Revisiting every Blue Jays opener since 2015

When the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrated winning the World Series at Texas’ Globe Life Field last fall in front of a 25 per cent capacity crowd, no one was quite sure when we’d see baseball again.

Considering how long it took for MLB and the MLB Players’ Association to iron out a framework for 2020, it was anyone’s guess how 2021 would look, especially in the face of a rapidly evolving worldwide public health crisis. 

And yet here we are. 

While it still won’t feel the same this year, Opening Day is still refreshing, even from the couch. The weather is getting nicer, every team is in first and mostly every day for the next seven and a half months they’ll be a baseball game on. 

With MLB opening its doors on its second season amidst of COVID-19, TSN.ca takes a look back at where the Toronto Blue Jays stood and what their roster looked like going into their last seven Opening Days.

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2015: Jays load up in winter

Key Off-season Additions: 3B Josh Donaldson, C Russell Martin, 1B Chris Colabello, 1B Justin Smoak, OF Michael Saunders, SP Marco Estrada

Key Off-season Losses: OF Melky Cabrera, OF Colby Rasmus, 1B Adam Lind, 3B Brett Lawrie, SP J.A. Happ, RP Casey Janssen, RP Liam Hendriks, RP Brandon Morrow

Season Outlook: It had been 21 years since fans in Toronto saw postseason baseball, but two huge moves in the winter gave fans hope. It started the previous November when the Jays signed Canadian catcher Russell Martin to a five-year, $82 million deal. But the bigger splash came 10 days later when they acquired Josh Donaldson from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for four players including Canadian and former top prospect Brett Lawrie.

Suddenly, the Blue Jays were thought to have one of the best lineups in the American League. Many thought if the pitching staff was able to hold their own and let the hitters lead the way, it could be the team’s first taste of October baseball in a long, long time. Turns out they were right.

Opening Day (TOR beats NYY 6-1): Things started as well as they could have for the Jays, defeating the New York Yankees 6-1 in the Bronx. Toronto put up five runs in the third inning on a two-run single by Martin – his first as a Jay – and a two-run home run from Edwin Encarnacion. Right-hander Drew Hutchison was magnificent over six innings, holding the Bombers to just one run.

 

 

2016: High expectations

Key Off-season Additions: INF Lourdes Gurriel Jr., RP Joe Biagini, RP Jesse Chavez, RP Drew Storen, SP Francisco Liriano

Key Off-season Losses: SP David Price, SP Mark Buehrle C Dioner Navarro

Season Outlook: After Toronto’s deep playoff run in 2015, the expectations were there. But pitching was the big question once again. Gone were two key left-handers from their rotation from last year – David Price and Mark Buehrle. The Blue Jays didn’t spend much in the off-season, either, but with Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion both under contract for at least one more season, Canada’s lone team still had one of the better lineups in baseball.

But one thing Toronto had this year they didn’t the year before? A healthy Marcus Stroman. Stroman tore his ACL the previous spring training and after returning down the stretch in 2015, he was ready to hit the ground running and make up for some of what the Jays lost in the rotation.

Opening Day (TOR beats TB 5-3): Stroman got the ball on Opening Day in Tampa Bay against the Rays and showed everyone who the new ace of the staff was. Stroman outduelled his close friend Chris Archer, holding Tampa Bay to three runs over eight innings on the way to a 5-3 victory.

 

 

2017: Hoping for the best

Key Off-season Additions: DH/1B Kendrys Morales, C Luke Maile, RP Dominic Leone, RP J.P. Howell

Key Off-season Losses: DH/1B Edwin Encarnacion, SP R.A Dickey, RP Joaquin Benoit

Season Outlook: After another deep playoff run in 2016, it was clear the Blue Jays’ competitive window was closing. But the front office wasn’t about to throw in the towel. After failing to come to an agreement to keep Encarnacion – who signed a four-year deal with Cleveland – the Jays jumped on switch-hitter Kendrys Morales coming off a 30-homer year with the Kansas City Royals.

While many thought Bautista’s fate in Toronto was sealed given terse public comments leading into his walk-year, the Jays brought back Bautista on a one-year deal. Sure, there was some hope for 2017, but most fans knew the team’s best days were probably behind them.

Opening Day (BAL beats TOR 3-2): Just months removed from their all-timer in last year’s Wild Card Game, the Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles were deadlocked 2-2 in extra innings at Camden Yards. But like their last meeting, the home fans were sent home happy in the 11th inning when Jays reliever Jason Grilli hung a slider to Mark Trumbo, who crushed the offering into the leftfield seats giving the O’s a 3-2 win.

 

 

2018: This could get ugly

Key Off-season Additions: OF Randal Grichuk, OF Curtis Granderson, SS Aledmys Diaz, UTL Yangervis Solarte, SP Jaime Garcia, RP Seunghwan Oh, RP Tyler Clippard, RP John Axford

Key Off-season Losses: OF Jose Bautista, OF Ezequiel Carrera, RP Dominic Leone

Season Outlook: If the 2017 season was the beginning of the rebuild, 2018 was expected to be the heart and soul of it. Superprospects Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. – who provided a memorable walk-off homer in the Montreal series to wrap up spring training – were at least a year away from their big league debuts, if not more.

With Bautista finally gone after a dismal 2017 season, fans knew Donaldson and manager John Gibbons were two names likely to go next. It wasn't a secret the organization was ready to pass the torch. It was another question who would receive it.

Opening Day (NYY beats TOR 6-1): On the flip side, hope was sky-high for the visiting New York Yankees, who were a popular pick to win the World Series. Giancarlo Stanton – coming off a 59-homer MVP season in Miami – went deep twice for New York in his debut in pinstripes as they cruised to a 6-1 victory.

 

 

2019: Waiting on the future

Key Off-season Additions: SP Matt Shoemaker, SP Clay Buchholz, UTL Eric Sogard, SS Freddy Galvis, RP Elvis Luciano, RP David Phelps

Key Off-season Losses: SS Troy Tulowitzki, C Russell Martin, DH/1B Kendrys Morales, UTL Yangervis Solarte

Season Outlook: While a new manager in Charlie Montoyo ate up some headlines, most of the talk going into last season was about Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette. After solid 2018 minor league seasons and voids to fill at both of their positions, many fans wondered when they would finally get to see the franchise duo they’d heard so much about the last several years.

Neither turned out to be on the Opening Day roster but were each expected to get the call at some point in 2019. Toronto could sense a new era was just around the corner for the Jays. The only question was timing.

Opening Day (DET beats TOR 2-0): In what many felt could be his last Opening Day start as a Blue Jay, Marcus Stroman dazzled over seven innings, holding the Detroit Tigers scoreless. The problem? Detroit’s Jordan Zimmerman was just as good and both teams went deadlocked 0-0 into the 10th. In his first outing as a Blue Jay, Daniel Hudson served up a two-run shot to Christin Stewart and Shane Greene locked down the save for a 2-0 Tigers’ victory.

 

 

2020: Shifting gears

Key Off-season Additions: SP Hyun-Jin Ryu, SP Tanner Roark, SP Chase Anderson, SP Shun Yamaguchi, RP Anthony Bass, RP Rafael Dolis, RP A.J. Cole, INF Travis Shaw

Key Off-season Losses: 1B Justin Smoak, RP Ryan Tepera, SP Clayton Richard

Season Outlook: After the arrival of their young core mid-way through 2019, it was finally time for the Blue Jays’ rebuild to hit the gas. The Jays spent big that off-season, bringing in All-Star Hyun-Jin Ryu on a four-year, $80 million deal. While the Jays weren’t exactly one piece away from a World Series title, Ryu’s signing – the largest since Russell Martin’s five-year deal in November of 2014 and the biggest yet of the Atkins/Shapiro regime – was the indication things were starting to turn. Maybe even the playoffs were possible if things broke right.

With COVID-19 throwing a big-time wrench into MLB’s plans for 2020, Toronto’s chances only improved when a 60-game season with expanded playoffs was approved last summer. Maybe, just maybe, the Jays would be back competing a little earlier than many expected.

Opening Day (TOR beats TBR 6-4): Ryu got the ball on the first ever – and hopefully last – July 24 Opening Day at Tropicana Field. He was lights out early on but ran into trouble in the fifth inning with the Jays on top 6-1. With his pitch count climbing, Ryu walked Hunter Renfoe and served up a home run to left centre field off the bat of Yoshi Tsutsugo to make things 6-3. Ryu was pulled soon after and finished his afternoon with three earned runs allowed in 4.2 innings. But the bullpen cleaned things up, pitching a scoreless final four-plus frames to give the Jays their first Opening Day win in four years. 

 

 

2021: Getting Serious

Key Off-season Additions: OF George Springer, SS Marcus Semien, SP Steven Matz, RP Kirby Yates, RP Tyler Chatwood, RP David Phelps

Key Off-season Losses: INF Travis Shaw, INF Jonathan Villar, SP Taijuan Walker, SP Chase Anderson, RP Anthony Bass, RP Ken Giles

Season Outlook: If Hyun-Jin Ryu’s signing two winters ago was the start of a new era for the Toronto Blue Jays, George Springer’s deal was an all-in commitment to it. At six years and $150 million, Springer’s signing was the biggest in club history dollar-value wise and proved, for the second off-season in a row, that the Jays are willing to spend when the timing is right.

Coupled with the addition of veteran shortstop Marcus Semien later on in the off-season and a couple extra veteran arms and it’s full steam ahead for Toronto for 2021.

Opening Day (TOR beats NYY 3-2 in 10 innings): Ryu got the start for the second opener in a row and looked sharp early on as the Jays took an early 1-0 lead. But a fastball in a bad spot to Gary Sanchez came back to bite Ryu as Sanchez took the first pitch he saw into the left field seats. Ryu was able to settle down and a few innings later, Teoscar Hernandez took an offering from Gerrit Cole out to left for a mammoth homer evening things up. The two teams stayed that way until the 9th when Jordan Romano picked up a pair of big strikeouts and sent the Jays and Yanks into extras. Randal Grichuk doubled in a run leading off the 10th inning and Julian Merryweather pitched a perfect 10th to earn his first career save and give Toronto a thrilling Opening Day win. Whether or not this season goes how the Jays are hoping is long to be determined, but the win sure set the right kind of tone.