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<\/p>\nFacing Mets right-handed starter Freddy Peralta for the second time, Keys saw a first-pitch curveball. He said he was prepared to see a fastball next, and when he got one, he blasted it 349 feet in front of the 41,842-sellout crowd. Keys called the moment \u201cunbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\u201c(Vladimir Guerrero Jr.), bringing up the jacket. I (saw) it before the game, didn\u2019t know if it would be a reality to be able to wear it today, but it was awesome to be able to celebrate with them,\u201d Keys said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he knew he got it more so than us based on his reaction,\u201d Blue Jays manager John Schneider said.<\/p>\n
Drafted in the fourth round, 125th overall, in 2024, Keys is ranked 14th in Toronto\u2019s minor-league system, according to MLB.com. The infielder began the 2026 season in Double A, hitting .285 with a .411 on-base percentage and a .581 slugging percentage with 14 home runs in 49 games for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.<\/p>\n
He was promoted to Triple A in early June, where he batted .281 with a 1.121 on-base plus slugging percentage and seven home runs in 18 games for the Bisons before he received a call-up to the majors.<\/p>\n
Keys has only played three games for the Blue Jays so far, but he said he\u2019s been trying to take what helped him in the minors and apply it to his approach at the major-league level.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the most refined level because it\u2019s the best of the best,\u201d said Keys. \u201cSo, trying to take what I\u2019ve used and succeeded at (in) the minor leagues, and then trying to have the best approach and kind of manage how you\u2019re facing the best, so maybe success won\u2019t happen as much, but having to stay consistent mentally and go from at-bat to at-bat.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adding further excitement was the fact that Keys\u2019s first home run came on Canada Day.<\/p>\n
As is tradition, the Blue Jays held a special pre-game ceremony in honour of the national holiday that included a presentation of a $300,000 donation from the Blue Jays and Jays Care Foundation toward youth baseball organizations in Canada, appearances from Blue Jays alumni Kevin Pillar, Justin Smoak and Marco Estrada, while they did the EdgeWalk from atop the CN Tower and the unfurling of the giant Canadian flag during the national anthem.<\/p>\n
\u201cI loved it. It was incredible,\u201d Keys said. \u201cAll the guys told me this is going to be one of the most special games of the year, and I\u2019m honoured that I got called up a couple of days before that. I had marked it on my calendar once I knew I\u2019d be here. <\/p>\n
\u201c(I) had chills before the game, seeing everyone up on the CN Tower, the flag, the crowd was so loud, singing the anthem. It was awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 1, 2026.<\/p>\n
Kaitlyn McGrath, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Facing Mets right-handed starter Freddy Peralta for the second time, Keys saw a first-pitch curveball. He said he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":774520,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[49,48,3302],"class_list":["post-774519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=774519"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774519\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/774520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=774519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=774519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=774519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}