After Nearly Retiring, Brandon Belt Proves He’s Not Done Yet

In his first season with the Blue Jays, veteran Brandon Belt has proven he's still got plenty of baseball left — if he wants to keep playing.

Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

TORONTO — A year ago, Brandon Belt thought his career was over.

The lefty slugger finished August 2022 hitting .135 without a single homer. He was on the injured list and set for surgery to clean out cartilage and scar tissue in his knee. Belt couldn’t chase after his two young sons in his backyard, let alone leg out a double or step into a fastball.

“Before I got the surgery I thought I was done," Belt said. "I couldn’t do anything as far as baseball.”

After 1,300 career games and 12 MLB seasons, it seemed like things were winding down for the 35-year-old. But Belt didn't want his career to end like that and the Blue Jays are thankful he staved off retirement.

The 35-year-old has been Toronto's best hitter this season by many metrics. He leads the team with an .834 OPS, has 15 homers in 94 games, and owns one of the American League’s top on-base percentages. This season, Belt's reverted back to his old self — an elite plate approach and some sneaky southpaw power — proving 2022 was the outlier.

Belt's rebound campaign didn't start immediately, though. After sporadic play in spring training, the veteran came out swinging... and missing. Belt hit just .170 in the first month of the season knocking in just five extra-base hits in his first 19 games. It was easy to be concerned, as he looked a lot like the aging vet who struggled through 2022, pre-surgery. But Belt wasn't worried.

"During those struggles early in the season he wore it on the chin," Kevin Kiermaier said. "He always just said ‘Don’t let me get hot,’ and then he got hot.”

The veteran's timing started to return in May he really locked in by June. He felt great, the knee pain was gone, and his mental approach was as sharp as it'd ever been. In a mid-May series against the Pirates, Belt notched five hits and three doubles in just two contests. The pair of games raised his OPS .150 points alone. Without much baserunning in the first month of the season, Belt's legs stayed fresh, he joked at the time, and he's carried that hot streak going over the next four months. In 21 August games, Belt already has seven homers.

"Performance wise, you wouldn’t even know that he had surgery," Kiermaier said. "I mean he’s played a great first base, has great at-bats, he’s faster than what people will give him credit for, when he wants to bust it down the line. He surprises us every now and then.”

A year ago, Belt was nearly forced into calling it a career. But, almost immediately after his September surgery, Belt knew he wasn't done. The fact that the Blue Jays signed him for under $10 million on a one-year deal proves how skeptical the market was the 35-year-old had anything left. But, Belt's been more than worth the contract and now he's earned the right to retire on his own terms, whenever he chooses.

“I’ve definitely thought about [retirement]," Belt said. "I don’t know, that’s the best answer I have right now.”

He may want to go back home with his family and help raise his two sons or grab a fishing rod and head down to the lake. Or maybe he'll play one or two more years. Regardless, Belt's 2023 turnaround has put that decision back in his hands, a year after it looked like the choice was made for him.

“There’s no doubt in my mind, as far as baseball goes I still got more left in the tank," Belt said. "I could play two more years because of that. I’ll take it day by day this offseason and see how it goes.”