The Toronto Blue Jays are gaining some steam right out of the gate.

While not every game was clear-cut and without its hiccups, with the Blue Jays having to find some of that comeback magic early, Toronto enters the second series of the 2026 season with a perfect 3-0 record. This is just the third time in franchise history the club has swept the first series of the campaign, and one of those previous moments was when the Jays won it all in 1992 (they swept the Tigers on the road to start that season).

The interesting thing about this series is that the Athletics are not a bad team on paper. They feature a ton of strong bats – Nick Kurtz, Tyler Soderstrom, Shea Langeliers, Brent Rooker and Jacob Wilson, for example – but the Blue Jays’ pitching staff kept them off balance all weekend long aside from one or two relievers who struggled out of the gate. The Athletics’ one weakness was their pitching staff, and while some of the starters kept the Jays’ bats in check this weekend, they were able to collectively find ways to put together some strong stretches to pad the scoreboard and eventually come out victorious.

Langeliers was a thorn in the Jays’ side, but overall, most of the Athletics bats struggled against Kevin Gausman, Dylan Cease, and Eric Lauer across all three games:

The Jays’ pitching staff set an Opening Series record with 50 punchouts across three games (16/19/15) while Gausman set a franchise record for 11 K’s across his Opening Day start. Cease didn’t want to be left out of the record-setting weekend and set a club record for 12 K’s in his debut with the Jays. 5 relievers appeared this weekend and didn’t allow a run, showing that there is some stability even if a couple of arms may have some question marks down in the bullpen.

From the position player side, four players had four+ hits this weekend, with Andres Gimenez leading the charge with his six knocks and his walk-off heroics to start the season. Fans saw this last year before he fell off as the season wore on, but it’s easy to dream that this Gimenez is here to stay with his move to shortstop potentially playing a part in this strong start.

Another impressive bat was Kazuma Okamoto, who entered the season with some concerns related to his play transitioning from the NPB to the big leagues. The right-handed bat squashed some of those concerns early, collecting four hits and two walks, while also blasting an opposite-field shot for his first home run of the season. He did strike out four times (although one of which he should have challenged to keep himself alive in the at-bat), but his type of bat will get the odd strikeout or two as the season goes on.

The Jays had to find some heroics this past weekend on a couple of occasions, but there was a lot to like from this first series of the season.

Now, the Blue Jays need to keep their foot on the gas pedal heading into this next series.

Toronto will welcome the Colorado Rockies for a three-game set at the Rogers Centre, and there is a chance that the Blue Jays could be 6-0 when the dust settles on Wednesday.

The Rockies are 0-3 after their opening series against the Miami Marlins, and scored just seven runs over the three-game series. The club has some exciting names in the lineup – T.J Rumfield, Ezequiel Tovar, Brenton Doyle, Jake McCarthy, and Hunter Goodman – but the Rockies are primed to be at the bottom of the NL West, especially with their subpar pitching. The Jays are likely to see Tomoyuki Sugano, Ryan Feltner, and Kyle Freeland this series, and their bullpen has some holes that the Blue Jays should be easily able to exploit.

If the Blue Jays continue their trend from the Opening series, there is a chance that the Jays could be leading the AL East and boast a sparkling 6-0 record before hitting the road and facing the Chicago White Sox, another team the Jays can beat up on to continue their winning ways (but one series at a time here).

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