Welcome to Opening Day!!

Authors: Tyler Therien & Jake Kamin

Post by: Tyler Therien

Today (March 28, 2019) marks the beginning of the 2019 MLB season. There are several games on the docket throughout the league, including the Baltimore Orioles @ New York Yankees starting at 1:07 p.m. (EST).

At 3:37 p.m., the Toronto Blue Jays will take on the Detroit Tigers in Toronto’s home opener. Blue Jays pitcher, Marcus Stroman, will be the hometown starter. Jordan Zimmerman will take the mound for the visiting Tigers.

The 2019 season is year two in GM Ross Atkins’ rebuild mode for the Blue Jays. The team had its worst regular season record since 2004 and were two years distanced from their playoff success of 2016. The new Blue Jays manager, Charlie Montoyo, will look to build upon Atkins’ and Shapiro’s vision of transforming the team and rebuild their team.

This will also mark the first year without Josh Donaldson or Troy Tulowitzki on the Blue Jays roster since the Blue Jays’ triumphs in 2015 and 2016. Additionally, if you’re excited to see Yangervis Solarte or Aledmys Diaz continue their success from a year ago, they are no longer playing for the team; respectively playing for the San Francisco Giants and the Houston Astros.

There is no starting lineup for the Toronto Blue Jays at the moment, but it is fair to speculate that it will look something like this. For today’s game:

C Danny Jansen
1B Justin Smoak
2B Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
3B Brandon Drury
SS Freddy Galvis (acquired in the off-season)
OF Randal Grichuk
OF Kevin Pillar
OF Teoscar Hernandez
DH Rowdy Tellez

Yesterday, DH Kendrys Morales was traded to the Oakland Athletics for minor-leaguer Jesus Lopez. Morales was the designated hitter for the Blue Jays in 2017 and 2018. Another reason to believe a rebuild is imminent.

Fans of the Toronto Blue Jays are invited to follow this blog as the season progresses. Any announcements made prior to today’s game will be announced on this post.

Enjoy the show.