Mar 14, 2020; Dunedin, Florida, USA; A general view of TD Ballpark where the spring training game between the Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays has been canceled do to the COVID-19 virus. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Shi Davidi and Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet report that the Toronto Blue Jays will begin the 2021 MLB regular season playing “home” games at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Florida, the Blue Jays’ spring training home. This move is due to pandemic border restrictions.

The Toronto Blue Jays, displaced once again by pandemic border restrictions, will open the 2021 season at their spring home in Dunedin, Fla., according to multiple industry sources.

The Blue Jays played their home games in Buffalo, NY (home of Toronto’s Triple-A franchise) during the pandemic-shortened 2020 MLB season, so this will extend a long absence from their real home.

While there’s hope the Blue Jays will be able to play in Toronto by mid-May, they will play home games in Dunedin for at least their first two homestands, according to Davidi and Nicholson-Smith. Those homestands are April 8-14 against the Los Angeles Angels and New York Yankees, and April 27-May 2 against the Washington Nationals and Atlanta Braves.

TD Ballpark has the following dimensions (unless there are any adjustments made), which will be very appealing to left-handed hitters:

Left Field – 333 feet
Left-Center – 380 feet
Center Field – 400 feet
Right-Center – 363 feet
Right Field – 336 feet

The Blue Jays went 17-9 in Buffalo last season, and were a surprise representative in the expanded postseason field. This season, they’re expected to be very good (FanGraphs gives them 54.5% playoff odds at the moment), with improving — and very exciting — young talent, and the free-agent addition of slugger George Springer.

Update: The Blue Jays announced on Monday, March 30 that they will be playing (at least) the first three homestands in Dunedin, FL.

The organization had already announced that the first two homestands would be at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, and now they’ve added another that will be 10 games (May 14-24 against the Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox, and Tampa Bay Rays). So, at least 22 of the Blue Jays’ 81 home games won’t be in Toronto.

About Matt Clapp

Matt is an editor at The Comeback. He attended Colorado State University, wishes he was Saved by the Bell's Zack Morris, and idolizes Larry David. And loves pizza and dogs because obviously.

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