3 surprising Blue Jays who are off to strong starts in 2025

We're a little less than three weeks into the 2025 MLB season, and the Toronto Blue Jays are faring well. While their 9-8 record isn't incredible, they're still among the top teams in the American League East and have done well to keep pace with the Yankees.

And while that success has been jumpstarted by some key contributors, the Blue Jays have also gotten help from some unheralded players on the roster. With that in mind, here's a look at three surprising players who are off to a good start this season.

Note: all stats are as of Monday.

3 surprising Blue Jays who are off to strong starts to the 2025 season

Chris Bassitt

Bassitt entered this season off a down year in 2024 where he posted a career-worst 14 losses to go along with a 4.16 ERA and 1.46 WHIP. That was his highest ERA and WHIP since he registered a 6.11 ERA and 1.75 WHIP with the Oakland Athletics in 2016.

And boy has the 11-year veteran been locked in so far this year. In three starts, Bassitt has posted a 1-0 record with a stellar 0.98 ERA with just three walks and 21 strikeouts in 18 1/3 innings.

It's been Bassitt, not José Berríos or Max Scherzer, that has helped carry the Jays' starting rotation so far this season. His extra motivation this year might come from the fact he's ticketed for free agency after the season, but no one around the Blue Jays is complaining.

Tyler Heineman 

Blue Jays fans had a fair amount of reservations about Tyler Heineman entering the season the team’s backup catcher, and for good reason.

Entering the season, Heineman had hit just .156 in his previous three stints with the Blue Jays, and it was clear that he was the glove-first option as a backup catcher. his offensive production was quite limited despite providing some solid defense behind the plate.

With Toronto fans so used to the double-edged sword of Alejandro Kirk and Danny Jansen as the catching tandem, some were weary if Heineman could do the same to keep up.

Well, Heineman has certainly let his bat do the talking this year. In seven games to date, the 33-year-old journeyman has amassed a stellar .455 batting average, and 1.160 OPS, together with five runs scored, two doubles, one home run, four RBI and a stolen base.

He's outperformed Kirk so far this season, making him one of the biggest surprises on the Blue Jays' roster. He should get more playing time as the season goes on.

George Springer 

Springer's inclusion in a list like this has been a long time coming. While Springer is a four-time All-Star, he's had an OPS+ under 100 in each of the past two seasons and looked like a black hole at the top of Toronto's lineup.

As a result, many were worried that Father Time had already caught up to Springer even though he still had two years left on his $150 million contract.

Fortunately, Springer appeared to have rediscovered his dominant form. In 16 games this season, the 35-year-old outfielder has hit .375 with three doubles, one triple, two home runs, 10 RBI and two stolen bases.

That kind of production is exactly what the Jays need, especially with stars Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Anthony Santander going through a slight power outage.

However, there's still a chance that injuries could end up derailing what seems to be a promising season He has already crashed into the wall trying to track down a ball in the outfield and recently injuring his wrist during an at-bat this past Sunday.