Blue Jays: Santiago Espinal's Rise from MiLB Depth to Everyday Player

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Aug 1, 2021; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays second baseman Santiago Espinal (5) celebrates after hitting a home run against the Kansas City Royals during the fourth inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Sousa-USA TODAY Sports /

Throughout the last few years, Santiago Espinal has peaked a lot of fan’s interest as he has gone from a potential depth utility option, to the starting second baseman on a team that is favoured to win the AL East Pennant.

But how did the now 27-year old from Santiago, Dominican Republic rise through the organization? Espinal’s start to the organization begins 18 months before he was even acquired by the Toronto Blue Jays in a trade with the Boston Red Sox.

The Signing

Following two consecutive appearances in the postseason, it appeared the Blue Jays were going in a different direction as it was apparent they were not bringing back Edwin Encarnacion. As the organization was changing, on December 6, 2016, they signed 33-year old veteran Steve Pearce to a two-year deal worth $12.5 Million, which seemed to be a stopover player between contending years. During year one of the deal, Pearce fought through injuries and was able to play in just 92 games, but showed a solid bat as he collected 31 extra-base hits in 313 at-bats that led to a slash line of .252/.319/.438.

The Trade

In the last year of his deal, Pearce continued to show a productive bat later in his career, and as the Blue Jays were not challenging for a postseason appearance, he was traded to the Boston Red Sox for the then 23-year old Espinal. The deal would prove worthy for the Red Sox, as the club would win the 2018 World Series and Pearce would take home the series MVP award after going 4-12 with three home runs and eight RBI, while collecting four walks to no strikeouts and posting an OPS of 1.667. While I’m sure Red Sox fans cringe seeing how Espinal is playing these days, they surely can’t begrudge the trade in light of how things worked out with Pearce.

Apr 20, 2022; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Toronto Blue Jays second baseman Santiago Espinal (5) reacts after scoring a run against the Boston Red Sox during the second inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports /

What did the Blue Jays get back?

Top Prospect?

The trade appeared to be more about moving a respected veteran to a contender for a chance at a World Series than acquiring a top prospect. Espinal had been drafted by the Red Sox in the 2016 MLB Draft from the Junior College of Miami Dade College and had never reached the Top 30 status among the top prospects for the Boston Red Sox, or crack that category in his time with the Blue Jays.

Starting the Grind

Once he was acquired, Espinal would be assigned to the Dunedin Blue Jays in Advanced “A” baseball where he would go 17-65 (.262) through 17 games, at which point he would be pushed up to the New Hampshire Fisher Cats and be a key contributor to the eventual 2018 Eastern League Champions.

Espinal would play split time evenly between second base, third base and shortstop behind Cavan Biggio (2B), Bo Bichette (SS) and Vladimir Guerrero Jr (3B). Espinal would make just five errors in the field over 42 games and at the plate he was just as good. In 164 plate appearances he went 42-147 with 12 extra-base hits, posting a slash line of .286/.354/.395. However, with the noted big names ahead of him, Espinal did not draw much attention and just continued to grind away.

Taking Notice

Espinal would start the 2019 season back with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats as the primary second basemen and see some time at shortstop. Espinal had the benefit of two things that season, the primary was his strong play at Double-A, and the second being that the trio of Guerrero Jr, Biggio and Bichette all receiving the call up to the Blue Jays.

Espinal would play 94 games for the Fisher Cats posting slash line at the plate of .278/.343/.382 with 21 doubles (27 extra-base hits) and 57 RBI, while making just five errors in 174 opportunities at second base. His play with the Fisher Cats earned a call-up to Triple-A Buffalo to finish out the 2019 season where he got into 28 games and posted a slash line of .317/.360/.433 in 112 plate appearances. On the defensive side of the ball, Espinal played primarily at second base and made just two errors in 87 opportunities.

TORONTO, ON – SEPTEMBER 30: Santiago Espinal #5 of the Toronto Blue Jays heads into the dugout ahead of their MLB game against the New York Yankees at Rogers Centre on September 30, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Cole Burston/Getty Images) /

The Majors

Despite being on the 2018 Eastern League Double-A Championship team, posting a combined splits of .287/.347/.393 over two levels of baseball in 2019, Espinal was still not considered a Top 30 prospect in the organization by MLB.com going into the 2020 season. Due to the 2020 Pandemic a summer time training camp was taking place to get a shortened Major League Baseball season started in late July. Espinal continued to impress Blue Jays management and made the 26-man roster as the utility infielder.

Santiago Espinal quietly progressed through the Blue Jays’ minor league system and knocked down the door to become an everyday regular.

During the shortened season, Espinal would get into 26 games, starting 18 games at shortstop posting a .975 fielding percentage at the position, and even pitched in two games (we don’t need to be seeing that anymore). Espinal struggled at the plate to start the season as he went just 5-30 (.167) through his first 13 games, but turned it around over the last month, which included a six game hitting streak to end the season to finish with a slash line of .267/.308/.333.

Becoming a Regular

Espinal spent the majority of the 2021 season again as the utility infielder for the Blue Jays and seized opportunities that came his way due to injuries to other members of the club. Espinal would get 62 starts at third base, but thanks to the dynamic duo of Bichette and Marcus Semien, he would not see any other time on the infield. Espinal proved to be very capable at the hot corner as he had a .980 fielding percentage in 196 opportunities. Espinal was equally as good at the plate as he went 69 for 222 (.311), while having a nearly 1:1 walk to strikeout rate, which left him with every opportunity to compete with Biggio for the everyday second base job for the 2022 season.

To begin this season it appeared as though Biggio would get the starts against right-handed pitchers and Espinal against left-handed pitchers. However, after a Spring Training that saw Espinal go 10-32 with five extra-base hits and the struggles of Biggio at the plate, Espinal had taken the top spot as the everyday second basemen.

Through the first 16 games of the season, Espinal has started 12 of them at second base, while also getting one start at third base. He has yet to make an error on the field and has already equaled his home run total from 2021 after hitting a pair this past weekend against the Houston Astros.

Espinal Proving his Worth. dark. Next

Espinal has turned himself from a depth minor league piece acquired for a World Series MVP into a key contributor for the 2022 Blue Jays and beyond.

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