Toronto Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo spent nine years coming to Buffalo in the minor leagues, both as a player for the Denver Zephyrs and the manager of the Durham Bulls. So he was as familiar as anyone with Sahlen Field when the Jays set up shop here last summer.
Montoyo loved the setup and the results, as the Jays went 17-9 here and earned a postseason berth for the first time since 2016.Â
With the Jays escaping the Florida heat and humidity to come here again starting June 1, Montoyo is looking for more of the same this year.
"Buffalo has been good to us. It's been good to me. We had a good time there last year," Montoyo said on his pregame video call Wednesday from Oakland. "We made it to the playoffs last year. We had it into our home and it was pretty awesome. The job that the Blue Jays did to make that ballpark closer to a big-league ballpark, they did an outstanding job.
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"And I heard this year is even better. Our players have been there before, so it's going to be fun again. We're going to make it into our home."
Many of the Blue Jays' players, of course, came through Buffalo with the Bisons. Veterans who were skeptical of playing in a Triple-A park were quickly won over last year.
"A lot of teams, they could be complaining, 'Why are we doing this, why are we doing that?' " Montoyo said. "They will go play wherever we have to go play and they're going to play to win. That's what this team does. That's what they did last year and that's how we're taking it this year."
The state of the Jays
Toronto entered Wednesday's game at 14-14 and fourth in the AL East, but only three games behind division-leading Boston. Vladimir Guerrero is off to a huge start at the plate (.340-7-20), while shortstop Bo Bichette also has seven home runs but has struggled in the field. Utility man Cavan Biggio has also had troubles defensively at third base and is only batting .185.
The big news, however, is that $150 million outfield signee George Springer underwent an MRI on his troubled thigh Wednesday and could be headed back to the injured list. He is batting .200 thus far in only 15 at-bats.
Former Bison Teoscar Hernandez is at just .229 with two home runs after his Silver Slugger season, largely because he missed nearly three weeks due to a bout with Covid-19.
The starting rotation has been battling injuries and ineffectiveness all season and Tanner Roark has already been designated for assignment.Â
The schedule for the season
In last year's shortened 60-game season, the Jays played only teams from the AL East and NL East. This year, they're playing a full 162-game schedule and again playing the NL East.Â
The only NL opponent to come to Buffalo, however, will be Miami. By the time the Blue Jays get here, they will already have played Washington, Atlanta and Philadelphia in Dunedin and they are slated to meet the New York Mets only at Citi Field this year.
If the Blue Jays end up spending the rest of the season here, Buffalo fans would have a chance to see every AL team except the Mike Trout-led Los Angeles Angels, who were the opponent last month in Toronto's opening series in Dunedin.
The five teams in the AL Central (Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas City and Minnesota) would all come here, as would four AL West teams (Seattle, Texas, Houston and Oakland).
The Indians, Buffalo's parent club from 1995-2008 during a golden era of Bisons baseball, would be here for a four-game set Aug. 2-5.
