2018 Toronto Blue Jays season
During his end-of-season press conference on October 3, 2017, general manager Ross Atkins confirmed that the Blue Jays would decline their mutual option on José Bautista and allow him to enter free agency.
[4] On November 4, José Bautista's $17 million mutual option for the 2018 season was officially declined by the Blue Jays, making him a free agent.
[6] Former Blue Jays pitcher Roy Halladay died on November 7, when his ICON A5 amphibious airplane crashed into the Gulf of Mexico near the Tampa Bay area of Florida.
[7] The Blue Jays organization later announced plans to honour Halladay before their game on Opening Day and throughout the 2018 season, by retiring his number and wearing a black 32 patch on their jerseys for the year.
[8][9] On November 20, the Blue Jays acquired Gift Ngoepe from the Pittsburgh Pirates, outrighted Chris Rowley and Harold Ramírez, lost Rob Refsnyder on a waiver claim by the Cleveland Indians, and added Conner Greene, Danny Jansen, Reese McGuire, Thomas Pannone, and Rowdy Tellez to the 40-man roster in order to protect them from the Rule 5 draft.
[18] On January 6, 2018, the Blue Jays traded Edward Olivares and Jared Carkuff to the San Diego Padres for infielder Yangervis Solarte.
[48] Early in spring training, it was announced that Troy Tulowitzki had a bone spur in his right ankle, and that he would miss the start of the Grapefruit League season.
[50] Top prospects Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette made their Grapefruit League debuts on March 8, and combined to go 6-for-8 with two RBIs and three runs scored in Toronto's 9–3 win over the Baltimore Orioles.
[51] The Blue Jays made their first cuts of spring training on March 10, optioning Rowdy Tellez to the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, and sending Jon Harris, Sean Reid-Foley, and Jordan Romano to minor league camp.
[53][54] On March 12, Gibbons announced that Marcus Stroman would not start on Opening Day due to shoulder inflammation he suffered early in spring training.
A. Happ would start on Opening Day, and be followed in the five-man rotation by Aaron Sanchez, Marco Estrada, Marcus Stroman, and Jaime García.
Russell Martin's first home run of the season gave the Jays the lead in the seventh inning, and Roberto Osuna earned his second save of the year in the 4–2 victory.
[67] The Blue Jays were denied their first sweep of the season, after José Abreu's go-ahead solo home run gave the White Sox a 4–3 win.
[72] Aaron Sanchez took a no-hitter into the seventh inning of the second game, as the Jays edged the Orioles 2–1 thanks to a late home run by Curtis Granderson.
[76] Returning home for a brief, three-game series against the Kansas City Royals, the Blue Jays experienced just their second postponement since moving to the Rogers Centre in 1989.
A section of ice, formed during a weekend freezing rain storm, fell from the CN Tower and pierced the roof of the stadium, forcing the team to schedule a doubleheader for the following day due to safety concerns.
A significant detriment to the team's record was being swept twice during the month, first by the Boston Red Sox and then the Oakland Athletics, which added seven losses without any wins.
Over each of the next three consecutive three-game series, where they played against Tampa Bay Rays, Seattle Mariners, and Boston Red Sox, the Blue Jays posted the same losing record of 1-2.
They lost the first game 0-5, after pitcher James Paxton, a Canada native, threw a no-hitter to leave the Blue Jays without a hit or run over nine innings.
After losing eight of their last ten games, the Blue Jays travelled to Citizens Bank Park to play the Philadelphia Phillies in a three-game series.
[100] By the end of an unexceptional month of May, the Blue Jays would have a subpar 25-31 overall record, and would be fourteen games behind the first-place Boston Red Sox in the American League East Division.
They would win the next game 8-4 behind a strong performance by their starting pitcher Aaron Sanchez,[101] breaking a five-game losing streak dating back to late May.
[112] In their last final game of the month of June, the team won 4-3 as starting first baseman Justin Smoak hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to seal the win.
[113] By the end of an adequate month of June, the Blue Jays would have a below-average 39-43 overall record, and would be sixteen games behind the first-place Boston Red Sox in the American League East Division.
Happ) and symbolically marks the halfway point in the regular season, the Blue Jays faced the Baltimore Orioles in a three-game series at Rogers Centre.
The month of July would end in a similar way as it began for the Blue Jays, as they lost their final two games by a combined sixteen runs to three in a three-game series against the Oakland Athletics.
[129] By the end of a mediocre month of July, the Blue Jays would have a subpar 48-58 overall record, and would be a dispiriting 25 1/2 games behind the first-place Boston Red Sox in the American League East Division.
[136] After playing six games at home, the Blue Jays travelled to Kauffman Stadium to face the Kansas City Royals in a four-game series.
[148] By the end of a disappointing month of August, the Blue Jays would have a below-average 61-73 overall record, and would be a discouraging 31 games behind the first-place Boston Red Sox in the American League East Division.
The team finished with a below-average 73-89 overall record, did not reach the postseason, and were 35 games behind the Boston Red Sox, who would go on to win the American League East division title, and the 2018 World Series championship.
