TORONTO -- The Blue Jays have announced their American League Division Series roster, with some big names left to support their teammates from the dugout.
Bo Bichette is not listed on the ALDS roster, which had been expected and grew more obvious throughout the week as he continues to rehab from a left knee sprain. Bichette will now set his sights on a potential ALCS, but until the star shortstop begins running on the field, it’s still difficult to chart out much of a timeline.
Bichette’s absence in the middle of Toronto’s lineup has been noticeable at times, but without him, the Blue Jays will need to lean into their identity even more.
“I think it just kind of feeds into who we are as a team. It's next man up,” said George Springer. “Unfortunately for us, he's been such an integral part of this team this whole year. Without Bo we probably wouldn't be in this position. To know that he's hurting on the inside, he wants to play just as bad as everybody here wants him to play, is tough.”
The biggest surprise came with both Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt being left off the roster. It felt possible -- likely, even -- that one of the veterans would be on the ALDS roster to line up for a potential Game 4 start behind Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber and rookie sensation Trey Yesavage. Scherzer struggled down the stretch, though, both with big first innings and home runs, while Bassitt ended the season on the IL with lower back inflammation.
Now, it seems likelier that the Blue Jays would employ a bullpen day, which they pulled off successfully late in the season against the Red Sox by using Louis Varland as the opener and Eric Lauer as the piggyback lefty. Those two, along with Yariel Rodríguez, combined for six perfect innings -- so against a Yankees lineup that can lean on lefties, Lauer lines up as a very important piece of this bullpen.
This also helps to explain the inclusion of Justin Bruihl, the bullpen lefty who made 15 appearances for the Blue Jays in 2025, often bouncing up and down from Triple-A as insurance. He’s been much harder on left-handed hitters over his career, holding them to a .580 OPS compared to .916 against righties.
First pitch goes Saturday, Oct. 4, at 4:08 p.m. ET at Rogers Centre, which will be the Blue Jays’ first ALDS game since 2016 and the first time these AL East rivals have faced one another in the postseason in MLB history.