The 2022 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's 46th season in Major League Baseball, and 31st full season (33rd overall) at Rogers Centre.
On December 2, 2021, Commissioner of Baseball Rob Manfred announced a lockout of players, following expiration of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the league and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA). On March 10, 2022, MLB and the MLBPA agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement, thus ending the lockout. Opening Day was rescheduled for April 7, one week later than the original March 31 date, affecting two series for each team.
Although MLB previously announced that any cancelled games due to the lockout would not be rescheduled, the agreement provides for a complete 162-game season. The three home games against the Tampa Bay Rays were rescheduled to be played in the Rays' two other visits, creating two five-game series, while the series at Baltimore was added to the end of the season.
On July 13, the Blue Jays dismissed manager Charlie Montoyo after starting the month 3–9. Bench coach John Schneider replaced Montoyo as interim manager. In Montoyo's four years with Toronto, he had a record of 236–236 (.500). The Jays would rebound under Schneider, going 46-28 the rest of the way, including a historic 28–5 win against the Red Sox on July 22.
On September 29, Toronto clinched their first wild card berth since the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and their first in a full season since 2016. Toronto also clinched home advantage for the wild card series, in which they were swept by the Seattle Mariners with losses of 4–0 and 10–9.
Previous season The Blue Jays finished the 2021 Major League Baseball season with a 91–71 record, which placed them fourth in the American League East division, missing the postseason by one win.
Offseason Lockout
The expiration of the league's collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the Major League Baseball Players Association occurred on December 1, 2021, with no new agreement in place. As a result, the team owners voted unanimously to lockout the players stopping all free agency and trades.
The parties came to an agreement on a new CBA on March 10, 2022.
Rule changes Pursuant to the new CBA, several new rules were instituted for the 2022 season. The National League will adopt the designated hitter full-time, a draft lottery will be implemented, the postseason will expand from ten teams to twelve, and advertising patches will appear on player uniforms and helmets for the first time.
Standings American League East
American League Wild Card
Record against opponents
Records vs. opponents
Record Games Left Opponent Home Road Total Home Road Total AL East Baltimore Orioles 5–5 5–4 10–9 – – – Boston Red Sox 8–2 8–1 16–3 – – – New York Yankees 3–6 5–5 8–11 – – – Tampa Bay Rays 5–5 4–5 9–10 – – –Totals 21–18 22–15 43–33 – – – AL Central Chicago White Sox 3–0 1–2 4–2 – – – Cleveland Guardians 1–2 1–3 2–5 – – – Detroit Tigers 3–1 2–1 5–2 – – – Kansas City Royals 3–1 2–1 5–2 – – – Minnesota Twins 1–2 2–2 3–4 – – –Totals 11–6 8–9 19–15 – – – AL West Houston Astros 2–1 2–1 4–2 – – – Los Angeles Angels 0–3 4–0 4–3 – – – Oakland Athletics 2–1 1–2 3–3 – – – Seattle Mariners 2–1 0–4 2–5 – – – Texas Rangers 2–1 2–1 4–2 – – –Totals 8–7 9–8 17–15 – – – National League Chicago Cubs 2–1 – 2–1 – – – Cincinnati Reds 2–1 – 2–1 – – – Milwaukee Brewers – 1–2 1–2 – – – Philadelphia Phillies 2–0 1–1 3–1 – – – Pittsburgh Pirates – 3–0 3–0 – – – St. Louis Cardinals 1–1 1–1 2–2 – – –Totals 7–3 6–4 13–7 – – – Grand Totals 47–34 45–36 92–70 – – – Month Games Won Lost Pct. April 22 14 8 May 26 14 12 June 28 15 13 July 26 14 12 August 27 13 14 September 28 18 10 October 5 4 1 Totals 162 92 70
2022 draft The 2022 Major League Baseball draft began on July 17. The Blue Jays gained compensation selections at the end of the second round due to Robbie Ray and Marcus Semien signing with the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers respectively.
Round Pick Player Position College/School Nationality Signed 1 23 Brandon Barriera LHP American Heritage School July 26 2 60 Josh Kasevich SS Oregon July 26 2C 77 Tucker Toman SS Hammond School July 24 2C 78 Cade Doughty 2B Louisiana State July 23 3 98 Alan Roden OF Creighton July 26 4 128 Ryan Jennings RHP Louisiana Tech July 24 5 158 Mason Fluharty LHP Liberty July 22 6 188 T. J. Brock RHP Ohio State July 22 7 218 Peyton Williams 1B Iowa July 26 8 248 Dylan Rock OF Texas A&M July 26 9 278 Devereaux Harrison RHP Long Beach State July 26 10 308 Ian Churchill LHP San Diego July 26
Regular season Opening Day +Opening Day starters Position Name Catcher Danny Jansen First baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Second baseman Cavan Biggio Shortstop Bo Bichette Third baseman Matt Chapman Left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Center fielder George Springer Right fielder Teoscar Hernández Designated hitter Alejandro Kirk Pitcher José Berríos
April
The Blue Jays opened the 2022 season at home against the Texas Rangers. After falling behind 7–0 in the fourth inning, Toronto launched the largest comeback victory on Opening Day in 72 years, winning 10–8. The Blue Jays would take the second game, 4–3, before losing the final game of the series, 12–6. The team then began its first road series of the season, taking on the New York Yankees in the Bronx. The Blue Jays won the first game of the four-game set, 3–0, and Jordan Romano earned his 26th consecutive save, breaking Tom Henke's franchise record. After dropping the second game, 4–0, the Jays took the third game 6–4, aided largely by three home runs from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. The Yankees took the final game of the series, 3–0, to split the series at two games apiece. Returning home, the Blue Jays began a three-game series against the Oakland Athletics with a 4–1 victory. The second game went into the ninth inning tied at five, until Cristian Pache hit a two-run home run to give Oakland the game 7–5. The Blue Jays won the final game, 4–3, backed by another strong performance from Alek Manoah.
Toronto began a six-game road trip in Boston the following night, where Bo Bichette's first two errors of the season helped the Red Sox to a 2–1 win. Raimel Tapia's first home run of the season paced the Jays to a 6–1 victory in the second game, and Kevin Gausman's eight shutout innings in the third and final game helped the Jays to a 3–2 win in the finale. In the first game of a three-game series against the Houston Astros, Matt Chapman's ninth-inning double drove in Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to give the Blue Jays a 4–3 victory. Santiago Espinal broke a tie in the seventh inning of the second game, giving the Jays a 3–2 win. However, the team had its four-game winning streak snapped in the final game of the series, losing 8–7 in the tenth inning. On April 25, the Blue Jays returned to Toronto to begin a ten-game homestand, starting with four games against the Red Sox. Bo Bichette's first-career grand slam in the eighth inning gave the first game to the Jays, 6–2. In the second game, Boston scored four runs in the eighth inning to take a 5–2 lead. In the ninth inning, back-to-back doubles from Raimel Tapia and Santiago Espinal scored a run, and George Springer's two-run home run tied the game at five and sent it to a tenth inning, where Tapia hit a walk-off sacrifice fly. Boston took the third game, 7–1, with manager Alex Cora returning from having COVID-19. The Blue Jays took the series victory with a 1–0 win in the final game, led by Alek Manoah's seven shutout innings. To close the month, the Jays dropped the opening game of the series against Houston 11–7, but bounced back in the second game with a 2–1 victory to end April with a 14–8 record.
May
To begin May, the Blue Jays took the final game of the three-game series against the Astros, 3–2. Ending their ten-game homestand, the Jays took on the Yankees. Toronto dropped the first two games of the series, 3–2 and 9–1 respectively, but salvaged the final game 2–1, ending the Yankees' 11-game winning streak and taking their first series loss of the 2022 season. The Blue Jays then embarked on a nine-game road trip, beginning with four against the Cleveland Guardians. Rookie Steven Kwan's first home run helped Cleveland to a 6–5 victory in the opener. The second game was rained out, and rescheduled as a doubleheader for the following day. The teams split the games, with Toronto taking the first 8–3 and Cleveland taking the second, 8–2. The Guardians took the series with a 4–3 win in the finale. After a day off, the Blue Jays were swept in a brief two-game series in New York against the Yankees. With a 1–5 record on their road trip, the Blue Jays travelled to Tampa Bay for the first time in 2022, to take on the Rays. Toronto lost the opener, 5–2, which extended their losing streak to five games and lowered their record to 17–16. The Jays ended their losing streak with a 5–1 victory in the second game, before dropping their fourth straight series with a 3–0 loss in the finale.
The Jays returned home after a dismal 2–7 road trip to take on Seattle and Cincinnati. Home runs from Bo Bichette and Matt Chapman led the Jays to a 6–2 win in the opener against the Mariners. The Jays took the second game 3–0 but were unable to complete the sweep, dropping the final game 5–1. The Blue Jays had another opportunity for a sweep, taking the first two games against Cincinnati by scores of 2–1 and 3–1, but again lost the finale, 3–2, after Toronto native Joey Votto's first home run of the season gave the Reds the lead. The Jays then travelled to St. Louis for two games against the Cardinals. Paul Goldschmidt hit a walk-off grand slam in the first game, giving the Cards a 7–3 victory. Toronto salvaged the final game of the series, 8–1, led by two home runs from Danny Jansen. After a day off, the Blue Jays travelled to Los Angeles for four games against the Angels. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the 2021 AL MVP runner-up, hit a home run off 2021 MVP winner Shohei Ohtani in the opener, leading the Jays to a 6–3 win. The Blue Jays rallied in the ninth inning of the second game, with Lourdes Gurriel Jr.'s RBI single proving to be the difference in a 4–3 victory. The Jays entered the seventh inning of the third game down 4–1, but scored five runs and then held on to win the game 6–5. Toronto earned their first sweep of the 2022 season with an 11–10 win in the final game of the series, and closed May with their sixth consecutive win after defeating the Chicago White Sox 6–5.
June The Blue Jays began June by completing a three-game sweep of the White Sox at home, and winning their eight consecutive game. The streak, which was their longest since 2015, was snapped on June 3 by the Minnesota Twins with a 9–3 loss. Kyle Garlick and Jose Miranda both homered twice for the Twins.
July From July 2 to 10, the Blue Jays lost nine of ten games, culminating in a three-game sweep at the hands of the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park. On July 22, the Blue Jays defeated the Red Sox 28–5 at Fenway Park, which featured an inside-the-park grand slam by the Blue Jays' Ramiel Tapia. Their 28 runs was the franchise record for most runs in a game while the red Sox also set a record for most runs given up in a single game.
August From August 18 to 21, the Blue Jays took three games out of four from the Yankees at Yankee Stadium, with the Yankees salvaging the last game of the series to avoid a four-game sweep. In their next series, they swept the Red Sox on the road in a three-game set. However, they were swept in three games at home by the Angels (who had a record of 52–73) in the following series which included being shutout in consecutive games, with Shohei Ohtani throwing seven scoreless innings and striking out nine on the latter occasion. Prior to the second game, the Blue Jays held a pre-game ceremony honouring members of the 1992 World Series Championship team for a 30th anniversary celebration.
September