DUNEDIN, Fla. — The Toronto Blue Jays will play their third homestand of the season at their spring training ballpark in Dunedin, Florida, because of COVID-19 restrictions.
Toronto announced Feb. 18 that its first two homestands will be at TD Ballpark, and on Tuesday they added 10 games May 14-24 against Philadelphia, Boston and Tampa Bay.
Thus far, 22 of 81 home games have been switched to Florida from the Rogers Centre. Toronto hopes to return home at some point in 2021.
Another possible site for home games is Sahlen Field, home of the team’s Buffalo Bisons Triple-A farm club. The Blue Jays played home games in Buffalo during the shortened 2020 season and were 17-9 there.
The TD Ballpark in Dunedin seats about 8,500 fans and had a major renovation in 2019-20. The Blue Jays intend to limit capacity to 15%.
Toronto last played at 49,000-person capacity Rogers Centre on Sept. 29, 2019, an 8-3 win over Tampa Bay.
Toronto said weeknight games in Dunedin will start at 7:07 p.m. instead of 6:37 p.m., Saturday games at 7:07 p.m. instead of 3:07 p.m., and getaway-day games at 1:07 p.m.
The Blue Jays open Thursday at the New York Yankees and host the Los Angeles Angels in their home opener on April 8.