Toronto kicks off the 2026 season against the Athletics at the Rogers Centre

Blue Jays Series Preview: Toronto kicks off the 2026 season against the Athletics at the Rogers Centre

The Toronto Blue Jays are heading into the 2026 season with a chip on their shoulder.

They were a couple of outs away from a World Series Championship, but some late-inning heroics by the Dodgers made the celebrations on the home field a bittersweet moment for the hometown fans. It’s a short turnaround for the Jays to go from early November and be ready to go for late March; it’s even harder to do knowing that they were so close to winning it all.

Toronto enters the new campaign with some new faces in the clubhouse and a few old friends no longer on their side of the dugout. The most notable emissions are Bo Bichette and Chris Bassitt, who both found homes on the East Coast in New York and Baltimore, respectively. Seranthony Dominguez’s tenure with the Jays was short, but he was a reliable arm down the stretch that landed a deal with the Chicago White Sox.

The Jays front office countered with Dylan Cease, the club’s largest free agent deal in franchise history, Cody Ponce, Tyler Rogers, and Kazuma Okamoto, another franchise first for the Jays in terms of dollar figure for an overseas player. The front office has been vocal about how they feel this team is in a good spot heading into the new campaign, and they’ll get a chance to showcase their talents this Friday at the Rogers Centre when they welcome the Athletics for a three-game weekend set.

Examining the Athletics

The Athletics finished last season with a 76-86 record in the AL West, ranking fourth in the division with the lowly Angels taking the fifth spot. Don’t let that ranking last season fool you – the Athletics are a scary good team on paper.

The club features a ton of young talent that is locked down for the foreseeable future.

Jacob Wilson, Nick Kurtz, Tyler Soderstrom, Max Muncy, Brent Rooker, Lawerence Butler, and Denzel Clarke are leading the charge in the batter’s box, and the club has some crafty veterans in Shea Langeliers and Jeff McNeil to bolster the lineup as well. Puerto Rican hero Darell Hernaiz is also lurking, and the Athletics could also get some help later this season from the likes of top prospects in Leo De Vries, Gage Jump, Henry Bolte, Jamie Arnold, and Braden Nett to make the team even more of a threat in the AL West by season’s end.

On the mound, Luis Severino leads the charge, and he’s supported by the likes of Jeffrey Springs, Luis Morales, Aaron Civale, and Jacob Lopez. The pitching is where the A’s may fall short, as their bullpen took a step back after they dealt Mason Miller at the trade deadline last year, and the club is awaiting some reinforcements from the minor leagues to get a bit more seasoning. The club will get a boost from Gunnar Hoglund when he is ready to go, but he starts the year on the IL.

The game plan for Toronto will be getting to the starters early and forcing the A’s to use their bullpen as much as possible. Seems easy enough, and one could easily argue that the team should be doing this regularly. But to make a statement on Opening Weekend, the Blue Jays will need to keep the Athletics’ big bats at bay and pounce on the A’s pitching, testing them as much as possible out of the gate.

One player to watch: Nick Kurtz

There are a few players who could have easily fit this part of the article, but Nick Kurtz is a special bat that the Jays’ pitching staff will have to keep off balance all series long.

He mashed 36 home runs during his rookie season last year and finished the year with a .290/.383/.619 slash line across 420 at-bats. His 1.002 OPS and 173 OPS+ are impressive numbers for a rookie, and one of the main reasons he took home the AL Rookie of the Year and the Silver Slugger Award in his debut campaign.

Another day, another Nick Kurtz roundtripper!

MLB’s No. 14 prospect hammers his third homer in the past four games for the @Athletics.

A left-handed bat that hit right-handed pitching to the tune of a .336/.439/.714 line last year, the likes of Kevin Gausman and Dylan Cease will have to tread carefully around the slugger.

Quick Hits

Canadian Denzel Clarke makes his first Opening Day with the Athletics and will have plenty of friends and family in the stands this weekend
Kazuma Okamoto will make his MLB Debut after spending the past 11 seasons in Japan with the Yomiuri Giants
Kevin Gausman will make his Opening Day debut for the Blue Jays tomorrow – he has yet to start the first game of the season since signing his five-year deal with the Jays
The Blue Jays will have plenty of activities ongoing this weekend, including giveaways all weekend – a pennant and magnet schedule on Friday, the white panel hat on Saturday, and Junior Jays day on Sunday

Probable pitchers

Friday: Kevin Gausman / Luis Severino
Saturday: Dylan Cease / Jeffrey Springs
Sunday: Eric Lauer / Luis Morales

Game times

Friday: 7:07 PM EST – Sportsnet
Saturday: 3:07 PM EST – Sportsnet
Sunday: 1:37 PM EST – Sportsnet

CHECK OUT OFF THE ROSTER – NEW EPISODES EVERY WEEKDAY

Off The Roster is Toronto sports. Hosted by Cabbie Richards, Lindsay Dunn, and Dan Riccio, this is the go-to morning conversation for everything happening in the 6ix – Hockey, Baseball, Basketball and everything in between. From breakout performances and questionable trades to throwback jerseys, viral moments, and the stories fans are actually talking about—it’s smart, sharp, and never scripted. Live weekday mornings on the Nation Network YouTube channel and available wherever you stream podcasts, the show delivers real opinions, real chemistry, and real Toronto energy. Missed an episode? Catch up anytime. Off The Roster—The new sound of the 6ix.