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Inside The Blue Jays

Blue Jays Announce Major Lineup Changes vs. Orioles as McAdoo Makes Debut

If there is a day for Toronto to find a breakthrough as a unit, it is going to be Game 2 against the Orioles.
Maddy Dickens|
Feb 20, 2026; Dunedin, FL, USA; Toronto Blue Jays second baseman Charles McAdoo (26) poses for a photo during media day at the Player Development Complex.
Feb 20, 2026; Dunedin, FL, USA; Toronto Blue Jays second baseman Charles McAdoo (26) poses for a photo during media day at the Player Development Complex. | Mike Watters-Imagn Images

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Toronto Blue Jays

The Toronto Blue Jays are in a division clash right now with the Baltimore Orioles in Maryland, and they are flying by the seat of their pants. Injuries have been a monumental issue this season, especially in the starting rotation.

It took less than 12 hours before game time to decide who would take the hill for Game 2, but the Jays finally announced that rookie Adam Macko would be throwing the first pitch of the ballgame. With that decided, the position players came next.

Friday is going to be led by none other than George Springer as the DH, with a few changes in the hitting order. Ernie Clement will be hitting second, as Charles McAdoo is making his major league debut at second base.

After taking Game 1 on Thursday in a 2-1 victory, Toronto is begging for some offensive power today. There were ample opportunities for the team to break that game wide open, but they came up short.

Hopefully, mixing it up some will lead to better results.

Friday's Starters and Batting Order

Ernie Clement throws the baseball for an ou
Blue Jays second baseman Ernie Clement (22) throws out Miami Marlins center fielder Jakob Marsee (not pictured) at first base during the fourth inning at Rogers Centre. | John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

Trevor Rogers is coming on to the hill Friday for the Orioles, and if that isn't the perfect time for the Jays to find some momentum, then nobody knows what is. Rogers has allowed a mind-boggling 31 earned runs on 43 hits in less than 23 innings in his last seven starts.

Yikes.

  1. DH George Springer
  2. SS Ernie Clement
  3. 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
  4. 3B Kazuma Okamoto
  5. CF Daulton Varsho
  6. 2B Charles McAdoo
  7. LF Myles Straw
  8. RF Yohendrick Pinango
  9. C Brandon Valenzuela

McAdoo has earned this call-up, having hit eight home runs with 27 RBIs, seven stolen bases, and holding a .250 batting average along the way. Getting to hit against a struggling Rogers should only give him confidence in the first MLB at-bat of his career.

If Toronto's bats can break this game open, as they should, it takes a lot of pressure off the bullpen, which the team is in desperate need of, especially after Braydon Fisher, Tyler Rogers, Jeff Hoffman, and Louis Varland were all used in the 2-1 victory in Game 1.

This game has to lead to a win for the Blue Jays. They need to exploit Rogers, draw some walks, and find some power. If the ballclub can do that, the Jays will be back at .500, a barrier they have been flirting with, but haven't been able to cross lately.

The time is now.

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Maddy Dickens
MADDY DICKENS

Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.

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