Mike Wilner: We asked the Blue Jays to vote for their own season awards — and one player made history - Toronto Star

Dylan Cease cleaned up in the end-of-season awards but another pitcher accomplished something that hadn't been done before.

Blue Jays relief pitchers Louis Varland, left, and Spencer Miles hold up puppies after the president of the Humane Society threw the ceremonial first pitch on Aug. 16.

Mike Wilner is a Toronto-based baseball columnist for the Star and host of the baseball podcast “Deep Left Field.” Follow him on Bluesky: @wilnerness

The Blue Jays may have finished their season on a high note, with heartwarming emotional displays from George Springer and Max Scherzer, but the story of 2026 was frustration and disappointment more than anything else.

Still, even in years like these, there are players deserving of recognition.

I have been canvassing the Jays clubhouse at season’s end for the past quarter-century or so, talking to everyone in uniform and several members of the support staff to see who they recognize as the team MVP, the pitcher and the rookie of the year and the most pleasant surprise, which has evolved into the Jays’ unsung hero.

There was near-complete participation in the anonymous poll, with one player declining. Most people were thoughtful about who they chose, with Scherzer pulling out his phone and going to Fangraphs to compare the season stats of the two players he was considering for MVP.

Players were allowed to vote for themselves, though no one did, and were also allowed to split their votes.

Interviews with all the winners will air on “Deep Left Field,” the Star’s baseball podcast, throughout October.

Blue Jays ace Dylan Cease raises his fist in a Sept. 13 start vs. the Baltimore Orioles.

The Jays finished last in the majors in runs scored so it should be no surprise that a pitcher was the pick for MVP.

In the first season of a seven-year, $210-million (U.S.) contract, Cease established himself as the team’s clear ace. The right-hander posted a 2.40 ERA over 29 starts, striking out a career-high 239, the fourth-highest total in Jays history. He led the American League in strikeouts per nine innings and fewest hits and home runs per nine innings.

Cease made his first all-star appearance, getting the start and striking out the side around a two-out walk.

He was a slam-dunk for pitcher of the year, notching almost twice as many votes as Varland, who was near-perfect after taking the closer’s role from Jeff Hoffman, but the case for MVP was tougher.

Several respondents agonized over whether to choose a pitcher over a position player for MVP and many went back and forth between Cease and Varland, though Varland asserted that anyone who gave him an MVP vote was “delusional.”

One voter even said “we didn’t have an MVP this year” before ultimately deciding to cast a vote (for Okamoto).

“There were a lot of really good performances,” said Cease, who took a no-hitter into the ninth inning in San Francisco on July and tossed a complete-game, one-hit shutout at Fenway Park two starts later.

“I think, just in the way that I’m wired, I look at it in the areas that I’m a little more disappointed in, and obviously finishing not the strongest is disappointing.”

With his shoulder barking, Cease posted a 4.26 ERA over his last three starts, walking 13 in 12 2/3 innings. He will still be a finalist for the American League Cy Young award.

The 30-year-old, who had his first two career stints on the injured list this year, is hoping for a better future than the last Blue Jay recognized as the MVP and the pitcher of the year in the same season, Alek Manoah, who did it in 2022.

Many voters had to be reminded that Okamoto, 30, was a rookie, given his long career in Japan’s top professional league.

On a team virtually bereft of power, Okamoto blasted 33 home runs, more than twice as many as the next-best hitter (Springer) and he was the only Jay with at least 60 RBIs, driving in 92. Both totals were franchise rookie records.

“I definitely feel honoured and happy that my teammates recognized me,” Okamoto said, through translator Yusuke Oshima. “If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have been able to do what I did, for sure. They welcomed me with open arms. Very thankful.”

Miles accomplished a great many unexpected things in his rookie season. The Rule 5 pick, who had thrown just 23 1/3 innings as a pro since being drafted in 2022, played every role on the Jays’ pitching staff: starter, long reliever, late-inning leverage pitcher and even closer.

He posted a sensational 2.63 ERA and 1.1 WHIP over 95 2/3 innings, picking up six wins and two saves.

The 26-year-old also became the first player in memory to receive at least one vote in all four award categories.

“It’s awesome,” Miles said of that achievement. “I think it shows that they value what happened this year and they’re in my corner and they root me on just as I root them on. ”

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Opinion articles are based on the author’s interpretations and judgments of facts, data and events. More details

Mike Wilner is a Toronto-based baseball columnist for the Star and host of the baseball podcast “Deep Left Field.” Follow him on Bluesky: @wilnerness