The Toronto Blue Jays, the defending American League East and American League champions, will open up the 2026 regular season on Friday against the Athletics at Rogers Centre.

The Blue Jays will celebrate the accomplishments of 2025 one last time before officially moving onto 2026, which will be the most anticipated season in team history.

And now we know who will be taking the mound for the visiting Athletics against the Jays in that opener (7:07 p.m. ET).

Per Athletics reporter Martin Gallegos on social media:

Luis Severino will start for the A’s in Toronto on Opening Day, per Mark Kotsay. This will be Severino’s second consecutive Opening Day start with the A’s and third overall.

Now 32 years old, Severino is headed into his 10th year with the New York Yankees, New York Mets and Athletics. Once one of the top young arms in baseball, he's overcome injuries to reclaim a spot at the top of the A's rotation.

He's gone 73-55 in his career, posting a 3.92 ERA and three seasons of double-digit victories. An All-Star in both 2017 and 2018, he went just 8-11 for the A's last season with a 4.54 ERA.

He struggled while pitching in the A's minor league ballpark, going 2-9 with a 6.01, but he was much better away from home. He was 6-2 with a 3.02 in those situations, so he's certainly capable of giving the Jays a fight.

He had a 2.45 ERA for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic this spring.

They'll be countering with Kevin Gausman, who is making his first Opening Day start.

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.

It's unclear if he plans to continue pitching after this contract concludes.

It's also unclear how the rest of the Blue Jays rotation will shake out, especially after the recent injury news involving top prospect Trey Yesavage. The order beyond Gausman is not set.

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