The Blue Jays haven’t played a game in Toronto since 2019, but that could finally be changing soon.
The Blue Jays are awaiting a response from the Canadian government to a plan that would allow them to play home games at Rogers Centre in Toronto starting on July 30, according to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. The plan has already been approved by the necessary local and provincial authorities, and comes as Canada is set to ease some border restrictions for returning travelers starting Monday.
Details would need to be fleshed out about certain aspects of the plan, as MLB still has unvaccinated players who would need to travel from the United States to Canada for games. One possibility is that unvaccinated players could be subjected to quarantine restrictions that fully vaccinated players are not.
The Blue Jays have been playing home games at Sahlen Field in Buffalo after playing the first two months of the regular season at their spring training ballpark in Dunedin, Florida. Toronto is scheduled to open a 10-game homestand against Kansas City, Cleveland and Boston starting on the 30th. If that homestand doesn’t work out, the Blue Jays would likely target a seven-game homestand starting Aug. 20 for a possible return to Toronto.
Blue Jays players will be very excited to return to Toronto. They’ve spent the last year and a half playing at minor-league stadiums without the high-end facilities and amenities to which they’ve grown accustomed. That was a key issue in one aspect last offseason, and it’s not something they’ll want to have to deal with any longer.
More must-reads: