TORONTO -- October baseball is beginning early in Toronto. Well, kind of.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the Blue Jays will be opening up Rogers Centre for fans to watch a pair of intrasquad games as the Blue Jays prepare for the upcoming American League Division Series (ALDS) against either the Red Sox or Yankees.
They’re taking a page out of Spring Training with these games, using them to fill the gap between Sunday’s season finale, when the Blue Jays clinched the AL East in Game 162, and Saturday’s Game 1.
Fans can purchase tickets to either game for $10. Here’s everything else you need to know:
• First pitch for each game is 4 p.m. ET. Gates will open at 3:15 p.m. ET
• Tickets are general admission for the lower bowl. The Jays Shop and some concessions will be open
• Net proceeds go to Jays Care Foundation
• The games will be 4-5 innings of “informal scrimmages” … which means the Blue Jays can bend the rules a bit to cycle in pitchers and hitters as they please
For the Blue Jays’ pitchers, this is particularly important. Relievers benefit from breaks, but six days is a bit much, so you’ll likely see many of the bullpen regulars face a handful of hitters to simulate a real game environment. The starters, on the other hand, can use Wednesday and Thursday as a side session or to keep themselves stretched out for later in the ALDS.
Toronto’s hitters should benefit from facing some live pitching, as well. Batting practice is fine and using the Trajekt machine is a fascinating step closer to the real thing, but hitting is a timing game, so the opportunity to get in a few “normal” at-bats should be beneficial. Manager John Schneider is hoping that the fans can add to the atmosphere, too, ahead of what’s expected to be one of the best atmospheres Rogers Centre has seen in a decade.
“Our fans have brought the energy to Rogers Centre all season long and we need them to keep bringing the noise,” Schneider said in a release. “We want the team to be in game mode this week and the fans are the most important piece to making Rogers Centre feel like a game atmosphere.”
The big question still left unanswered, of course, is whether Bo Bichette will recover enough from his left knee sprain to help the Blue Jays in the ALDS. The coming days should hold some clues to that -- or at least some formal updates from Schneider -- as the Blue Jays chase their first postseason win since 2016.