Pitchers and catcher report for duty on Thursday as Blue Jays begin tuning up for crucial season
Can the Blue Jays go from wildly disappointing under-achievers (following a 74-88 season) to unlikely over-achievers (in a still stacked AL East) after less than five months of front-office retooling?
As fickle as baseball can be, anything is possible. And there certainly is a solid enough Jays core that has plenty of bounce-back potential from most of what was miserable in 2024.
Expect the heavy narrative of vows to be better to begin in earnest when six weeks of spring training activity launches on Thursday at the team’s player development complex in Dunedin, Fla.
That’s the day pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report, the official launch to the longest training camp in professional sports.
Just five days later, the rest of the squad will join in on the fun for the first full-squad workout and, days after that, the lengthy Grapefruit League exhibition schedule gets going.
Along the way, we’ll hear variations of the time-honoured spring training soundtrack, including promises of redemption, punctuated with hopes (belief?) that the upgrades general manager Ross Atkins was able to make will be more fruitful than the meagre additions he commandeered the previous winter.
Certainly the thumping bat of free-agent signee Anthony Santander looms as the most impactful move for an offence starved for some power. And, internally, the Jays are extremely excited about the addition of second baseman Andres Gimenez, who has the potential to make the team’s infield a defensive juggernaut.
Even with an off-season that brought in four notable new faces to assume prominent roles on the roster, there are many questions that remain, however.
Unlike the previous three seasons, when the Jays started this portion of the baseball calendar with high hopes, this year comes with added urgency for a beleaguered front office.
With a stout schedule the first month of the season, it’s also critical that the team get off to a solid start to set the tone, a foundation that begins to be laid this week.
With that, on to a spring training primer for a last-place team that wants to move from pretender to contender.
ALL ABOUT VLAD
A team’s best player is often the big storyline at spring training, but few around baseball will be under the spotlight’s glare as much as the Jays all-star first baseman, Vladimir Guerrero Jr..
After a return to electric form in 2024, Guerrero has become the central story to his team’s long-term future given his contract status and the possibility of walking to free agency following the 2025 season.
Neither Guerrero nor the team wants this to be a distraction, but when you build a player up to be the future of the franchise and then teeter on the brink of losing him for nothing, this is what you get.
Guerrero, who once again appears to have had an excellent off-season of work with Tampa-area trainer Nicole Gabriel, will be highly motivated for another big season, especially if a deal for an extension isn’t reached by the deadline he gave the team — now less than six days away.
BRING BACK BO
If the key to climbing back into contention in 2025 is internal improvement — an all-time front-office buzz phrase — then shortstop Bo Bichette is at the front of the movement.
After being dogged by injury after injury and offensive slump after slump, Bichette is coming off the worst season of his still-young career.
But given his past successes and his undeniably intense internal drive, we expect Bichette to be among the most motivated players in all of Major League Baseball in 2025.
If Bichette can regain that peak form, suddenly the Jays’ lagging offence — which is coming off a season in which it scored its fewest number of runs since 1997 — takes on an entirely new dimension. A middle of the order of Bichette-Guerrero and new slugger Anthony Santander has the potential to be formidable.
Oh, and if Bichette indeed storms back to the form that made him one of the top hitters in the American League, like his long-time organizational pal Guerrero, he too stands to reap the riches as a free agent prior to the 2026 season.
LEADING MAN
Among the ongoing storylines with the Jays is the saga of its highest-paid player (for now), George Springer.
When the Jays signed him to a six-year, $150-million US deal prior to the 2021 season, Springer was the man charged with being the top-of-the-order dog. As one of the top leadoff hitters in the game, the hope was he could be the unofficial offensive captain of an up-and-coming group with high expectations.
After a couple of solid seasons at the top of the order, Springer has since been in stark and steady decline offensively. With two years remaining, is it realistic to hope for a bounce back?
Can the Jays afford to have him start the season hitting leadoff? And, if so, how short will Springer’s leash be at that spot?
KEY DATES
THURSDAY: Several Jays players have homes in the Tampa-Clearwater-Dunedin area (as does manager John Schneider) so many have been working out at the player development complex for weeks — or in some cases months. But attendance becomes compulsory and official with the start of camp and the long process of pitchers ramping up in workload to be prepared for the sprawling 162-game season that awaits.
FEB. 18: Less than a week after the battery mates get down to business, the first full-squad workouts begin where the multiple fields at the PDC will be put to full use with a variety of drills.
More notably, of course, is that this is the date Guerrero has arbitrarily set as the deadline to halt all talks of an extension beyond the 2025 season. That ultimatum delivered to the front office was made to apply pressure, of course, but also as an attempt to avoid his contract status being a distraction in his final year before reaching free agency — good luck with that.
FEB 22: The longest training camp in pro sports also has the longest exhibition schedule, a full 30-game odyssey designed to get pitchers’ arms in shape and hitters timing up to speed. That and some minor final roster decisions that need to be made. The Jays Grapefruit League schedule begins a week from Saturday with a home game at TD Ballpark against the division rival New York Yankees.
New this year, there are four night games on the schedule — two of them at the Yankees George Steinbrenner Field, one against the Astros in Jupiter (a trip across the state for the first time in a number of seasons) and one more in Sarasota against the Orioles.
Of note, Sportsnet has yet to release it’s Grapefruit League television schedule, but it’s believed the network will produce at least 10 games on its own and likely pick up the visiting team broadcast feed for a number of other games.
MARCH 23: Bored out of their skulls, Jays veterans celebrate the last exhibition game on the schedule, a home date against the Pirates.
MARCH 27: For the first time in three seasons, the Jays don’t have to open up with a lengthy, three-city trip while they await the completion of Rogers Centre renovations. Instead, they begin a three-series home stand with a three-gamer against the Orioles.
MEET THE NEW GUYS
As is often the case, the new arrivals are of particular interest in the early days of camp, not only to see how they interact with their teammates, but to get an early look at what they may bring to the team. Here’s a quick run through each of the new dudes expected to make an impact.
Andres Gimenez
Defensive drills, a daily but necessary tedium during spring training, will take on new life while watching Gimenez at work. He figures to make everyone around him better — from Bichette at short to Guerrero at first to pitchers who expect ground balls to be routine outs.
Anthony Santander
The big bat that belted out 44 homers with the Orioles last season, Santander was brought in on a five-year, $92-million deal to inject some much-needed pop in the Jays lineup. A popular clubhouse dude with the Orioles, the 30-year-old is coming off a season in which he recorded career highs in both home runs and walks. Tony Taters immediately provides a one-two punch with Guerrero in the Jays order.
Jeff Hoffman
The right-hander pegged to be the replacement for Canadian closer Jordan Romano will be expected to be the leader of a rejuvenated bullpen that struggled so mightily in 2024. Based on his work at the back end of the Phillies bullpen the past couple of seasons, it’s certainly possible. But there’s never a straight line with any Jays acquisition it seems. And in the days after the Jays landed Hoffman, there were some raised eyebrows when word surfaced that he had previously reached an agreement to terms with two teams — the Atlanta Braves and Baltimore Orioles — before each would-be new employer backed off due to concerns with his medicals. For the record, Hoffman vows his shoulder is as good as new and it will be business as usual starting this week.
Max Scherzer
Was there risk in paying $15.5 million on a one-year contract for a guy who will turn 41 in the heart of the season? Of course. But, in Scherzer, the Jays get a pitcher with a wealth of experience and strong clubhouse presence that coincides with his renown for being such a fierce competitor throughout his career.