3 important Blue Jays to watch in Spring Training

After a Blue Jays offseason that included a free agent deep freeze followed by a whirlwind of headlines, Toronto's Spring Training slate started today with their opener against the Yankees. And even though Spring Training games don’t count, they provide team evaluators (and us) plenty of opportunities to take stock of how everyone looks ahead of Opening Day. 

Spring Training also holds different meanings for different players. For minor league players, it can be a way to make an impression and earn a chance to be the first call-up, if not break camp with the team. For bonafide MLB players, it’s an avenue to get back into the rhythm of playing every day. 

Here are three players that we think will dominate the Spring Training headlines.

Andrés Giménez

It feels weird to think that the the centerpiece of a marquee offseason needs any more attention, but Giménez feels like a bit of an unproven commodity when it comes to his standing with the Blue Jays.

He’s a wizard in the field (he’s won three Gold Gloves and one Platinum Glove), but is coming off a season where he had an OPS+ of just 82 — his second straight season finishing with an OPS+ under 100. 

But things aren’t as bad once you take a look under the hood. Giménez had an expected batting average of .262 last year (74th percentile) so he was a bit of a victim of bad luck and he also posted a strikeout rate of just 15.3 percent. 

Giménez will be a mainstay at the top of John Schneider’s lineup during the regular season, but we’re expecting him to make the most of whatever chances he gets during the spring as well.

Leo Jiménez

While Jiménez has all the tools need to be a big league player, he could be on the outside looking in when it comes to a roster spot this year.

Jiménez filled in valiantly last season when the Blue Jays suffered a rash of injuries (he hit .229 in 179 MLB at-bats last season) but most of his playing time came at second base and shortstop — two positions that are manned by guys who are incredibly valuable to the Blue Jays’ lineup.

Bo Bichette is healthy and seems poised to have a big season at shortstop ahead of his walk year, while Giménez has played in at least 146 games in each of the past three seasons. 

And it’s not like things get easier when it comes to a bench role, as Jiménez is competing against Davis Schneider, Addison Barger, Will Wagner, Joey Loperfido, Jonatan Clase and Orelvis Martinez for two open spots. 

Jiménez will fit into the Blue Jays’ big league plans at some point in 2025 — he'll just need to do everything in power to make sure that he's in their Opening Day plans.

Bowden Francis 

While the No. 5 spot in the rotation is still up for grabs, we don’t think it’ll take long for Francis to lock it down. The 28-year-old was thrust into a larger role last year after the Blue Jays traded Yusei Kikuchi and he met the moment, going 8-5 with a 3.30 ERA in 103 2/3 innings while carrying a no-hitter into the ninth inning in two of his starts. 

He got better as the year went on, as he had a 1.12 ERA from Aug. 12 on.

The biggest reason for that success was his ability to mix his electric fastball with a dangerous split finger pitch. After only throwing his split finger once in MLB in 2023, he threw it 287 times last year, with hitters batting a measly .169 against it (all 13 hits against it were singles). 

He does a great job of limiting hard contact (78th percentile in expected batting average) and has good command (89th percentile in walk rate) — two things you need to be able to do to succeed in MLB. 

He’s also in a great position to maximize the resources around him considering he’ll spend all of spring training rubbing elbows with Max Scherzer, Jose Berrios, Kevin Gausman and Chris Bassitt.

"To be kind of the young buck, it's like a dream to be a guy like this," Francis said, per Gregory Strong of The Canadian Press. "To be a fly on the wall and learn from them."