Blue Jays who need to step up their game for Toronto to win the ALDS and beyond

Let's face it, the Blue Jays were mired in offensive struggles leading up to the final series of the season against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Yes the Blue Jays played well sweeping the Rays to win their seventh division title in franchise history, however prior to that certain players were struggling at the plate and now is not the time to falter when facing the New York Yankees in the division series.

We won't have Bo Bichette to rely on for clutch hits so others will have to fill the void.

The face of the franchise has helped lead the offensive attack for the Blue Jays this season, compiling a stellar .292 average, .848 OPS, together with 96 runs scored, 34 doubles, 23 home runs and 84 RBIs over 156 games played.

Those numbers ranked him among the top three on the team for each statistical category.

However, when the team needed him most down the stretch, Guerrero struggled to find his mojo as he batted just a measly .172 with a .403 OPS, along with just four runs scored, zero home runs and four RBIs in his final 15 games of the season.

More importantly, it felt like every time he came to the plate in a crucial part of a game, he failed to deliver for the most part.

Guerrero will need to step up his game in high-leverage, game changing moments for Toronto to have any chance of winning and success.

Otherwise, it will be another early playoff exit with the stars not being stars once again.

While his exact role is unclear at the moment, Scherzer will likely get the chance to overwrite his recent failures at some point in the coming days.

This environment is what the Blue Jays envisioned when they signed Scherzer to a one-year deal in the winter, and if the right-hander is going to contribute, he has to turn things around.

The 41-year-old struggled down the stretch and has openly discussed his troubles executing pitches.

He's trended downward, allowing 25 earned runs over his past 25 innings spanning six starts.

There may not be a roster spot for Scherzer, but if there is, he definitely needs to return to 'Mad Max' in the postseason.

Santander was the biggest offseason acquisition for the Blue Jays this offseason and was supposed to boost their offense and power in 2025.

However, injuries prevented him from being in the lineup early on, then eventually derailed him for almost the entire regular season.

At the time, Santander was slashing just .179/.273/.304 with six home runs and a .577 OPS, along with just 16 runs scored, and 18 RBIs in 54 total games played.

When Santander finally made it back just before the end of the regular season at full health, his abysmal showing of recording just one hit with six strikeouts in 12 total plate appearances doesn't instill much confidence that he can be a significant contributor in the playoffs.

Santander will need to lead this team and come up with timely hits in order for the Blue Jays to have any kind of offensive success in the playoffs.

Beyond Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber and Trey Yesavage there are a lot of question marks when it comes to the Blue Jays rotation.

Chris Bassitt was nearly unhittable early on in the season, but became unpredictable down the stretch.

The 36-year-old owns a 3.96 ERA and 166 strikeouts across 31 starts this season, earning an 11-9 record.

His last start came on Sept. 18 against the Tampa Bay Rays, where he allowed eight hits and three earned runs in 4.1 innings of work. He was then placed on the 15-day IL with lower-back tightness.

The timing has worked out well enough that the 15-day minimum will expire just prior to Game 1 of the ALDS, and Bassitt is expected to be part of Toronto's pitching mix.

Hopefully he can return to his aforementioned form for the Blue Jays this postseason.

After struggling to maintain a roster spot in the big leagues last year, Barger finally had his breakout season this year with Blue Jays.

In addition to showing defensive flexibility by playing both at third base and the outfield, the 25 year old posted a .243 average, .756 OPS, along with 61 runs scored, 32 doubles, 21 home runs and 74 RBIs in 135 games played.

However, Barger surprisingly struggled to quite some extent down the stretch, batting just .179 with a .589 OPS, with nine runs scored, three home runs and 15 RBIs in his last 36 games to finish off the regular season.

Hopefully Barger can recapture the success he had midway through the season.