More than three months after they got there, the Toronto Blue Jays finally packed up and left their spring training base in Dunedin, Fla., early Monday evening. Unable to return to Canada and the Rogers Centre, it's possible their home for the rest of the season could be Sahlen Field, and the countdown is once again on in Buffalo.
We're a week away from Major League Baseball returning to the corner of Washington and Swan.
The Blue Jays and Miami Marlins meet June 1 to usher in a schedule that will be at least 18 games and could encompass all 59 remaining Toronto home games through October. Construction in and around the ballpark continues at a rapid pace and there was big news Monday morning as the Jays announced that they will be selling more tickets in vaccinated sections down the left field line (Sections 119-125) for games starting June 15 – which is the opener of the much-anticipated three-game series against the New York Yankees.
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If there's something you don't like, emailing or calling the Bisons is barking up the wrong tree, Mike Harrington says.
Extra tickets for the Yankees series will go on sale Thursday at 10 a.m. at bluejays.com/tickets. The additional seats will bring stadium capacity for those games to 45 percent, or around 7,600 seats.
"The Blue Jays got approval from the county and the state to add more of the vaccination-only sections and, obviously, the demand for the Yankee tickets is pretty great," said Mike Buczkowski, president of Rich Baseball Operations. "So we get a chance to have more people from Western New York be able to see the games. That's a good thing."
While it likely won't be the case against the Yankees, the Blue Jays are hoping to have much more of a home-field advantage in Buffalo than they did in Dunedin. They went just 10-11 there and have dropped six straight after Monday's 14-8, 11-inning loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. Most fans have been rooting for the visiting teams because snowbirds who might have rooted for the Jays either left the area or never came to Florida this year because of the pandemic.
So Buffalo fans who rooted for Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette and Cavan Biggio when they were Bisons now will have the chance that they didn't have last summer – when fans were not admitted – to watch them play in Blue Jays uniforms.
"I think that's going to be really cool to see," Buczkowski said. "People saw Vlad play here. They saw Biggio, Bichette, other guys, and I think you're going to feel that. And they're going to feel like they're home and that they've got the crowd behind them. Now, Yankee games might turn out to be like a Leafs-Sabres game in Buffalo and we see that when Scranton is here to play the Bisons. But I think we can mostly really give the Jays a good home field."
The Jays will need the support. Monday's loss was Toronto's sixth straight and allowed the Rays to sweep a four-game series and take over first place in the American League East with their 11th straight win. The Blue Jays battled back from a 5-0 deficit largely on the strength of two home runs by Guerrero, but lost the game when the Rays erupted for seven runs in the 11th.
The millions of dollars the Blue Jays are spending on the park, albeit not on fan amenities, will ensure the club remains here, Mike Harrington says.
"I know you guys are not here but it was almost like playing a home game for the Rays," Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said on a video call after Monday's game. "It's funny. Somebody mentioned 'Yeah, it was louder here than it was in the Trop,' " referring to Tampa Bay's Tropicana Field.
Montoyo said his players have not complained about their situation, knowing what was ahead. Sportsnet reported Monday that nine trucks with equipment and players' personal effects are rolling out to Buffalo and that 35 personal vehicles were being shipped north. Family members were chartering here at team expense while the players headed to New York to start a road trip Tuesday night in Yankee Stadium.
"Regardless where we play, here or Buffalo, we all have to keep our heads up and keep working hard, keep grinding," said Guerrero, who took over the American League home run lead with 15. "Keep going out there, trying to win some games. It is what it is. We're going to Buffalo now and then we've got to do it there."
"I'm glad our team is young and hungry and happy to be in the big leagues because I think if this was a veteran team, it would probably be pretty tough," said pitcher Ross Stripling, who tossed seven shutout innings in relief after the Jays fell into a 5-0 first-inning hole. "It's tough. It's something that no other team has to go through besides us."
Montoyo's team is 23-23 and has serious bullpen issues. But he's happy to see his offense is still strong.
"They're just going to play and compete wherever that is," Montoyo said. "I know we don't have any control over when we're going to go to Toronto. So right now, I don't see a challenge because our mindset is just, 'OK, we've got to go to Buffalo. We've got to play in Buffalo,' and that's what it is."
Manoah gets the call
Top pitching prospect Alek Manoah has gotten the call from the Bisons and will make his MLB debut for the Blue Jays on Wednesday in New York. The promotion was first reported by Ken Rosenthal of Fox and the Athletic and confirmed by multiple sources.
The 6-foot-6 Manoah, Toronto's No. 1 draft choice in 2019, was 3-0 with an 0.50 ERA and 27 strikeouts for the Bisons over 18 innings. He was the scheduled starter for Buffalo (11-7) on Tuesday in the opener of a six-game series at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
In Tuesday's game in New York (7 p.m., YES), Corey Kluber (4-2) will make his first start for the Yankees since his no-hitter Thursday at Texas. Steven Matz (5-2) pitches for Toronto.
