The Toronto Blue Jays are still tied to Toronto even if the team hasn't played a regular season game there since September 29, 2019 with a 8-3 win over Tampa Bay. The Blue Jays played 43% of its games at Sahlen Field in Buffalo. 2021 will be an improvement if that number is at 50%.
TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Florida will host the Blue Jays April 8-14 against the Los Angeles Angels and New York Yankees; April 27-May 2 versus Washington and Atlanta; and May 14-24 with Philadelphia, Boston, and Tampa Bay. TD Ballpark is under an hour drive from the Toronto Raptors playing home games in Amalie Arena in Tampa.
Buffalo could be in the future. Everyone involved wants Toronto to be the future. Where the Blue Jays will play will have some drama in 2021 though nowhere near the 2020 drama.
Who will play for the 2021 Toronto Blue Jays is more fun to think about. George Springer (CF) and Marcus Semien (2B) are the major acquisitions of the off-season. Springer signed a 6-year, $150 million deal while Semien is under contract for 2021 at $18 million.
Craig Biggio is the 3rd baseman, except when playing elsewhere on the diamond or the outfield. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the slimmed down version, is ticketed for 1B, a little 3B, and some DH. Bo Bichette rounds out the infield at SS.
Teoscar Hernandez, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Randal Grichuk, and Jonathan Davis are in the outfield mix with Rowdy Tellez at 1B and DH.
Joe Panik and Santiago Espinal will get the most time backing up in the infield.
Danny Jansen, Alejandro Kirk, and Reese McGuire will be behind the plate.
As for Billy McKinney, Derek Fisher, and Travis Shaw, they are all in Milwaukee in 2021.
Hyun Jin Ryu, Nate Pearson, Robbie Ray, Steven Matz, Tanner Roark, and Ross Stripling should be the mainstays in the rotation with added depth from Thomas Hatch, Trent Thornton, Anthony Kay, and T.J. Zeuch. 2021 will lead to a lot of 6-man rotations and more injuries as pitchers stretch themselves to do 162 games.
Pearson and Hatch were nursing spring training injuries.
Kirby Yates was supposed to be the closer but will be lost for 2021 with Tommy John surgery. Top bullpen names include Jordan Romano, Rafael Dolis, Ryan Borucki, David Phelps, Tyler Chatwood, and A.J. Cole.
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As we noted in our spring training preview, Rogers Sportsnet will run a TV simulcast on the radio. According to Dan Shulman on Tim and Friends on Rogers Sportsnet, Buck Martinez and Pat Tabler will call home games while Shulman will call road games as long as the Blue Jays are in Dunedin. We saw the regular radio guy Ben Wagner during spring training games around TD Ballpark showing the stadium improvements.
Rogers Sportsnet One will be used more often during the Stanley Cup playoffs in May.
The Blue Jays announced home starting times for 2021. Monday-Saturday evening games are set for 7:07 pm. Sunday and getaway days will start at 1:07 pm.
The Blue Jays start on the road in New York and Texas. Toronto will be the opponent for the super spreader event aka the Texas Rangers home opener on April 5. Though Globe Life Field (not Globe Life Park), the new park in Arlington did have fans in the 2020 playoffs, this will be the first regular season game in the new stadium. Be prepared to lower the volume on your TV or computer.
The Blue Jays hope to have 3 homes in 2021 finishing at Rogers Centre. Unlike the other MLB teams, Toronto players aren't really home and won't be for awhile.
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ESPN gets its one Blue Jays game out of the way with the season opener at Yankee Stadium. ESPN, Fox, Fox Sports 1, MLB Network, and TBS carry games during the regular season. Don't look for either Fox property to carry the Blue Jays. One switch for 2021, on the off chance TBS shows Toronto against the Yankees or Boston, TBS will carry games on Tuesday nights instead of a late season package on Sunday afternoons. ESPN+ also carries MLB games.
There should be a MLB Extra Innings free preview. In past years, with the Toronto Blue Jays starting on the road, road feeds weren't in the mix. Now, that isn't an issue as each team has a separate feed.
Vancouver Canadians Update on Home Location for start of 2021:
— Vancouver Canadians (@vancanadians) March 29, 2021
🔗 https://t.co/TTytmQn256 pic.twitter.com/pT95nYnb3E
The Vancouver Canadians got a promotion from the short-season, single A Northwest League to a new high single-A West League. The bad news is this Canadian team will also have to search for a new U.S. home during the pandemic.
The Canadians will share the field with the Hillsboro Hops (Arizona Diamondbacks) in Hillsboro, Oregon.
The team was linked to switching affiliation from Toronto to Oakland but the Blue Jays are in place to extend the 9-season relationship that includes 4 titles.
photos credit: Toronto Blue Jays/MLB
Twitter capture: @vancanadians
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