What numbers will the new Toronto Blue Jays wear on their back this year? How many returning Jays have changed their digits? Let’s start with #0. An asterisk * indicates a player who is not on the 40-man roster, a dagger † indicates a coach.
0*
Speedster Mallex Smith will wear #0, the number he has worn in the majors since he was with the Rays in 2017. The last Blue Jays player to wear a single #0 was Al Oliver in 1985 (Taijuan Walker wore #00 in 2020).
3*
Fellow non-roster invitee Greg Bird chose #3. He was unable to wear #3 in his time with the Yankees (it is retired for some fellow from the ‘20s and ‘30s), so he donned #31 and #33 instead. Jonathan Davis wore #3 for Toronto in 2021.
10†
Bullpen coach Matt Buschmann switches to #10 this season, last worn by Marcus Semien last season. The last coach to wear #10 was Jim Lett. Buschmann gave his old #26 to another Matt [blank]man...
26
...the Blue Jays’ brand new third baseman Matt Chapman. Chapman had worn #26 his entire career with the Athletics. The last Blue Jays player to wear this number was Yangervis Solarte in 2018.
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14†
John Schneider, who has officially been named bench coach after being de facto in the role last season, will now be wearing #14. He started 2021 wearing #17 before switching to #21 after the arrival of José Berríos. Tanner Roark and Corey Dickerson wore #14 in 2021. The last Jays coach to wear it was Mickey Brantley.
16
Yusei Kikuchi, who wore #18 with the Mariners, switches to #16, the number of millions of dollars he will be paid in 2022. Freddy Galvis was the last Blue Jays player to wear #16, in 2019.
22†
In 2020 and 2021, Gil Kim wore Kikuchi’s #16 but has switched to #22 this season. Steven Matz wore this number last season and Don Wakamatsu was the last coach to wear it.
23†
The next number up also belongs to a coach, new assistant hitting coach Hunter Mense. Mense wore #23 when he coached at Mizzou and #32 when he was the New Hampshire Fisher Cats’ hitting coach. Jacob Barnes wore #23 last season. This number was one of four worn by former coach Tim Leiper (the others were #21, #34, and #51).
34
Kevin Gausman will be donning Tyler Chatwood’s old #34. This is the number he wore in his final year with the Orioles and last year with the Giants.
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41*
With the #31 he wore in his first stint in Toronto already taken by Thomas Hatch, Joe Biagini flips the 3 for a 4 now that he is back on a minor league contract, matching the number he wore last year with the Cubs. Raphael “Human Rain Delay” Dolis wore #41 in his tenure with the Blue Jays.
44
Southpaw Andrew Vasquez, who wore #68 in his two-game stint with the Dodgers last season, takes #44 this year. The last Blue Jays player to wear #44 was Connor Overton but before that, it belonged to Rowdy Tellez, who also switched to #44 from #68.
49
Having been added to the 40-man roster, Leo Jimenez upgrades from last spring’s #93 to a much more sensible number. Jonathan Davis wore this number until 2020, but prior to him, a string of 13 pitchers wore the number with Toronto.
50*
Catcher Tyler Heineman gets #50 with the Blue Jays in spring training, having worn #51 and #43 with the Marlins and Giants, respectively. Fellow backstop Riley Adams wore #50 in 2021.
52*
Nick Allgeyer one-upped himself, switching from #51 to #52. Brad Hand took the number from Tayler Saucedo last season.
55*
Jeremy Beasley wore #59 with Toronto last season but has changed to #55, the number vacated by former bullpen catcher (and occasional fill-in first base coach) Nevin Ashley. Russell Martin was the last Blue Jays player to wear this number.
59
After wearing #24 with the Bisons last season, Bowden Francis gets Beasley’s old #59. This number used to belong to...
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62*
Casey Lawrence, who is wearing #62 with the Blue Jays this spring despite wearing #59 in his first stint in the organization. Jacob Waguespack wore this number in his time with Toronto.
64*
Righty Shaun Anderson will wear #64, the same number he wore with the Padres, one of three teams he played for in 2021. He also wore #64 with the Giants in 2019 and 2020. Last season, this number belonged to Travis Bergen.
93
He is still working on getting a visa, but whenever he does, Yimi García will become the first Blue Jays player to wear #93 in a major league game. García has worn #93 since 2020.
Other New Spring Training Numbers
- 65* Hagen Danner, last worn by Elvis Luciano
- 69* Maximo Castillo, last worn by Tommy Milone
- 71* Kyle Johnston, last worn by T.J. Zeuch (who later switched to #35, then #29)
- 73* Fitz Stadler, last worn by Ryan Dull
- 74* Adrián Hernández, last worn by Breyvic Valera
- 75* Gosuke Katoh
- 76* Jordan Groshans
- 78† Bullpen catcher Luis Hurtado
- 79* Orelvis Martinez, last worn by Travis Bergen (who later switched to #64)
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- 80* Kellin Deglan
- 81* Nathan Lukes
- 82* Matt Gage
- 83* Chavez Young
- 84 Graham Spraker
- 85† Major league pitching strategist David Howell, last worn by Alejandro Kirk (who later switched to #30)
- 86† Major league coach Adam Yudelman
- 87* José De León
- 89* Chris Bec
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