The Toronto Blue Jays are back in action in March for the 2026 season, looking to continue their success from last season. The team made significant moves and will turn to some of its prospects to get back in the championship picture.
Keegan Matheson, a Blue Jays reporter for MLB.com, attended this year to get a closer look at the team before they take on the 2026 season.
“I think the 2026 Blue Jays have the same talent level as the 2025 team, but the structure has shifted. Perhaps the lineup isn’t quite as strong, but the rotation is significantly better. That hasn’t gotten enough attention.”
Spring training is the MLB’s equivalent of a preseason. The pitchers and position players attend the camp to help ramp up their development and skills to hone them before opening day.
Blake Murphy, host of Jays Talk Plus, said there are storylines to follow.
“I think the slow build-up for Trey Yesavage has flown under the radar a little bit… but for the most part, this is a team that’s thin on meaningful position battles, so it’s all about getting to March 27 healthy.”
Matheson said for this season the projection is clear.
“The expectation needs to be a World Series. This organization spent too many years being satisfied to sneak in as a wild card team, which isn’t enough. Their payroll is at an all-time high, the talent is there, and the expectations should be clear.”
Rogers Centre consistently ranks in the top ten in terms of attendance in the last four years among the thirty major league teams. Nick Koenigsberger remembered when the deep postseason run finally came back to Toronto last year and the atmosphere was heightened for fans.
The 20-year-old college student attended two postseason games, one in the Championship Series against the Seattle Mariners, and one World Series game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“It didn’t matter if it was the 20th pitch of the third inning, or the last pitch of the game, the stadium was consistently the loudest sports environment I have ever been in, in my life.”
Koenigsberger compared the setting to the regular season games.
“From games I attended in March 2025, some fans weren’t even standing when a Blue Jay home run was hit, which is a sharp contrast to the playoff games.”
On management now, Matheson said there’s a different response from the team since losing the World Series.
“The front office is acting like a World Series contender, which is great. If you lose the World Series by inches, then opening free agency by handing Dylan Cease a seven-year, $210 million deal is one fine way to bounce back.”
The Toronto Blue Jays’ 2026 home opener is Friday starting at 7:07ET against the Oakland Athletics at the Rogers Centre. Fans will be part of a special pregame ceremony honoring the 2025 American League Champions.
Murphy said he’d be “looking closely at the power supply,” for the team.
“If there’s a weakness on paper for this group, it’s that they don’t have a ton of pop. You can score a lot of runs without that tool, but with Anthony Santander once again hurt, the Jays really need a Barger or Varsho to provide steady power production in the middle of the lineup.”