Blue Jays, C's Announce 2026 Opening Day Roster
NWL Vancouver Canadians

Blue Jays, C's Announce 2026 Opening Day Roster

Published on March 31, 2026 under Northwest League (NWL)
Vancouver Canadians News Release


VANCOUVER, BC - In conjunction with the Toronto Blue Jays, the Canadians are pleased to debut the 2026 Opening Day roster ahead of the team's sixth season as Toronto's High-A affiliate, 15th in the organization and 26th in franchise history.

The 2026 roster features three of MLB.com's Top 30 Blue Jays prospect, headlined by #3 SS Arjun Nimmala. The 20-year-old was the 20th overall pick in 2023 out of Strawberry Crest High School in his home state of Florida. He's coming off a full season with the C's in 2025, when he raced out of the gate with nine homers in the first two months as one of the youngest players in full season baseball and established a new career high with 120 games played; that was the most appearances of any Vancouver player last year.

The other two ranked prospects on the roster are:

#4 LHP Johnny King, the third teenager to play for the Canadians in the High-A era since Nimmala in 2025 and former top prospect Orelvis Martinez in 2021. He is the first player in team history born in the year 2006. The southpaw posted a 2.48 ERA in 18 games (15 starts) for Single-A Dunedin in 2025 while striking out 105 Florida State League hitters in 61.2 innings of work.

#19 C Edward Duran, who logged a 22-game hitting streak for the D-Jays - a franchise record - in May last year before his promotion to Vancouver. He appeared in 34 games with the C's to wrap up 2025.

16 returning players are back at The Nat after appearing for the C's in one of the last two seasons. They are: RHP Austin Cates, RHP Colby Holcombe, RHP Austin Marozas, RHP Aaron Munson, RHP Carson Pierce, RHP Jonathan Todd, LHP Juanmi Vasquez, Duran, C Hayden Gilliland, C Jacob Sharp, UTL Carter Cunningham, INF JR Freethy, Nimmala, INF Tucker Toman, OF Alexis Hernandez and OF Brennan Orf.

The remaining roster includes:

RHP Gilberto Batista, RHP Eminen Flores, RHP Daniel Guerra, RHP Landen Maroudis, LHP Mason Olson, RHP Kelena Sauer, RHP Jay Schueler, RHP Danny Thompson Jr., RHP Holden Wilkerson, INF Manny Beltre, INF Kendry Chirinos, INF Maddox Latta, OF Jake Casey and OF Mathieu Vallee.

16 Canadian provinces and U.S. states have sent their own to British Columbia, led by California (three), Florida (three) and Illinois (two). Beyond North America, Venezuela (four) and the Dominican Republic (four) are represented on the roster.

The lone Canadian is Vallee, a native of Saint-Joseph-du-Lac, QC who is making his affiliated professional debut this year after signing with Toronto in February.

The average age of this group is 22.8, with ages ranging from 19 and eight months (King) to 27 and four months (Marozas). It's the second-youngest roster of the High-A era (2023, 21.7 years); all but two were born in the year 2001 or later.

15 were drafted by the Blue Jays, seven were signed as non-drafted free agents, five were added as international free agents, three came over via trade, one was a Rule 5 draftee.

These 31 players - led by manager Jose Mayorga - begin their quest for a sixth Northwest League crown on Friday, April 3 at Tri-City (Angels) before returning to Vancouver to open the home slate on Tuesday, April 7 against Eugene (Giants).

To get tickets for Opening Night or any other game throughout the 75th anniversary season of The Nat, visit CanadiansBaseball.com or call 604-872-5232.

Check out the Vancouver Canadians Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Northwest League Stories from March 31, 2026


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central