Blue Jays schedule for the 2022 season is released

The Blue Jays will play 162 games over 185 days in 2022 as they finally get to return to some sense of normalcy with their schedule

Mark your calendars, the Blue Jays schedule for 2022 is out.

With the possibility of a work stoppage looming when the Collective Bargaining Agreement expires in December, all 30 MLB clubs released their schedules for next season on Wednesday. The Blue Jays open the year with a three-game series against the Orioles in Baltimore beginning on March 31. Their home opener, the first proper one they’ll get to celebrate in the Rogers Centre since 2019, is on April 4 against the Rays.

Four National League teams will visit the Rogers Centre. Cincinnati comes to Toronto in May, the Phillies and Cardinals in July, and the Chicago Cubs at the end of August. For the Cubs and Cardinals, it will be their first games in Toronto in eight years.

The Blue Jays will play host to Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout, and the Los Angeles Angels for a three-game series beginning on Aug. 26, the first time in three years fans in Toronto will get to see the two superstars. Four American League teams–the Angels, Astros, Rangers, and Mariners—will each play their first series at the Rogers Centre since 2019.

If the Blue Jays hope to make a run at the postseason in 2022, they’ll have to overcome a tough stretch to begin their season. Of their first 32 games, 26 are against clubs that currently have a winning record and are contending for a playoff spot this year. They play 16 consecutive games from mid-April to the start of May against the Red Sox, Astros, and Yankees, three teams with a combined winning percentage of .576; the Blue Jays are a collective 14-19 against them in 2021. The only consolation from that difficult run is that 10 of the games will be at home.

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They’ll also close out June with series against the Central-leading White Sox and Brewers, followed by a homestand against the Red Sox and AL East-leading Rays. To offset those parts of the schedule, the Blue Jays will play 12 consecutive games to close out August and begin September against the Cubs, Pirates, Orioles, and Rangers, four teams that should be at the bottom of the standings next season.

The Blue Jays, with the youngest average age in baseball, are currently six games above .500 this season and three games out of a Wild Card spot. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is putting up Triple Crown numbers at the age of 22. George Springer, in the first year of a six-year contract, is beginning to show that it was money well spent. Hyun Jin Ryu still has two more years left on his deal. Deadline acquisition Jose Berrios is also under contract for 2022. This fun-loving bunch, with the possible exception of Marcus Semien and Robbie Ray, should be mostly intact next season.

For how well the Blue Jays have played in 2021, expectations will be greater for next season. Their young stars will have one more year of experience. And they won’t have to contend with changing home addresses, playing a full season at the Rogers Centre.

The Blue Jays will close the 2022 season with two series at home against the Yankees and Red Sox from Sept. 26 to Oct. 2. The AL East title may be on the line in those series. Anything less will seem like a disappointment.