Sean Keys made his major league debut over the weekend and is paying instant dividends.
Toronto Blue Jays prospect Sean Keys hit his first major league home run on Wednesday afternoon against the New York Mets as part of the annual "Canada Day" game at Rogers Centre.
Hitting against former All-Star Freddy Peralta in the bottom of the third inning, Keys blasted a three-run homer out to left field. That gave the Blue Jays a 5-0 lead against the Mets as they look to take the series from the National League foe.
The home run was hit 349 feet at nearly 96 miles per hour. Keys was in the starting lineup at designated hitter as George Springer retreated to the bench.
About Keys
The 22-year-old was a fourth-round pick of the Blue Jays in 2024 out of Bucknell who spent all of 2025 at High-A Vancouver. With Vancouver, he hit just .217 but posted a .365 on-base percentage, also hitting 22 doubles and 19 homers.
This season, he hit .284 at a combination of Double-A and Triple-A with a robust .409 on-base percentage. He's also hit 21 minor league homers and brought in 54 runs. He also has 14 doubles. He's currently ranked as the No. 14 prospect in the organization by MLB Pipeline.
As of this posting, he's 2-for-10 in limited big league action. Those RBIs were the first of his big league career.
The plan moving forward
As long as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Kazuma Okamoto are healthy, it's going to be hard for Keys to find steady time at his natural positions, so he seems destined for time at DH. That means that Springer will have to move to the bench at times - or that Springer will have to play the outfield in order to get Keys at DH.
Keys won't be playing every day, unless he keeps hitting just like this.
Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Sean Keys (20) celebrates hitting his first MLB run against the Texas Rangers during the sixth inning at Rogers Centre. Kevin Sousa-Imagn ImagesUp next
The Blue Jays will be off on Thursday before heading to Seattle for a weekend series with the Mariners. Seattle is currently 44-43 and tied for first place in the American League West. It's going to be a rematch of the American League Championship Series from 2025, which the Blue Jays won in seven games.
The pitching matchups are not out yet, but it seems fair to assume that Dylan Cease and Shane Bieber will both pitch in the series. Kevin Gausman, who pitched on Tuesday, likely won't pitch.
The Mariners figure to send Luis Castillo, Emerson Hancock and Logan Gilbert to the mound in some order.
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