Blue Jays hand the ball to the guy who truly deserves it the most on Opening Day

After four seasons, three playoff appearances an All-Star nod and a trip to the World Series, Kevin Gausman will finally get the ball on Opening Day for the Toronto Blue Jays. The 35-year-old right-hander has not gotten the honor yet in his Blue Jays tenure, but that will all change on March 27, 2026.

Gausman gets the ball on Opening Day for the first time in his Blue Jays career

Manager John Schneider made the decision official on Saturday morning (Mar. 14). He said, "It’s cool that you have a guy that you really trust who’s been here for a long time to get the season started." In the previous four seasons the Blue Jays went with José Berrios three times (2022, 2024, and 2025) and Alek Manoah once (2023).

While it is just one game out of 162, there is a special moment in being selected as the guy to try and lead the team into the new year on a positive note. Gausman is truly deserving of the nod and might go down as one of the best signings of the Ross Atkins regime as the teams' general manager. Atkins signed Gausman before the 2022 season to a five-year $110 million deal.

Over the course of that deal, Gausman has been worth 11.2 bWAR with a 3.48 ERA in 733.2 innings pitched. He has 793 strikeouts, a 1.172 WHIP and has maintained a 9.7 K/9 rate. He's fourth in MLB in innings pitched, WAR and third in strikeouts in the last four years.

Gausman has hinted at retirement after this season. Earlier in spring, Gausman told The Athletic's Mitch Bannon, "I think [retirement] is definitely a possibility. I have really loved my time here. Do I know what’s ahead of me? I don’t really know. No idea. It’s something that I have definitely thought about in the offseason. But now that we’re here, I’m just focused on this year. I’m gonna give everything I have for this organization and this team this year. What’s beyond that? I really have no idea."

And if this is going to be his last season, he looks like he's going to be going out with a bang. So far in two spring training games, Gausman has given up just four hits, while allowing no runs and striking out six batters in 4.1 innings of work. He's also talked about trying to be more efficient this season. While he was happy with his results in 2025, he feels like he could do even better by going deeper into games while throwing less pitches per outing.

On Opening Day, he'll get a chance to get that game plan started when he takes the mound against the Athletics at Rogers Centre.