The Yankees will play a 3-game series in Toronto against the Blue Jays

After their 3-game sweep over the Guardians in Cleveland, the Yankees will continue their road trip on Friday with a three-game series against the division rival Blue Jays in Toronto. The Yankees have an off day today on Thursday after also have an off day five days ago on Saturday due to that day’s game being postponed because of rain.

The Yankees have gone 5–1 in their last six game and 11–4 in their last 15 games. The Yankees outscored the Guardians 18–11 in their sweep of Cleveland. In the series against Cleveland, the Yankees won their first extra inning game of the season after losing their first three extra inning games of their season and they won a one run game in this series after going 3–6 in their previous nine one run games.

The Yankees will now get ready to play their second series of the season against the Blue Jays and their first series of the season against the Blue Jays north of the border in Toronto. The Yankees split their first series of the season against the Blue Jays. The Yankees won the first two games 7–6 and then 5–4 and then they lost the last two games of the series 2–1 and then 2–0. They went 0–10 with runners in scoring position in the last two games of that series against the Blue Jays.

The Yankees are tied for first place in the AL East with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Yankees have a 41–26 record and the Rays have a 40–25 record. The Rays are percentage points ahead of the Yankees since the Rays have one fewer loss. The Blue Jays, who have a 33–36 record, are in third place in the AL East and are nine games behind the Yankees and the Rays. The Blue Jays finished last season in first place in the AL East with a 94–68 record. The Blue Jays beat the Yankees three games to one in the ALDS and then advanced all the way to the World Series where they lost in seven games to the Dodgers in one of the best Fall Classics in the last 40 years. The Blue Jays have underperformed compared to last season.

The Blue Jays have drastic home road splits this season. They have a 20–16 record at home in Toronto but a 13–20 record on the road in games played away from Canada. More recently, the Blue Jays are 5–5 in their last 10 games at Rogers Centre in Toronto. Only four teams in the American League have fewer wins on the road than the Blue Jays.

The Blue Jays went 8–2 from May 20 to May 29 to improve to .500 at 29–29. Since May 29, the Blue Jays have gone 4–7. They have allowed at least six runs in five of those seven losses. The Blue Jays have gone 7–2 against the AL West, 7–9 against the AL Central, 9–11 against the AL East and 10–14 in inter league games this season. After playing this series against the Yankees, the Blue Jays will play their next two series on the road against the Red Sox and then the Cubs. The Red Sox are in last place in the AL East with a 27–39 record after finishing last season 16 games above .500.

The Blue Jays currently have right fielder Addison Barger, catcher Alejandro Kirk, pitcher Yimi Garcia, pitcher Shane Bieber, infielder Lenyn Sosa and relief pitcher Joe Mantiply on the injured list. Mantiply had a dominant 2.04 ERA in his 17 games before going on the IL, Sosa had a .205 on-base percentage in his 28 games, Barger had a .045 average in his nine games played and Kirk, who has been the team’s starting catcher the last four seasons, had a .227 OBP and a 56 OPS+ in his five games.

Kirk has had a thumb injury and could return from the injured list on Friday. When Kirk was named an All-Star in 2025, he became the first Blue Jays catcher with multiple appearances in the All-Star Game. During the 2025 World Series against the Dodgers, Kirk became the first Mexican player in MLB history to hit a homer in the Fall Classic. That was the 121st World Series played in MLB history.

Garcia is on the 60-day injured list with an elbow injury and has not pitched in an MLB game yet this season. He had a 3.86 ERA in 22 games in 2025 and a 3.46 ERA in 39 games in 2024. He can help the Toronto bullpen when he is healthy. He has begun a minor league rehab assignment and was pitching at Single-A last week.

Bieber has also been on the 60-day injured list and the former Cy Young winner has not yet pitched this season. He won the Cy Young back in the 60-game 2020 season with a league leading 1.63 ERA and a league leading 273 ERA+ in 12 starts and then he finished seventh in Cy Young voting in 2022 with a 2.88 ERA and a 131 ERA+ in 31 starts. Bieber had Tommy John surgery in April of the 2024 season after making two starts and then he pitched in just seven starts last season. He had a 3.57 ERA in those seven starts last season after he returned from Tommy John surgery. He began this season on the injured list due to elbow inflammation.

The Blue Jays are 15th out of the 30 teams in ERA (4.07), they are 25th out of 30 teams in quality starts, they are tied for the 15th most homers allowed with 72, they are 11th out of the 30 teams in walks and their WHIP is tied for ninth out of the 30 teams.

On the other hand, pitching is a strength for the Yankees. The Yankees 3.27 ERA is third best out of the 30 teams, they have the fifth most quality starts in MLB, their 57 homers are the fewest allowed in MLB, their 206 walks allowed are tied for sixth fewest in MLB out of the 30 teams, their opponent batting average is third best in MLB and the best in the AL and their 1.17 WHIP is tied for second best in MLB.

Cam Schlitler, who will start the middle game of the series for the Yankees, has been the best pitcher this season in the American League. He leads the league in all of these categories: ERA (1.87), WAR (3.3), ERA+ (222), FIP (2.12), WHIP (0.866), hits per nine innings (6.3) and strikeout to walk ratio (6.36). Schlittler has incredibly allowed one run or less in nine of his last 10 starts and he has allowed two runs or less in 23 of his 30 MLB starts, which includes his two starts in the playoffs last season.

The best player on offense so far this season for the Yankees has been Ben Rice. Rice, who was a 12th round pick by the Yankees out of Dartmouth in 2021, leads the Yankees in all of these categories: homers (18), RBI (45), doubles (15), average (.295), OBP (.389), SLG (.617), OPS (1.005) and OPS+ (177). Rice already has 18 homers and 45 RBI this season in 62 games after having 26 homers and 65 RBI in 138 games last season, which was his second MLB season.

Rice has the fourth most homers in the American League, he is tied for the sixth most RBI in the league, he is tied for the ninth most doubles in the league, he has the seventh best average in the league, he has the eighth best OBP in the league and he has the second best OPS in the league. The only player with a better OPS is Yordan Alvarez, who has a 1.066 OPS in his 69 games this season. Alvarez leads the league in these categories: homers (22), slugging percentage (.636), total bases (157) and OPS+ (195). Alvarez won the Rookie of the Year in 2019 after having 27 homers, 26 doubles and 52 walks in just 87 games.

Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger have been the two best players on the Yankees this season after Rice. Judge is currently on the injured list with not timetable of when he will return. The Yankees announced last Friday that he has a stress fracture of his first rib on his right side and that he will be sidelined for four to six weeks before being re-evaluated to determine the appropriate next steps.

Judge, who went 2–15 in his last four games before going on the injured list, has the second most homers on the Yankees with 17 and he is tied with Shea Langeliers for the fifth most homers in the AL Judge has the third most RBI on the Yankees with 38 and his .907 OPS is the second best on the Yankees behind Rice’s 1.005. His 114 total bases are second most on the Yankees behind Rice’s 140 total bases.

Bellinger has played really well on offense and defense and he has played in 66 of the team’s 67 games. Bellinger’s 14 doubles are second most on the team, his 43 RBI are second most on the team behind Rice’s 45 RBI, his three triples are the most on the team, his nine homers are tied with Jazz Chisholm for third on the team and his 134 OPS+ is third on the team among the seven players who have played in at least 56 games. Paul Goldschmidt has played in 42 games and has a 147 OPS+. Among American League outfielders, Bellinger has the sixth best average, the most RBI, the sixth most total bases, the sixth best OBP and the fifth best OPS.