Blue Jays: Home field advantage is the reward the fans deserved

We now officially know that the Blue Jays will host the Mariners in Toronto for the first round of the 2022 postseason that gets underway on Friday.

Who against and where the Blue Jays would play to begin the playoffs has been a discussion for a while now, and it’s no surprise that it took until the second last day of the regular season to get a definitive answer. Unfortunately the Blue Jays were unable to make up enough ground to catch the Yankees in the AL East race, but their strong finish to the regular season has put them in position as the top Wild Card team, and the #4 seed for the first round.

With the new playoff format being utilized this year the top two seeds in both the American and National League will get a bye in the first round, while the #3-6 seeds work through a short three-game series. The Houston Astros will finish as the top seed, followed by the Yankees in second, so they’ll both have to wait to learn who their ALDS opponent will be.

As for the rest of the AL Field, here’s how it looks:

Guardians (#3) vs. Rays (#6)
Blue Jays (#4) vs. Mariners (#5)

And for what it’s worth, in the National League the Dodgers are the #1 seed in the NL, followed by the Braves at #2, and here is the field for their Wild Card round.

Cardinals (#3) vs. Phillies (#6)
Mets (#4) vs. Padres (#5)

For a while there was a pretty consistent debate on social media around the Blue Jays, specifically about whether they were better off as the #6 seed instead of finishing 4th of 5th. The rationale there was that the sixth seed would arguably have an easier path to the ALCS by getting to play against Cleveland and New York, rather than a debatably more difficult matchup in round one, followed by having to play the top-seeded Astros in the ALDS.

I wasn’t a fan of that idea from the get-go, and I’m really pleased to see the Blue Jays finish as high as they can. Not only do I believe that it’s crucial for their momentum as they head into the playoffs, especially a short three-game series for an opening round, but they also have the advantage of playing at home at the Rogers Centre. It’s a building that can be absolutely electric, and having the support of the home crowd will be a significant boost for this talented young team.

Selfishly, I feel like this is a reward that the Blue Jays needed to play for in order to give to their fans. We were without big league baseball in Canada for more than a full season, and last year was a giant tease as the team fell just one game short of the playoffs after a late-season charge once they were allowed to play at home again. As Vladimir Guerrero Jr. famously said something about last year being the trailer and 2022 being the movie, it wouldn’t be fair if all Canadian baseball fans had to watch the movie from home.

While we can’t fit an entire country into the Rogers Centre, just having the Blue Jays playing playoff baseball back in Canada is a huge boost for the team, and for the excitement from the fan base right now. It’s been a long season, and an even longer last couple of years, but thankfully we’ve been rewarded for our patience with a return to the playoffs. Now comes the next step.