: The Guardians are currently only two games behind the White Sox in the AL Central and face a Red Sox team that currently holds the second AL Wild Card spot, five games clear of Cleveland.

Texas Rangers

@ Seattle, @ Arizona, vs. Boston, vs. Toronto, vs. New York Mets, vs. Minnesota.

Key Teams: Obviously, the Toronto series will be big, as will the one against Boston, and both are in the Lone Star State.

Baltimore Orioles

@ Toronto, @ New York Mets, vs. Milwaukee, vs. Toronto, @ New York Yankees

Key Teams

The Orioles have the toughest row to hoe to get to the playoffs, not only with six games against the Blue Jays, but also because the Brewers have the best record in the Majors and the Yankees have the second-best record in the AL.