Former Blue Jays currently featured on the AL/NL Championship Series rosters

The Toronto Blue Jays suffered an early exit in the 2022 postseason, dropping a best of three Wild Card series to the Seattle Mariners at home. The losses were shocking for a group that looked poised to contend for the World Series earlier this year, but unfortunately, a strong Mariners pitching staff and a Blue Jays bullpen meltdown in Game 2 saw the Jays head home early.

Fast forward to the Conference Series, and the two top teams in the American League are squaring off: the Houston Astros and the New York Yankees (Astros lead 2-0). The National League Championship Series has the Philadelphia Phillies and the San Diego Padres throwing down, with the Phillies in front 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.

While the Blue Jays are no longer in the playoff picture, there are former players that are still fighting for a shot at the World Series Championship. Some played integral roles on the club during their stay while some were only around for a short time, some with better track records then others.

There are also a few players featured who spent time in the Jays organization but never actually appeared at the big league level, getting traded early in their careers.

Let’s take a deeper dive:

Aledmys Díaz – UTIL

After spending two seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, the Blue Jays traded for infielder Aledmys Díaz during the 2017/2018 offseason in exchange for outfield prospect J.B. Woodman (who retired shortly after).

At the time, the Jays were starting to trade away veteran players and were heading towards a rebuild, with Díaz receiving regular playing time during the 2018 season as the Jays primary shortstop option with some third base sprinkled in. At the plate, the Cuban product authored a .263/.303/.453 slash line through 422 at-bats, adding a career high 18 home runs and 55 RBI to the tune of a .756 OPS.

The following offseason, the Jays traded Díaz to the Houston Astros in exchange for prospect Trent Thornton and the infielder has remained with the club since the deal.

Looking at former Blue Jays currently playing in the 2022 AL/NL Championship Series.

The injury bug has limited the former Jays infielder since the trade but his role changed given the Astros at the time had solid infield options that pushed Díaz towards more of a bench/utility role. This season, the righty batter has spent time at six different positions and owns a .691 OPS through 305 at-bats.

Díaz has appeared in both ALCS games against the Yankees, going hitless through seven at-bats with one strikeout.