Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette at bat during a spring training game against the Baltimore Orioles.Mark Taylor/The Canadian Press
As the youngest son of a four-time all-star outfielder, Bo Bichette has been aware of the importance of opening day on the Major League Baseball calendar almost from the day he first picked up a wiffle bat.
But on the eve of the 2022 season, the Blue Jays’ starting shortstop can still only imagine what Rogers Centre will look and feel like come Friday evening.
Now back in Toronto after a peripatetic couple of years in which the team also called Buffalo and Dunedin, Fla., home for much of those pandemic-affected seasons, the Blue Jays will play their first home opener north of the border since 2019, when 45,048 crammed into the Rogers Centre to witness a 2-0 loss to the Detroit Tigers.
“It’s something that most of us have been thinking about since we got here,” said Bichette, who didn’t make his MLB debut until July of that season. “So it’s my fourth year, first [home opener] and I couldn’t be more excited.”
That excitement is spilling over to the rest of the clubhouse and the entire city in what could be a pivotal year for a team that finished one win shy of making the playoffs for a second consecutive season. Some principal players have moved on, with 2021 Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray moving to Seattle and infielder Marcus Semien now getting ready to play against the Blue Jays on Friday wearing a Texas Rangers uniform.
But their departures have been mitigated somewhat by the continued development of a young Blue Jays core that includes Bichette and 2021 home-run leader Vladimir Guerrero Jr., as well as the arrival of three-time Gold Glove third baseman Matt Chapman and all-star right-hander Kevin Gausman, who went 14-6 with a 2.81 earned-run average last year.
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Jose Berrios throws in the bullpen during a spring training workout.Steve Nesius/The Canadian Press
Toronto’s manager certainly feels ready to build on what was, in hindsight, a solid season, especially considering the trying circumstances.
“This team is as good as the one we finished last year,” Charlie Montoyo said Thursday. “But at the end of the day it’s pitching and defence. And everybody talks about our offence and rightly so because we do have a good offence, but my message in spring training was that when we catch it and we pitch, we’re going to have a chance to win.”
Montoyo can point to a squad that went 22-9 throughout September and October last year as evidence that the team was gelling at the right time of the season, although it ultimately came just short of its goal of the playoffs.
Toronto Blue Jays fans can enjoy video screen, lighting upgrades at Friday’s home opener
Since the team returned to Toronto last July 30, when it played in front of crowds with limited capacity, it was 25-11 at Rogers Centre.
The ability to play in Canada from the beginning of the year is something that Montoyo is keen on, particularly when he looks back at 2021.
“One thing I know for sure if we would have been here the whole year we would have won at least one more game,” he said. “So yeah, I feel really happy that we’re going to play in Toronto from the beginning.”
Run production was rarely a problem in 2021. Toronto was third overall in the majors with 846 runs, and led the way with 262 home runs. And team defence was hardly a gaping void either, with the team surrendering 663 runs, good for the eighth-best defence overall.
The addition of Chapman’s Gold Glove defence should help shore up the infield even more, and allow some protection for Bichette, too.
With Robbie Ray gone, Berrios will take the ball on opening day as the starter.Julio Aguilar/Getty Images
General manager Ross Atkins says while the incoming talent will help, much of the growth of the team this year will come organically, from within.
“I think the thing that makes us a better team is the belief that our players have and the progress that our players that were here have made,” he said. “The additions are just a piece of the puzzle, and very important parts of us having success.
“But the thing that we’re I guess the most excited about is just that belief.”
One player who believed in the Blue Jays even last year was right-hander Jose Berrios, who came from the Minnesota Twins in a July trade in hopes that he would be able to pitch into the postseason for his new team.
Though that didn’t happen, Berrios committed to the organization over the winter by signing a seven-year US$131-million extension, a deal he hopes will include many more shots at playoff baseball.
“I’ve been preparing myself, my mind, my work ethic, to be in that position to play in October, to pitch in October,” he said. “And having another chance to make that happen makes me more excited.”
With Ray gone, Berrios will take the ball on opening day as the starter, headlining a rotation that also includes Gausman, Hyun-jin Ryu, second-year right-hander Alek Manoah and Yusei Kikuchi, who was an all-star with Seattle last year. On Thursday evening, the Jays announced they traded reliever Anthony Castro to the Cleveland Guardians for outfielder Bradley Zimmer.
Though Atkins said the organization is always striving for minimal distractions, the team was thrown something of a curveball when pitching coach Pete Walker was arrested for driving while intoxicated during spring training.
While Walker has continued to work for the club, the Blue Jays general manager said the team will wait for the legal process to play itself out before it makes any decision on the future of the influential coach.
And the pandemic continues to have ripple effects on Blue Jays baseball, with visiting teams being subjected to Canada’s strict vaccination rules. As a result, a number of influential players such as New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, who has refused to confirm whether he is vaccinated, may not be able to play in Canada this season.
While Atkins said that those decisions are ultimately left up to the Canada Border Services Agency, he’s hardly losing any sleep on which members of opposition teams might be affected and whether the Blue Jays might gain an advantage as a result.
“It’s not something I’m spending any time or energy on,” he said. “And it’s really hard to say, you know, we’ll see if there are teams that aren’t at full power, full capacity. It doesn’t appear that Texas is hindered in any way.”
For the first time in more than two years, an expected capacity crowd will get to judge for themselves Friday night at Rogers Centre.
Paul Attfield