The Blue Jays have spent the first month-plus of the 2021 season playing their home games at their Spring Training facility in Dunedin, Fla., but the team announced Wednesday that beginning June 1, they’ll move their home games to Buffalo’s Sahlen Field — the home of their Triple-A affiliate and the site of last summer’s home games. Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi reported on the move back to Buffalo shortly before the Jays made the formal announcement.
Per the announcement, the Blue Jays are in the process of a renovation project at Sahlen Field in order to prepare the facility for compliance with health-and-safety protocols associated with the return of fans. There are also updates being made to the field of play itself and the facilities, which include moving the bullpens off the field and behind the outfield walls, installing new batting cages beyond the right field wall, re-sodding the outfield grass, a new weight room, updated clubhouse facilities and updates to the stadium lighting. While those renovations are ongoing, they’re expected to be completed prior to June 1. The Bisons, meanwhile, are playing their home games out of Trenton, N.J. to accommodate the Blue Jays’ relocation and the ongoing renovations, Davidi points out.
The move to Sahlen Field is indefinite, as a return to Toronto is dependent on government regulations and recommendations of medical experts in Canada. For the time being, the Jays extended thanks the city of Buffalo and to Bisons ownership, expressing excitement over the ability to return to the site of their “strong 2020 campaign, this time with in-person cheers from Buffalo-area fans.”
The Jays will open Sahlen Field at 24 percent capacity and begin selling tickets the morning of May 13. You can see their full press release here (courtesy of MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, on Twitter).
