The 2025 schedule for the Toronto Blue Jays has been out since July, and aside from fans following which potential newcomers will help the team play this schedule, there are some interesting matchups to look forward to.

Since Major League Baseball adjusted the schedules in 2023 so that every team will play every other team at least once per season, fans can see different teams year after year coming to the Rogers Centre. For example, last season the Colorado Rockies visited the Blue Jays in Toronto and this year, they will be heading out West to Coors Field.

Obviously, as the Blue Jays work their way through the season, some games and series will start to mean more than others (at least that’s what fans are hoping). But, for now, here are some series that generate some interest before the season starts.

This will be the first time the Blue Jays see Juan Soto in a Mets uniform since their efforts to bring him to Toronto in free agency. This series would likely generate even more interest if it was being played in Toronto; Shohei Ohtani was welcomed to boos last year when the Dodgers visited Rogers Centre early last season following his free agency saga. This series for the Mets also just so happens to be their home opener, so Citi Field should be packed to welcome Soto to his now long-term home.

Up until he was a divisional opponent last season, facing Soto has been rare air for the Blue Jays. Before 2024, Soto had only faced the Blue Jays in eight career games (five games with Washington and three with San Diego). But, of course, it’s more than Soto that the Blue Jays will be facing.

The Blue Jays swept the Mets at Citi Field back in June of 2023. Chris Bassitt pitched 7 2/3 shutout innings in the series opener before immediately leaving the team to welcome the birth of his second child. Late-game heroics from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Brandon Belt in the final two games of the series helped secure the sweep bringing Toronto’s win streak at the time to four games.

April’s tilt against the Mets will also mark the first time the two teams face each other since Bowden Francis’s no-hit bid last September. Francis did not allow a hit until the 9th inning when Francisco Lindor crushed a solo home run, kickstarting a six-run frame for the visitors. Maybe the rotation will align for Francis to get another shot at the Mets and potentially get him the coveted no-hitter.

I’ve bundled these two series together as both opponents will be playing in minor league parks for the upcoming season. And with that, I hear the “Vladdy’s success in 2021 was because of minor league parks” truthers speaking their minds already.

Tropicana Field was unfortunately damaged by Hurricane Milton back in October, leaving the Rays without a home ballpark for the upcoming season. The city is obligated to fix the roof, but it doesn’t appear that it will be ready for the 2026 season according to an ESPN report. At least for the 2025 season, the Rays will be playing their home games at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, FL, home of the New York Yankees during Spring Training and their single-A affiliate. Decisions about what to do with the Trop have in turn delayed the scheduled opening of Tampa Bay’s new ballpark, which is now preparing to open in 2029 – if it ever gets built at all.

Oakland will be playing their home games from 2025-2027 at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, CA as they await their new stadium in Las Vegas, NV, which should be ready for the 2028 campaign. The organization’s lease expired at the end of last season with the city of Oakland, however, the team rejected a five-year extension with the Oakland Coliseum, making them a “free agent” when it came to having a home ballpark. Sutter Health Park is home to the Sacramento River Cats, the triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, and they will share the ballpark with the A’s next season.

Although due to different circumstances, the Blue Jays are not far removed from having to play their home games in minor league ballparks. They played all of their home games at Sahlen Field (Buffalo) for the shortened 2020 season and played a majority of their 2021 home games split between Sahlen Field and TD Ballpark in Dunedin, FL because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the border restrictions that followed.

Assuming the Blue Jays are competing in 2025, any series against the Yankees this season will carry a lot of weight as both teams would be fighting for an AL East crown and/or a playoff spot. At the bare minimum, the Yankees have enough rivalry appeal given that they play in the same division, and the two sides have played several competitive games over the past few seasons. On top of that, this series includes Canada Day, and it will be the first time since 1987 that the Blue Jays face the Yankees on holiday.

The Blue Jays have lost their past two Canada Day games. Last season, the Blue Jays spoiled 6.2 stellar one-run innings from Yariel Rodríguez with a 3-1 loss to the Houston Astros. Rodriguez was outperformed by Hunter Brown’s six shutout innings, with home runs by Jeremy Peña and Yordan Alvarez being all the Astros needed to keep a crowd of red jerseys at bay.

Previously, they lost a high-scoring affair in 2023 to the Red Sox despite home runs from George Springer, Bo Bichette, and Matt Chapman. The Red Sox led 6-2 after six innings, but a run in the bottom of the 7th and Chapman’s two-run home run in the bottom of the 8th inning cut Boston’s lead down to one. Justin Turner provided some insurance in the top of the 9th inning with his 13th home run of the season, but the Blue Jays still clawed back in the bottom of the frame. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. stepped to the plate with runners on second and third with two outs, and he lined a single to right field. One run scored, but Bichette was thrown out at the plate by Alex Verdugo to end the game.

Toronto went 6-7 against the Yankees last season but finished 4-3 against them at home. Guerrero Jr. possessed an impressive 1.260 OPS against the Yankees last season with 5 home runs and 16 RBIs, and Springer also had some of his best games last season against New York with a .326 average and a 1.021 OPS in 13 games against them. The Yankees will be bringing a different crew to the Rogers Centre this season following the departure of Soto and the fruits of their hectic offseason but fans will still be able to see Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Gerrit Cole North of the border for the spirited affair.

This will be only the third time since 2007 that the Blue Jays travel to Chavez Ravine for a series, but this time, they get to face off against the reigning World Series champions. The Dodgers lineup, barring something unforeseen, figures to be just as potent (if not more) as it was a year ago. The three-headed monster of Ohtani, Freeman and Betts will still be followed by Teoscar Hernández, Will Smith, Max Muncy, and Tommy Edman. Now, add Michael Conforto to that lineup and Blake Snell to a pitching rotation that gets Ohtani back, and yeah, it’s not going to be an easy out. Surely I’m missing someone on that long list of names but you get the point.

In an opportunist mindset, the Blue Jays will get a chance to stack themselves up against one of the league’s best teams. This series will take place after the trade deadline, so if the Blue Jays are in playoff position, this could be the best reality check you could ask for.

When played at Dodger Stadium, games between these two teams have had a habit of staying close. Five of the last nine games have been decided by one run and four of them have gone to extra innings. In a more unfortunate lens, however, four of those one-run games were also walk-off wins in favour of the Dodgers. The most recent walk-off hit was on July 25th, 2023 when James Outman launched an RBI double to centre field that was nearly caught by Kevin Kiermaier to win the game.

Despite playing in only six games at Dodger Stadium, Guerrero Jr. (.491 BA, 1.110 OPS) and Bichette (.400 BA, 1.223 OPS) have had their fair share of success there. Both of them homered as rookies in 2019 in Los Angeles, with Bichette hitting two home runs off Clayton Kershaw in his Dodger Stadium debut, who may not be with the team this time around.

Another one of the most rarely visited opposing ballparks in Toronto’s recent history is Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, and the Blue Jays will visit the Reds for only the second time since 2014. Despite this, the Blue Jays have had tremendous success hitting home runs in each of the past two series there.

In 2014, Toronto hit six home runs in a three-game series against the Reds, including two three-run homers from Edwin Encarnacion in the series opener. That game specifically featured the Blue Jays rallying from an 8-0 deficit to defeat Cincinnati 14-9, the second-largest comeback in franchise history.

They also hit six home runs during their three-game tilt in 2023. Five of those came in the series finale on August 20th, all against Reds starter Hunter Greene. Brandon Belt led the charge with two homers within the first two innings of the game. Springer, Bichette, and Kiermaier also homered, and Francis secured his first career save.

Cincinnati has been a more frequent visitor to Toronto, travelling north of the border in 2017, 2022, and 2024. The Blue Jays have a 9-6 record against the Reds in their previous 15 games against them.

Honourable Mention: August 18-20 at Pittsburgh (Blue Jays have not lost in Pittsburgh since 2014) / August 4-6 at Colorado (Blue Jays have played here only twice since 2016)