These will be the 3 most interesting position battles in Blue Jays spring training 

Entering the 2026 Spring Training season, the Toronto Blue Jays appear to have the bulk of their positions locked up already. Alejandro Kirk and Tyler Heineman are set to form the Blue Jays’ catching tandem. In addition, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Ernie Clement, Andrés Giménez and Kazuma Okamoto will make up the Blue Jays infield on an everyday basis more or less. Finally, Daulton Varsho, Addison Barger, George Springer/Anthony Santander will form the Toronto outfield, with one of the latter two handling DH duties when not playing in the field.

As a result, that leaves just three interesting areas that will see the potential spots on the Blue Jays roster that haven't been claimed yet: starting pitching, the bullpen and the bench.

These will be the 3 most interesting position battles in Blue Jays spring training 

Starting pitching battle

Without question the first three spots in the Blue Jays rotation are all but locked up by veterans Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber and newly-signed Dylan Cease. Even if they all end up with a horrendous spring, given their pedigree and previous career track record. As a result, that leaves the No. 4 and No. 5 slot n the rotation up for grabs. The potential candidates to fight for those spots include offseason acquisition Cody Ponce, Blue Jays playoff hero Trey Yesavage, José Berríos, as well as Eric Lauer and Bowden Francis.

Ponce is coming off an MVP season in the KBO, while Yesavage had aneye-popping performance during the 2025 postseason. Berríos will be looking to bounce back and reclaim his spot in the starting five after being one of the Blue Jays’ most consistent starters just the season prior.

Lauer had a strong audition last season with Toronto when he went 6-2 with a solid 3.77 ERA while striking out a batter per inning as a starter. Finally, Francis hopes to rediscover his dominant form that we witnessed down the stretch during the 2024 MLB season and be a factor for the Blue Jays once again in 2026.

Bullpen battle

In terms of the relief corps, Jeff Hoffman, Louis Varland and Tyler Rogers are likely the only three with secured spots in the Blue Jays bullpen. Yes, key playoff pieces in Braydon Fisher, Mason Fluharty and Brendon Little will need to prove that they can be relied upon to be consistent each time out this coming season. After all, veteran Yimi Garcia and his career 3.61 ERA will finally be back from his injury and will aim to get back to where he belongs.

In addition, newcomer Chase Lee will have a say as well after making his MLB debut with the Detroit Tigers last season as he looks to impress with his new team in Toronto. Moreover, any of the starting pitchers mentioned previously that fail to win out a rotation spot will automatically join the bullpen battle, creating perhaps the widest competition of all positions during Spring Training for the Blue Jays.

Bench battle

The sentimental choice would be to say those that took the Blue Jays to the World Series truly deserve to keep their spot heading into 2026. That would mean Heineman, Myles Straw, Nathan Lukes and Davis Schneider should make up the Toronto bench going forward just like that. However, things don’t always work as simple as that as candidates could do all they can to impress in training camp to steal a potential spot away from them.

Heineman should be a lock given that he won’t be facing much competition at the backup catcher’s position, but the same can’t be said for the others. After all, someone like Joey Loperfido had a strong showing in 2025 with the Blue Jays, posting a .333 average and .879 OPS in 41 games with the big league club. In addition, Leo Jiménez could be an appealing challenger given that he can play multiple infield positions well. As well, Jonatan Clase brings with him the speed advantage that not many other Blue Jays can say they can compete with. 

As a result, Blue Jays fans should get ready for an exciting spring with players doing the best that they can to hopefully win a spot on the Blue Jays’ Opening Day roster by the time all is said and done.