It will be one and done for Toronto Blue Jays legend Edwin Encarnación on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) Hall of Fame ballot.
After Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones were announced Tuesday as the two newest inductees to Cooperstown, Encarnación was the lone former Blue Jay who didn’t garner the five per cent of the vote required to have their candidacy carried onto 2027.
Encarnación received 1.4 per cent of the vote, appearing on six ballots.
It was Encarnación’s first year of eligibility for election after a 16-year career that saw him rise to prominence with the Blue Jays in 2010, emerging as one of the most fearsome sluggers in franchise history.
Over eight seasons in Toronto, Encarnación posted an .878 OPS with 239 homers and 679 RBIs while earning three nods to the AL All-Star Team. He currently ranks third in Blue Jays history in homers, fourth in OPS, sixth in RBIs and eighth in WAR (24.9).
During Toronto’s runs to the post-season in 2015 and 2016, he kept up his production, slashing .280/.372/.480. Of course, Encarnación also played hero in the Blue Jays’ 2016 wild-card win over the Baltimore Orioles, launching a walk-off home run in the 11th inning.
Alongside Encarnación, first-timers Ryan Braun, Shin-Soo Choo, Gio González, Alex Gordon, Matt Kemp, Howie Kendrick, Nick Markakis, Daniel Murphy, Hunter Pence and Rick Porcello all fell off on Tuesday.
The other former Blue Jays on the 2026 ballot, Mark Buehrle and Omar Vizquel, received over five per cent of the vote and will return for consideration in their seventh and 10th years, respectively, in 2027.
