TORONTO – The Toronto Blue Jays are returning to Buffalo’s renovated Sahlen Field beginning with a five-game homestand against the Miami Marlins and Houston Astros, according to a pair of industry sources.
A move north had been expected, although the club had hoped to go directly from TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Fla., to Rogers Centre in Toronto. But with Ontario back in lockdown amid dangerously high daily COVID-19 case numbers, there was no chance of the federal government easing pandemic border rules for the Blue Jays.
The switch to Buffalo comes just as the heat and humidity of a Florida summer starts becoming oppressive. The Blue Jays have a 10-game homestand May 14-24 against Philadelphia, Boston and Tampa Bay set for their spring training home before moving.
They’re 7-4 at TD Ballpark so far.
The triple-A Buffalo Bisons, who won their season opener 6-1 on Tuesday night, last month announced plans to play this season out of Trenton, N.J., to accommodate both the Blue Jays’ expected arrival and renovations at Sahlen Field.
Among the improvements are a new, permanent home clubhouse, the transition of the old home clubhouse into a visitor’s clubhouse, the moving of the bullpens off the field and installation of new batting cages.
The changes, in part, were being made because the Blue Jays could not run the same set up they used in Buffalo last year with fans back in the stands.
