The Toronto Blue Jays will open up their American League title defense on Friday night (7:07 p.m. ET) against the Athletics at Rogers Centre. After that, they'll get the Colorado Rockies, also at home.

And now we know how the Blue Jays will take the mound for the first five games of the new season, as the rotation has been set by manager John Schneider.

According to Hazel Mae of Sportsnet, the Jays will give the ball to Kevin Gausman on Opening Day before turning to the newly-signed Dylan Cease. Veteran left-hander Eric Lauer takes the ball in game three while Cody Ponce starts the series against Colorado. Future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer gets the ball in game five.

Just one: That Lauer takes the mound before Ponce. Of course, this could be for any number of reasons, but it's still noteworthy considering Ponce was signed to a three-year deal worth $30 million and Lauer was a long reliever until injuries to Shane Bieber, Trey Yesavage and Jose Berrios.

It's not surprising that Scherzer is in the No. 5 spot considering he signed after spring training had started.

--Now 35 years old, Gausman is a 13-year veteran of the Baltimore Orioles, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants and Blue Jays. He signed a five-year deal before the 2022 season with Toronto and has gone 48-41 with a 3.48 ERA in that time. He's been remarkably durable, making 31 starts or more in each of the previous four years.

Lifetime, he's 112-113 with a 3.81 ERA. He's a two-time All-Star who led the American League in strikeouts (237) in 2023.

--A seven-year veteran of the Chicago White Sox and San Diego Padres, Cease is 65-58 lifetime with a 3.88 ERA. He's been remarkably durable, making 32 starts or more in each of the last five years, and he made 12 in the 60-game COVID 2020 season. He's thrown 165 innings or more in each of those years, but he's never cracked the 200-inning mark, likely because of his high pitch counts. Perhaps with the Jays' help, he can limit walks and get to that magic number in 2026.

--Now 30 years old, Lauer is a seven-year veteran of the Padres, Milwaukee Brewers and Blue Jays. He's gone 45-39 for his career with a 4.13 ERA, making 127 starts in 148 appearances.

Last season, he pitched in a swing role for John Schneider's team, going 9-2 with a 3.18 ERA. He made 15 starts out of 28 appearances, tossing 104.2 innings in the regular season. He added five appearances in the postseason, including 5.2 scoreless innings in the World Series.

--Now 31 years old, Ponce is a two-year major league veteran of the Pittsburgh Pirates. He went 1-7 combined in 2020 and 2021, pitching to a 5.86 ERA. He has 48 career strikeouts in 55.1 innings, but he was a totally different pitcher in Korea in 2025.

After two average years in Japan, Ponce went 17-1 in the KBO, pitching to a 1.89 ERA and fanning 252 hitters in 180.1 innings. He won the league's version of the Cy Young Award as well.

--Scherzer is an 18-year veteran. He's played for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tigers, Washington Nationals, Dodgers, New York Mets, Texas Rangers and Blue Jays, going 221-117 in his career. A three-time Cy Young winner, Scherzer is also a two-time World Series champion (Nationals, 2019, Rangers, 2023). He led baseball in strikeouts for three straight years from 2016-2018 and is also an eight-time All-Star. 

Scherzer was injured much of the 2025 regular season, only making 17 starts and pitching to a disappointing 5.19 ERA with the Jays. He did perform well in the playoffs, winning a game in the American League Championship Series against the Seattle Mariners and pitching valiantly in Game 7 of the World Series.

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