The 2024 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's 48th season in Major League Baseball, and 33rd full season (35th overall) at Rogers Centre. The Blue Jays failed to improve on their record from the previous season, finishing with their first losing season since 2019. On September 20, they were eliminated from postseason contention.
Previous season The 2023 Blue Jays finished third in the AL East, behind the Tampa Bay Rays and the Baltimore Orioles, with a record of 89–73 (.549). They qualified for the postseason, but lost in two games in the Wild Card Series to the Minnesota Twins in Minnesota.
Offseason
Departing free agents
On November 2, 2023: DH Brandon Belt, IF Matt Chapman, RHP Jordan Hicks and LHP Hyun-jin Ryu elected free agency On November 3, 2023: IF Whit Merrifield elected free agency On November 17, 2023: RHP Adam Cimber elected free agency
Trades
On November 6, 2023: Acquired LHP Brendon Little from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for cash On February 13, 2024: Acquired cash considerations from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for IF Otto Lopez
Waiver transactions
On December 1, 2023: C Tyler Heineman claimed off waivers by the New York Mets On January 16, 2024: C Brian Serven claimed off waivers from the Chicago Cubs
Free agent signings
On November 16, 2023: Signed IF Rafael Lantigua to a minor league contract On December 1, 2023: Signed IF Andrew Bechtold to a minor league contract On December 8, 2023: Signed C Payton Henry to a minor league contract On December 21, 2023: Signed RHP Paolo Espino to a minor league contract On December 28, 2023: Signed OF Kevin Kiermaier to a one-year $10.5 million deal On December 29, 2023: Signed IF Isiah Kiner-Falefa to a two-year $15 million deal On January 15, 2024: Signed C Esmeiquel Arrieche, IF J.T. Bain, OF Wilmer Blanca, IF Rafael Flores, RHP Johandi Medina, RHP Carlos Olivo, RHP Angel Rivero, C Franklin Rojas & C Randy Soto to minor league contracts On January 16, 2024: Signed OF Pascual Archila, OF Andres Arias, RHP Ismauro Bueno, RHP Alan Carter, RHP Rafael De Jesus, RHP Victor Espiritu, SS Angel Guzman, IF Endry Reyes, IF Juarlin Soto & RHP Pedro Tucent to minor league contracts On January 18, 2024: Signed RHP Josue Loreto to a minor league contract On January 21, 2024: Signed RHP Jordan Powell to a minor league contract On January 30, 2024: Signed IF Justin Turner to a one-year $13 million deal On February 2, 2024: Signed RHP Johnathan Lavallee to a minor league contract On February 9, 2024: Signed RHP Yariel Rodríguez to a five-year $32 million deal On February 16, 2024: Signed IF Eduardo Escobar and DH Daniel Vogelbach to minor league contracts and invited them to spring training On February 22, 2024: Signed RHP Nolan Long to a minor league contract On March 8, 2024: Signed 1B Joey Votto to a minor league contract
Coaching changes
On October 5, 2023: Third Base Coach Luis Rivera retired On November 7, 2023: Carlos Febles joins Blue Jays as Third Base Coach/Infield Coach On November 13, 2023: DeMarlo Hale joins Blue Jays as Associate Manager On January 12, 2024: John Lannan joins Blue Jays as Mental Performance Coach On January 16, 2024: Matt Hague joins Blue Jays as Assistant Hitting Coach
Standings Season 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 4–3 2–4 6–7 – – – Boston Red Sox 1–5 4–3 5–8 – – – New York Yankees 4–3 2–4 6–7 – – – Tampa Bay Rays 2–4 2–5 4–9 – – – Totals 11–15 10–16 21–31 – – – AL Central Chicago White Sox 2–1 3–0 5–1 – – – Cleveland Guardians 2–1 0–3 2–4 – – – Detroit Tigers 1–2 1–3 2–5 – – – Kansas City Royals 1–2 1–3 2–5 – – – Minnesota Twins 1–2 1–2 2–4 – – – Totals 7–8 6–11 13–19 – – – AL West Houston Astros 1–3 1–2 2–5 – – – Los Angeles Angels 4–0 3–0 7–0 – – – Oakland Athletics 1–2 2–1 3–3 – – – Seattle Mariners 2–1 2–1 4–2 – – – Texas Rangers 3–0 1–2 4–2 – – – Totals 11–6 9–6 20–12 – – – National League Arizona Diamondbacks – 1–2 1–2 – – – Atlanta Braves – 1–2 1–2 – – – Chicago Cubs – 1–2 1–2 – – – Cincinnati Reds 1–2 – 1–2 – – – Colorado Rockies 2–1 – 2–1 – – – Los Angeles Dodgers 1–2 – 1–2 – – – Miami Marlins 0–3 – 0–3 – – – Milwaukee Brewers – 1–2 1–2 – – – New York Mets 1–2 – 1–2 – – – Philadelphia Phillies 0–2 1–1 1–3 – – – Pittsburgh Pirates 2–1 – 2–1 – – – San Diego Padres – 2–1 2–1 – – – San Francisco Giants – 2–1 2–1 – – – St. Louis Cardinals 3–0 – 3–0 – – – Washington Nationals – 1–2 1–2 – – – Totals 10–13 10–13 20–26 – – – Grand Totals 39–42 35–46 74–88 – – – Month Games Won Lost Pct. March 4 2 2 April 27 13 14 May 25 12 13 June 27 11 16 July 26 12 14 August 29 17 12 September 24 7 17 Totals 162 74 88
2024 draft The 2024 Major League Baseball draft began on July 14. The Blue Jays gained a compensation selection at the end of the fourth round due to Matt Chapman signing with the San Francisco Giants after having been given a qualifying offer.
Round Pick Player Position College/School Nationality Signed 1 20 Trey Yesavage RHP East Carolina University August 1 2 59 Khal Stephen RHP Mississippi State University July 22 3 95 Johnny King LHP Naples High School (FL) July 22 4 125 Sean Keys 3B Bucknell University July 22 4C 136 Nick Mitchell OF Indiana University Bloomington July 21 5 158 Jackson Wentworth RHP Kansas State July 22 6 187 Aaron Parker C University of California, Santa Barbara July 22 7 217 Austin Cates RHP University of Nevada, Las Vegas July 24 8 247 Eddie Micheletti Jr. OF Virginia Tech July 22 9 277 Colby Holcombe RHP Mississippi State University July 21 10 307 Carter Cunningham OF East Carolina University July 17
Regular season Opening Day , three players on the Opening Day roster are no longer with the team: Cavan Biggio, Kevin Kiermaier and Justin Turner. Of the starters, the only players that remain are George Springer, Daulton Varsho, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Alejandro Kirk and José Berríos. Bo Bichette was on the Injured List.
+Opening Day startersPosition Name Catcher Alejandro Kirk First baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Second baseman Cavan Biggio Shortstop Bo Bichette Third baseman Isiah Kiner-Falefa Left fielder Daulton Varsho Center fielder Kevin Kiermaier Right fielder George Springer Designated hitter Justin Turner Pitcher José Berríos
March and April The Blue Jays opened the 2024 campaign on the road for a season-long ten-game road trip, due to ongoing renovations to the Rogers Centre, the home stadium. The Jays split their opening series with the Tampa Bay Rays, with each team winning two games. Reliever Génesis Cabrera was suspended for three games due to a physical altercation with Rays shortstop José Caballero during the third game of the series, though the suspension was reduced to two games after appeal. Toronto then began a three-game series with the Houston Astros in Houston, losing the first game after Ronel Blanco threw the first no-hitter of the 2024 MLB season. The Blue Jays would win the second game before being one-hit in the final game, setting a new franchise-low with just 38 hits through their first seven games. The Blue Jays would take their first game against the New York Yankees 3–0, but would lose the following two games to end their road trip with a 4–6 record.
Heading to the newly renovated Rogers Centre for the first time in 2024, the Blue Jays defeated the Seattle Mariners 5–2 in their home opener, and would take two of three games to win their first series of the season. The Jays lost the opening game against the Colorado Rockies, but rallied to take the next two and win the series. Newly signed pitcher Yariel Rodríguez made his debut during the series where he struck out six batters and only got one earned run but did not get credited with the win. They carried that success into their final series of the homestand against the Yankees, winning the first two games and nearly taking the third before the bullpen allowed four runs in the ninth inning to lose the game, 6–4. The Blue Jays then travelled to San Diego for the first time since the 2013 season to take on the Padres. Toronto won two of three games to take their fourth consecutive series victory. The Blue Jays then continued to Kansas City to take on the Royals, where they lost three of the four games, all by one run; the last was called after the top of the fifth due to rain. The Blue Jays then lost a three-game set against the Los Angeles Dodgers at home. The first game was marked by two-way player Shohei Ohtani hitting a home run in the first inning after he was booed by Toronto fans, following an off-season in which he was reported by some journalists to be signing with the team.
May The month began with another series loss to the Royals, this time at home. Next, they lost two of three to the Washington Nationals on the road. Alek Manoah made his return to the rotation in the last game. Afterwards, they split two games with the Philadelphia Phillies with the win in the final game breaking an 11-game win streak at home for the Phillies. They then lost a series against the Twins at home, followed up by a two-game (middle game was rained out and was made up in a doubleheader later in the season) split against the Orioles at Camden Yards. A series loss to the Rays and series win against the White Sox at home followed. From May 23 to 26, the Blue Jays lost three of four to the Detroit Tigers on the road, punctuated by a 14–11 loss in the final game after Matt Vierling hit a three-run walk-off home run. The loss brought the Blue Jays to a then-season-low six games under .500. However, they followed that series by sweeping the White Sox in a three-game set on the road. On May 31, the Blue Jays debuted their new City Connect Jerseys with the theme entitled "Night Mode" where they played against the Pittsburgh Pirates where they won at the bottom of the 14th inning thanks to a walk-off home run from Davis Schneider.
June From June 17 to 24, the Blue Jays lost seven games in a row; the streak was snapped by a victory at Fenway Park against the Red Sox. By then, they had fallen to six and a half games back of the final wild card playoff spot with a record of 36–43. On June 23, infielder Orelvis Martínez, who made his MLB debut a few days earlier, was suspended 80 games for testing positive for performance-enhancing substance clomifene, which he claims is being taken for addressing fertility issues.
July On July 25, the Blue Jays suffered their worst loss of the season when they lost 13–0 to the Tampa Bay Rays. Earlier that day, Kevin Kiermaier announced his retirement after the 2024 season. From July 26 to 28, the Blue Jays rebounded and swept the World Series Champions, the Texas Rangers. Before the week of the 2024 trade deadline, the Blue Jays traded away Cavan Biggio and placed Kevin Kiermaier on waivers where he was cleared. During the week of the 2024 trade deadline, as well as during trade deadline day itself, the Blue Jays traded away Yimi García, Nate Pearson, Danny Jansen, Justin Turner, Yusei Kikuchi, Trevor Richards, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and Kevin Kiermaier. Except for the Kiermaier trade in which the Blue Jays received veteran pitcher Ryan Yarbrough from the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Blue Jays received prospects or rookies from all of these trades.
August