Perhaps the person who was most upset about the number of games against each team in the division going from 19 games per season to 12 games per season was Ryan Mountcastle. The Orioles’ slugging first baseman seems to just adore crushing Toronto Blue Jays pitchers, especially on their home turf. Last season, Blue Jays manager John Schneider couldn’t figure out why Mountcastle hit so well at Rogers Centre and after this series, he will only be at an even bigger loss for answers.
In the Orioles 10-1 win over the Blue Jays on June 4th, 2024, he made it known once again that he owns the Blue Jays franchise. After an uncharacteristic 0-5 night on June 3rd, Mountcastle made himself at home in Rogers Centre. He went 2-5 with two home runs, his 9th and 10th of the season, and 5 RBIs, pushing the Orioles to the victory. This was also the third time in his career that he had a five-RBI game.
Since he made his major league debut in 2020, Mountcastle has played in 56 games against the Toronto Blue Jays, 35 games in Toronto (11 of those games were played at Sahlen Field in Buffalo due to Canadian policy regarding the pandemic) and 21 games at Camden Yards. In those games, he has a slashline of .316/.377/.609 with 17 home runs and a 170 wRC+ in 239 plate appearances.
To put it into perspective compared to the rest of his career, here is just how dominant Ryan Mountcastle has been against the Blue Jays:
- Of his 88 career home runs, 17 of them have come against the Toronto Blue Jays (19.3%)
- His 17 home runs against the Blue Jays in his career is seven more home runs than he has hit against any single team, with the next closest being his 10 home runs against the Boston Red Sox.
- Of his ten career multiple home run games, four of them have come against the Blue Jays – twice at Rogers Centre, once at Sahlen Field, and once at Camden Yards – including on August 30th, 2020, where he hit his first two career home runs against the Blue Jays at Sahlen Field
- Rogers Centre is the only road ballpark where he has had multiple multi-homer games
- He has hit more homers at Rogers Centre (8) than he has at any other road ballpark
- His only career three homer game came at home against the Blue Jays on June 19th, 2021
- In the Orioles’ last series in Toronto from July 31st-August 3rd, 2023, he went 11-13 with 4 doubles and 6 RBIs in what was a pivotal series win for the team
- 9% of his career home runs have come at Rogers Centre, despite only playing 24 of his 493 career games there
It’s no secret that Ryan Mountcastle loves hitting north of the border. Maybe it’s something in the air or the food, but whatever it is, he can’t get enough of it. Just a few years ago in 2018, the Orioles went 0-10 at Rogers Centre, but in their last 10 games they are 9-1 in large part because of Mountcastle’s mashing. As long as Mountcastle is available, he is sure to light up Blue Jays pitching, which will be key in the Orioles’ pursuit of consecutive AL East division titles.
