The 2019 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's 43rd season in Major League Baseball, and 29th full season (30th overall) at Rogers Centre. The Blue Jays were managed by Charlie Montoyo in his first year as the Blue Jays manager. The Blue Jays began their season at home against the Detroit Tigers on March 28 and ended their season at home against the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday, September 29. They finished with a record of 67–95, a worse record than the previous season, and failed to qualify for the postseason for the third consecutive year.
Offseason
On September 26, 2018, it was announced that John Gibbons would not return to manage the Blue Jays for the 2019 season.
October 2018 On October 25, the Blue Jays hired Charlie Montoyo as their new manager. On October 29, RHP Marco Estrada and RHP Tyler Clippard elected free agency. On October 31, the Blue Jays exercised their $8 million club option on Justin Smoak, and declined their $5.5 million club option on Yangervis Solarte.
November 2018 On November 2, the Blue Jays outrighted Justin Shafer to Triple-A. Rhiner Cruz, Taylor Guerrieri, and Jake Petricka cleared waivers and became free agents. José Fernández was claimed off waivers by the Detroit Tigers. On November 3, the Blue Jays fired hitting coach Brook Jacoby and first base coach Tim Leiper. On November 7, the Blue Jays hired Dave Hudgens as their bench coach, replacing DeMarlo Hale. On November 15, the Blue Jays hired Guillermo Martinez as their new hitting coach. On November 17, the Blue Jays traded INF Aledmys Díaz to the Houston Astros for P Trent Thornton. On November 20, the Blue Jays selected the contracts of Héctor Pérez, Trent Thornton, Patrick Murphy, Yennsy Díaz, and Jacob Waguespack. On November 26, the Blue Jays claimed Oliver Drake off waivers from the Tampa Bay Rays, and designated Mark Leiter Jr. for assignment. On November 26, the Blue Jays hired Matt Buschmann as their new bullpen coach, Mark Budzinski as their new first base coach, and Shelley Duncan as their major league field co-ordinator. On November 27, the Blue Jays named John Schneider their Major League coach, and announced that Mike Mordecai would not be returning as the team's quality control coach. On November 30, the Blue Jays non-tendered Yangervis Solarte, who became a free agent.
December 2018 On December 11, the Blue Jays released Troy Tulowitzki. On December 13, the Blue Jays selected Elvis Luciano in the Rule 5 draft, but lost Jordan Romano and Travis Bergen in the same draft to the Chicago White Sox and the San Francisco Giants, respectively. On December 28, the Blue Jays signed Matt Shoemaker to a 1-year, $3.5 million contract. On December 30, the Blue Jays acquired Clayton Richard from the San Diego Padres in exchange for minor leaguer Connor Panas. Oliver Drake was designated for assignment.
January 2019 On January 4, the Blue Jays traded Oliver Drake to the Tampa Bay Rays for cash considerations. On January 11, the Blue Jays sent Russell Martin along with $16.4 million to the Los Angeles Dodgers for minor leaguers Ronny Brito and Andrew Sopko. On January 11, the Blue Jays avoided arbitration and agreed to one-year contracts with Marcus Stroman ($7.4 million), Aaron Sanchez ($3.9 million), Kevin Pillar ($5.8 million), Randal Grichuk ($5 million), Joe Biagini ($900,000), Ken Giles ($6.3 million), Devon Travis ($1.925 million), and Brandon Drury ($1.3 million). On January 12, the Blue Jays signed David Phelps to a 1-year, $2.5 million contract. On January 29, the Blue Jays signed Freddy Galvis to a 1-year, $4 million contract with a club option for 2020. Danny Barnes was designated for assignment.
Spring training On March 25 and 26, the Blue Jays returned to Montreal's Olympic Stadium for two games against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Standings American League East
American League Wild Card
Records vs opponents
Record Games Left Opponent Home Road Total Home Road Total AL East Baltimore Orioles 4–5 7–3 11–8 – – – Boston Red Sox 4–6 4–5 8–11 – – – New York Yankees 6–4 2–7 8–11 – – – Tampa Bay Rays 4–5 2–8 6–13 – – – Totals 18–20 15–23 33–43 – – – AL Central Chicago White Sox 1–2 2–2 3–4 – – – Cleveland Indians 1–2 0–4 1–6 – – – Detroit Tigers 2–2 2–1 4–3 – – – Kansas City Royals 3–1 3–0 6–1 – – – Minnesota Twins 0–3 3–1 3–4 – – – Totals 7–10 10–8 17–18 – – – AL West Houston Astros 1–2 1–2 2–4 – – – Los Angeles Angels 1–3 0–3 1–6 – – – Oakland Athletics 3–0 3–0 6–0 – – – Seattle Mariners 1–2 1–2 2–4 – – – Texas Rangers 2–1 1–2 3–3 – – – Totals 8–8 6–9 14–17 – – – National League Arizona Diamondbacks 0–3 – 0–3 – – – Atlanta Braves 1–1 0–2 1–3 – – – Colorado Rockies – 0–3 0–3 – – – Los Angeles Dodgers – 0–3 0–3 – – – San Diego Padres 1–2 – 1–2 – – – San Francisco Giants 0–2 1–1 1–3 – – – Totals 2–8 1–9 3–17 – – – Grand Totals 35–46 32–49 67–95 – – – Month Games Won Lost Pct. March 4 2 2 April 25 12 13 May 28 7 21 June 27 10 17 July 26 12 14 August 27 12 15 September 25 12 13 Totals 162 67 95
2019 draft Round Pick Player Position College/School Nationality Signed 1 11 Alek Manoah RHP West Virginia June 13 2 52 Kendall Williams RHP IMG Academy (FL) June 9 3 88 Dasan Brown OF Abbey Park High School (ON) June 29 4 117 Will Robertson OF Creighton June 11 5 147 Tanner Morris SS Virginia June 11 6 177 Cameron Eden SS California June 11 7 207 L. J. Talley 2B Georgia June 14 8 237 Angel Camacho 3B Jacksonville June 16 9 267 Philip Clarke C Vanderbilt July 2 10 297 Glenn Santiago SS International Baseball Academy (PR) June 13
Regular season Opening Day
+Opening Day starters Position Name Catcher Danny Jansen First baseman Justin Smoak Second baseman Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Shortstop Freddy Galvis Third baseman Brandon Drury Left fielder Teoscar Hernández Center fielder Kevin Pillar Right fielder Randal Grichuk Designated hitter Rowdy Tellez Pitcher Marcus Stroman
March and April
On opening day, Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann pitched a perfect game through 6 2/3 innings against the Blue Jays before giving up a hit to Teoscar Hernández. Marcus Stroman also pitched seven scoreless innings for the Blue Jays. Toronto lost the contest 2–0 in 11 innings, after Christin Stewart hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning. On April 1, Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher David Hess pitched a no-hitter through 6 1/3 innings before manager Brandon Hyde took him out of the game, in a game the Blue Jays wound up losing 6–5. On April 4, in the first game of a four-game set against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field, starter Trevor Bauer pitched seven innings of no-hit ball against the Blue Jays before being removed from the game after throwing 117 pitches, as the Blue Jays lost 4–1. In the final game of the series, Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger pitched five innings, while giving up one hit and striking out 10 Blue Jays batters in a 3–1 Cleveland win. The Blue Jays managed only 19 hits while tallying 57 strikeouts in the series, the second most in franchise history, while striking out at least 13 times in four consecutive games for the first time in franchise history and only fourth time in MLB history.
May The Blue Jays were swept by the Minnesota Twins in a series at home from May 6 to May 8 as they were shutout in back-to-back games, before Billy McKinney's solo home run in the final game of the series ended a 25-inning scoreless skid for the team. The team had their worst month of the year in May, finishing with a 7–21 record while losing four straight games or more on three separate occasions.
June On June 2, the Colorado Rockies finished off a three-game sweep of the Blue Jays at Coors Field. From June 7 to June 9, another national league team, the Arizona Diamondbacks, swept the Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre in a series where Toronto only managed to score four runs. In a game at Yankee Stadium against the Blue Jays on June 25, the New York Yankees set a new MLB team record by hitting a home run for the 28th consecutive game, with DJ LeMahieu hitting the record-setting home run in the first inning in a 4–3 win.
July On July 24, Shane Bieber of the Cleveland Indians tossed a complete game one hitter against the Blue Jays, striking out ten batters and walking one as the Indians won 4–0, taking two of three games from the Jays.
August On August 8, rookie Bo Bichette set a new MLB record for most consecutive games with an extra-base hit to start a career with nine when he doubled in the bottom of the sixth inning against the New York Yankees. On August 11, Masahiro Tanaka of the New York Yankees pitched eight innings against the Blue Jays while giving up only three hits in a 1–0 win that split a four-game set between the two teams. Aroldis Chapman came in the 9th inning to close the game for the Yankees, inducing a double play from the bat of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. following a 13-pitch at-bat, for which the rookie received a standing ovation from the crowd at Rogers Centre. In their game against the Texas Rangers on August 12, the Blue Jays set a franchise record with 13 extra-base hits. On August 18, Yusei Kikuchi of the Seattle Mariners pitched a complete game two-hit shutout against the Blue Jays in a 7–0 win as the Mariners took two of three games from the Blue Jays.
September On September 1, Justin Verlander of the Houston Astros pitched a no-hitter against the Blue Jays, the third of his career (and second against Toronto) in a 2–0 win.
Game log Legend Blue Jays win Blue Jays loss Game postponed
|- style="text-align:center; background:#fbb;" | 1 || March 28 || Tigers || 0–2 (10) || Alcántara (1–0) || Hudson (0–1) || Greene (1) || 45,048 || 0–1 || 1 |- style="text-align:center; background:#bfb;" | 2 || March 29 || Tigers || 6–0 || Shoemaker (1–0) || Boyd (0–1) || — || 18,054 || 1–1 || ½ |- style="text-align:center; background:#bfb;" | 3 || March 30 || Tigers || 3–0 || Sanchez (1–0) || Turnbull (0–1) || Giles (1) || 25,429 || 2–1 || – |- style="text-align:center; background:#fbb;" | 4 || March 31 || Tigers || 3–4 (11) || Stumpf (1–0) || Pannone (0–1) || Greene (2) || 16,098 || 2–2 || 1
|- style="text-align:center; background:#fbb;" | 5 || April 1 || Orioles || 5–6 || Hess (1–0) || Reid-Foley (0–1) || Bleier (1) || 10,460 || 2–3 || 2 |- style="text-align:center; background:#fbb;" | 6 || April 2 || Orioles || 1–2 || Cashner (1–1) || Stroman (0–1) || Castro (1) || 12,110 || 2–4 || 3 |- style="text-align:center; background:#bfb;" | 7 || April 3 || Orioles || 5–3 || Shoemaker (2–0) || Karns (0–1) || Giles (2) || 11,436 || 3–4 || 2 |- style="text-align:center; background:#fbb;" | 8 || April 4 || @ Indians || 1–4 || Bauer (1–0) || Sanchez (0–1) || Hand (3) || 10,375 || 3–5 || 2½ |- style="text-align:center; background:#fbb;" | 9 || April 5 || @ Indians || 2–3 || Cimber (1–0) || Biagini (0–1) || — || 12,881 || 3–6 || 3½ |- style="text-align:center; background:#fbb;" | 10 || April 6 || @ Indians || 2–7 || Carrasco (1–1) || Pannone (0–2) || — || 18,429 || 3–7 || 3½ |- style="text-align:center; background:#fbb;" | 11 || April 7 || @ Indians || 1–3 || Clevinger (1–0) || Stroman (0–2) || Hand (4) || 17,264 || 3–8 || 4½ |- style="text-align:center; background:#bfb;" | 12 || April 9 || @ Red Sox || 7–5 || Shoemaker (3–0) || Sale (0–3) || Giles (3) || 36,179 || 4–8 || 5 |- style="text-align:center; background:#fbb;" | 13 || April 11 || @ Red Sox || 6–7 || Walden (2–0) || Giles (0–1) || — || 36,510 || 4–9 || 6 |- style="text-align:center; background:#fbb;" | 14 || April 12 || Rays || 7–11 || Yarbrough (2–1) || Thornton (0–1) || — || 17,326 || 4–10 || 7 |- style="text-align:center; background:#bfb;" | 15 || April 13 || Rays || 3–1 || Pannone (1–2) || Roe (0–2) || Giles (4) || 20,771 || 5–10 || 6 |- style="text-align:center; background:#fbb;" | 16 || April 14 || Rays || 4–8 || Kolarek (1–0) || Stroman (0–3) || — || 20,512 || 5–11 || 7 |- style="text-align:center; background:#bfb;"