Gavin McKenna threw out the first pitch at the Blue Jays game 🤩 🎥: Sportsnet | #LeafsForever
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Maple Leafs’ Gavin McKenna speaks on first pitch at Blue Jays game: ‘It was a tough throw’
Photo credit: Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images
Jun 28, 2026, 10:00 EDTUpdated: Jun 28, 2026, 09:05 EDT
After being selected first overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 2026 NHL Draft, Gavin McKenna wasted no time getting to know the city he’s going to call home for the foreseeable future.
McKenna was introduced to the media Saturday morning at Ford Performance Centre, and following his press conference, he made his way down to Rogers Centre to watch the Toronto Blue Jays’ 7-4 loss against the Texas Rangers.
The 18-year-old was tasked with throwing out the game’s ceremonial first pitch, and the pitch sailed a little on the star left winger. McKenna’s pitch went high on him, forcing George Springer to jump up to reel in the toss.
Speaking with Sportsnet’s Dan Shulman and Joe Siddall during the broadcast in the bottom of the third inning, McKenna touched on what the experience was like getting to toss out the first pitch.
“It was a tough throw,” McKenna said. “I wasn’t proud of that, but it was cool to get that warm welcome from all the fans, and meet Springer; it was pretty special. I’ve never done this before, so it was a pretty cool moment, and I was just trying to get it to home plate.”
While the throw may not have been his best, McKenna has been on skates since the age of two and provided a brief background on the extent of the baseball he played during his childhood.
“Growing up, I played a little bit of softball,” McKenna said. “Not much, I was more of a soccer guy.”
Before Shulman and Siddall let McKenna go following the completion of the inning, the two made sure to poke fun of the fact that in one of McKenna’s most recent posts on Instagram he is holding a fish while wearing a New York Yankees hat, one of the Blue Jays’ biggest rivals in the American League East. While this was all in good spirits, McKenna received a new Blue Jays hat and ensured that the Yankees hat would be put away for good.
“I appreciate that,” McKenna said. “You won’t catch me in a Yankees hat anymore.”
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