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Series Preview: Blue Jays welcome the Phillies for a three-game set
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Photo credit: © Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
Aidan Sinclair
Jun 8, 2026, 15:00 EDTUpdated: Jun 8, 2026, 14:50 EDT
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After a tough series loss against the Atlanta Braves to open June, the Blue Jays bounced back in a big way against the Baltimore Orioles, winning the final two games of the series, collecting their first series win of the month. 
The Jays have managed to stay afloat through a combination of injuries and poor performances from big-name players, sitting at 32-34, good for third place in the American League East and 0.5 games back of the Texas Rangers for the final Wild Card spot. 
It was a rough showing against the Orioles on Friday night, as the Jays were blown out 13-3, hinting at another series loss. Instead, the bats came alive Saturday afternoon to pick up a much-needed 6-4 victory. Ernie Clement had his name all over that game, going two for four with a home run and triple, while making arguably the best defensive play of the game in the eighth inning. 
Brandon Valenzuela had just as good a series against the Orioles, going five for nine with two home runs and five RBIs, raising his season OPS to .822. His continued excellent play has decided to keep him on the roster over Tyler Heineman when inevitably Alejandro Kirk returns from injury that much tougher, given his defensive value as well. 
The Blue Jays will see a roster nearly at full strength this week, when Dylan Cease, Max Scherzer, and the aforementioned Kirk return to action after completing their minor league assignments. Cease has been out since May 24th with a hamstring strain and showed no rust in his lone rehab start at Triple-A Buffalo last week. Scherzer had been dealing with forearm and ankle injuries and made a pair of rehab starts in Buffalo, aiming to return to the rotation by Wednesday. 
Alejandro Kirk has been out since April 3rd, and though Valenzuela has been exceptional behind the dish, it will be a refreshing sight to see the two-time All-Star back in the Blue Jays lineup. Kirk appeared in three games for Single-A Dunedin last week and is expected to play two games with Buffalo before potentially returning for a home matchup against the New York Yankees beginning Friday night. 
The Blue Jays will have a tough matchup on hand against the Phillies, given their elite starting pitching. Somewhat surprisingly, the Jays have fared better against great pitchers, beating Cam Schlittler, Paul Skenes, Sandy Alcantara, Chris Sale, and Kyle Bradish all in the last three weeks. With Cristopher Sanchez, Zack Wheeler, and Jesus Luzardo coming into town, the bats will need to continue to fire if the Jays want any chance of winning a series.

Examining the Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies came into 2026 with great expectations, coming off their second straight NL East division title, winning 96 games. Their 2025 campaign came to a halting stop when Orion Kerkering made an error, throwing a ball past home plate, allowing the Dodgers to win the NLDS 3-1. Even after such heartbreak, 2026 got off to an even worse start, as the team went 9-19 through April 26th, before firing manager Rob Thomson two days later. 
Former Blue Jays bench coach Don Mattingly assumed the manager role and immediately catapulted the team to an 8-1 record in their subsequent nine games. The team has continued their march towards the top of the National League, now holding the fifth-best record at 35-30 with a recent sweep of the San Diego Padres and series win over the Chicago White Sox. 
As a team, the Phillies are slashing .229/.298/.389/.687 with a 91 WRC+, good for fifth-worst in the league. They have the sixth-worst walk rate in the league at 8.1%, and sit towards the middle of the pack at 13th in the league in terms of strikeout rate at 22.6%. They’ve hit 82 to the Blue Jays’ 63 home runs, though 37 of those home runs have come from Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper alone. Apart from Brandon Marsh, who is hitting .338 with an .890 OPS, every other member of their starting nine has an OPS below .650. 
The starting pitching for the Phillies ranks middle of the pack in terms of ERA at 4.26, good for 16th in the league. Their FIP ranks seventh in the league at 3.68, and they rank third in the league in K/9 at 9.16. They also have the fourth-best BB/9 at 2.58 and rank second in the league for GB% at 46.5%. The most astounding stat is their BABIP, which ranks dead last in the league at .322, suggesting they’ve been the unluckiest rotation in baseball. 
Their bullpen ERA ranks 12th best in the league at 3.72, though they possess a 3.35 FIP, good for second best in baseball. They have the second-highest K/9 at 9.96 and the second-lowest walk rate at 3.00 BB/9. Just like their rotation, the Phillies’ bullpen has been extremely unlucky, posting a .315 BABIP, good for second last in the league. Jhoan Duran has been excellent as the closer, with a 1.31 ERA through 20.2 innings, converting 15 saves thus far and striking out 33 batters. The Blue Jays will also welcome back Tim Mayza, who pitched for the club from 2017 to 2024. Mayza has a 3.41 ERA in 29 innings for the Phillies this season, being their best lefty out of the bullpen.

One player to watch: Cristopher Sanchez

After finishing second in National League Cy Young voting a season ago behind Paul Skenes, Sanchez has made the case to be the frontrunner for the Cy Young in 2026. Recently, he put together a 50.2 inning scoreless streak, the best in MLB history by a left-handed pitcher and fifth-best all-time. Sanchez leads MLB in ERA (1.46), FIP (1.80), HR/9 (0.31), GB% (58.6), and WAR (3.6), per Fangraphs. 
He is a three-pitch pitcher, with a sinker, slider, and devastating changeup that has induced a .145 batting average against and 49.6 Whiff%. He ranks in the 99th percentile in pitching run value and 100th percentile in offspeed run value, given the tremendous success he has found with the changeup. 
In his career against the Blue Jays, he has made four starts and gone 27 innings, allowing just six runs, good for a 2.00 ERA. Most of the regulars in the Jays’ lineup have struggled against the lefty in their respective careers, aside from one.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was ice cold against the Orioles, going 0-10, and before Monday’s game said, “Don’t worry about me, when I get hot, I’ll get hot”, per Keegan Matheson. However, against Sanchez, Guerrero is slashing .300/.417/.500/.917 with two doubles, possibly hinting at the big slugger finally starting to hit for power in this series. 

Quick Hits

  • As the only two serious power threats in the Phillies’ lineup, the Blue Jays will need to quiet Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper, both of whom have had great success against the Jays in their careers. Harper is slashing .304/.391/.545/.935 with seven home runs in 112 at-bats, and though Schwarber has a weaker slashline of .221/.289/.477/.765, he has hit six home runs in 86 at-bats against the Jays. 
  • Jesus Luzardo has been up and down for the Phillies this season with a 4.56 ERA through 13 starts and has struggled mightily against the Jays in the past. His lone start against them was last year in Toronto, when he allowed eight runs on nine hits through just 2.1 innings. The Blue Jays will have another great opportunity to pounce on the lefty, who will be the worst of the three starters they see in this series.
  • Kazuma Okamoto has been heating up recently, going 5/12 against the Orioles, hitting .417 in his last seven days. With two scheduled lefty starters, Okamoto should hit higher in the lineup, and he has had success against southpaws, batting .278 with five XBH in 54 at-bats.
  • By the end of the week, the Blue Jays could have their ace (Dylan Cease), veteran starter (Max Scherzer), and starting catcher (Alejandro Kirk) all back on the roster, with Shane Bieber and Addison Barger looming.
  • With the re-addition of Cease and Scherzer, Spencer Miles is likely to return to a long relief role after putting in as a spot starter/bulk man for the past month. On the season, he has a 3.54 ERA and, given his minimal minor league innings, will likely benefit from a reduced workload in the bullpen.

Probable pitchers

Monday: Patrick Corbin/Cristopher Sanchez
Tuesday: TBD (Dylan Cease)/Zack Wheeler
Wednesday: TBD (Max Scherzer)/Jesus Luzardo

Game times

Monday: 7:07 PM EST
Tuesday: 7:07 PM EST
Wednesday: 7:07 PM EST

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