Blue Jays: Believe it or not, Socrates Brito is playing very well in AAA

After a disappointing stint with the Blue Jays earlier this year, Socrates Brito was sent down to AAA, where he’s played very well since.

In a frustrating 2019 campaign for the Blue Jays, there have been struggles from a lot of different players throughout the season. Some have been worse than others, and Socrates Brito‘s performance is right near the top of the list for futility.

The 26-year-old came to Toronto from a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks and played in 17 games for the Blue Jays before he was designated for assignment. His performance certainly warranted the decision, and it was probably long overdue, despite the fact that he only collected 39 at-bats. He managed a slash line of just .077/.163/.128, collecting just three hits and striking out 17 times.

Brito had been the Blue Jays’ 40 man roster prior to the decision to DFA him, and because he went unclaimed the Jays were able to move him to Triple-A Buffalo where he could serve as depth, and more likely just as injury insurance.

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However, since arriving in Buffalo, Brito has turned his season around. Granted, it’s against inferior competition compared to the highest level, but so far he’s hit .314/.345/.550 with seven home runs, eight doubles, and 30 RBI in 35 games and 140 plate appearances.

That’s normally the type of production that would warrant a player a look at getting a big league call-up, but it won’t be that easy for Brito even if he takes it to another level. Since his demotion, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. has claimed his place in left field and doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere, and Randal Grichuk is locked into another spot. The Blue Jays also have Teoscar Hernandez and Billy McKinney on the 25 man roster, and Cavan Biggio has played in the outfield corners as well.

There’s also the fact that the Blue Jays would have to put Brito back on their 40 man roster in order to call him back up to the big leagues, and I just can’t see that happening without a few significant injuries. They already had to DFA a guy like Javy Guerra earlier this year in order to find room on the 40-man, and there would be a similarly tough decision is they had to create another spot.

So while it’s nice to see that Brito has regained his confidence enough to help out the Blue Jays’ Triple-A affiliate, I don’t know that it’ll be enough to get him another opportunity in Toronto. For his sake, hopefully the native of the Dominican Republic has impressed a rival organization out there enough to get another chance elsewhere.