Most Intentional Walks in Blue Jays History

The hitters with the most intentional walks in Toronto Blue Jays history spent several years with the franchise. Other than Barry Bonds in the early 2000s and a handful of all-time great sluggers, intentional walks are relatively rare. 

Only three Jays have had more than 14 intentional walks in a single season. The hitters who were intentionally walked the most often were not necessarily among the AL MVP favourites in Blue Jays odds – it often depended on who was hitting behind them. 

Josh Donaldson, for example, was only intentionally walked nine times as a Blue Jay, despite a 152 OPS+ across 2015 and 2016.

Most Intentional Walks for the Blue Jays

Who Has the Most Intentional Walks in Blue Jays History?

Carlos Delgado has the most intentional walks in Blue Jays history with 128.

Delgado has 41 more intentional walks than any other hitter in franchise history. Over his final five seasons as a Jay, Delgado had 93 intentional walks, averaging out to 19 per season. 

This is partially because Delgado’s peak years were when baseball odds priced the Jays as outsiders to make the World Series, so he was comfortably the best hitter on the team. He didn’t have as much protection in the lineup as other great Jays hitters did. 

For example, José Bautista and Edwin Encarnación were teammates from 2009 until 2016. They combined for 85 intentional walks. This is partly due to managers becoming more reluctant to walk batters intentionally. Walking Bautista was also less appealing if it meant facing Encarnación and vice versa.