These players debuted for Toronto with a flourish

TORONTO -- Now in their 50th season, the Blue Jays have seen plenty of grand unveilings over the years.

From those frigid, early days at Exhibition Stadium where the winds swirled and seagulls played in the outfield, we’ve seen everyone from top prospects to future Hall of Famers make their debuts in Blue Jays uniforms.

They haven’t all immediately wowed us. José Bautista went hitless in his first six games in 2008, still two seasons away from launching a club-record 54 home runs. Other franchise icons, like Carlos Delgado, came up behind established players and had to ease their way in, seeing time as a pinch-hitter or defensive replacement for their first taste of the big leagues. Dave Stieb didn’t even carry a no-hitter into the ninth inning in his debut. It’s a slow burn.

We’ve seen others burst onto the scene on Day 1 with the Blue Jays, though. Here are five of the finest:

1. C J.P. Arencibia (Aug. 7, 2010, vs. Tampa Bay)
By the time Arencibia got the call to the big leagues that August, he’d already launched 32 home runs in Triple-A. Sure, the Pacific Coast League was a launching pad, but at the time, Arencibia represented a top catching prospect with the potential to bat in the middle of the order for the next decade. One game later, the hype had gone supersonic.

Arencibia homered twice in his debut, a 17-11 win. He added a double and a single, too, good for a 4-for-5 day. Unfortunately, Arencibia had just one base hit over his next 10 games in his debut season, but he came back the next year and launched 23 home runs in his first season as a full-time starter in the big leagues. Arencibia played in parts of four seasons for the Blue Jays, hitting 64 home runs with a .666 OPS in Toronto.

2. LHP David Price (Aug. 3, 2015, vs. Minnesota)
This game felt like a true “event”, like Toronto was announcing to the rest of baseball that things were about to change. Stuck hovering around .500 at the Trade Deadline, the Blue Jays shocked the league by acquiring both Troy Tulowitzki and David Price, a pair of massive moves which helped catapult them to the success they enjoyed in 2015 and ‘16. While each of those runs fell short in the ALCS and Price was strictly a rental for the Blue Jays, his debut in Toronto was the most anticipated regular-season game in years.

For much of his career, Price had beat up on the Blue Jays as a member of the Rays. Then, suddenly, he was jogging out to the mound in a blue uniform. That first night, Price struck out 11 Twins over eight innings of one-run ball. It felt like anything was possible.

3. RHP Alek Manoah (May 27, 2021, vs. New York)
Manoah’s debut captured such a sense of excitement and anticipation. He’d been the 11th overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft out of West Virginia, but given the lost Minor League season in ‘20 due to COVID-19, Manoah hadn’t pitched much professionally.

Those three starts Manoah made for the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons in early 2021 were downright dominant. Over 18 innings, Manoah struck out 27 batters and allowed just one run, proving to Toronto that he was simply too good for the Minor Leagues. The Blue Jays’ front office under Ross Atkins has always loved it when a player forces their hand, and Manoah was the poster boy for that for a while in Toronto.

His debut, with seven strikeouts over six shutout innings against the Yankees, showed the rest of the league what the Blue Jays knew already. Oozing personality, Manoah fit that powerful 2021 team so well.

4. RHP Trey Yesavage (Sept. 15, 2025, vs. Tampa Bay)
If you take a step back, Yesavage’s debut season was unlike anything we’ve ever seen in Toronto. He started in Single-A, ended up in the World Series and dominated every age and caliber of hitter along the way.

In his MLB debut, Yesavage struck out nine over five-plus innings of one-run ball and was baffling opposing hitters with his splitter. He just kept fooling them all the way through the postseason, but that day in Tampa, it was clear to everyone watching that the Blue Jays had developed something special in Yesavage.

5. 2B Davis Schneider (Aug. 4, 2023, vs. Boston)
A handful of Blue Jays have homered in their debuts, but let’s give Schneider the tiebreaker here for the spectacle at Fenway Park.

Over those first three games, Schneider launched nine hits with a pair of home runs, immediately becoming a fan favorite. Everything from his backstory as a former 28th-rounder to the famous moustache and his power had Blue Jays fans in a frenzy. In that first game in Boston, Schneider launched a home run off James Paxton to kick off one of the greatest debut series in MLB history.