A forgotten Blue Jays' All-Star making his case to crack Dodgers Opening Day roster

2026 Spring Training could not be going any better for a former Toronto Blue Jays infielder. Santiago Espinal, who is playing in LA Dodgers camp as a non-roster invitee has been doing everything right, to earn his spot on the big league roster.

In 16 at-bats (through Mar. 5) Espinal has 10 hits, with two home runs, nine runs scored and eight RBIs. He's slashing .625/.636/1.761. Sure, it's hard to put a lot of stock in spring stats, but the former Blue Jays' All-Star has gotten a very important nod of approval from a major voice in the Dodgers organization - Dave Roberts.

Former Blue Jays impressing Dodgers coaching staff

The Dodgers manager told Jack Harris of the California Post that it's "Hard to imagine Espinal not being on the team." Espinal can, and has, played everywhere on the infield and for parts of his major league career he has been at least a league average bat, but in other stints he has been well below average.

However, there are some things to like about Espinal's game. Despite his subpar slash lines he doesn't strike out a ton, with a 13.8% K-rate in 2024 and 11.6% in 2025. But in 114 games last year he didn't hit a single home run, after hitting a career high nine the year before, so getting back some of that power could go a long way to helping Espinal re-establish himself at the big league level.

Espinal is likely not headed toward a starting role, but could be a very serviceable back up. The 31-year-old from Santiago, Dominican Republic was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 10th round out of Miami Dade College in 2016. Two years later at the deadline he was sent to Toronto for the eventual World Series MVP Steve Pearce.

In four years with the Blue Jays he posted a 5.4 bWAR while hitting .274/.331/.367 with 11 home runs in 346 games. He was virtually pushed out of Toronto due to a numbers game, as they sent him to Cincinnati during Spring Training 2024 in exchange for minor league pitcher Chris McElvain.

Espinal looked like he was developing into a true uncovered gem by the Blue Jays. In his first full season in the big leagues in 2021, he appeared in 92 games and was worth 2.4 bWAR hitting .311/.376/.405. He carried that momentum into 2022 where he was named to the American League All-Star team after hitting .271/.320/.391 in the first 91 games of the season. He cooled off quite a bit in the final months of the year and never got back to that high standard he set for himself out of the gate.

But what could help Espinal stick around with the Dodgers is that he has been a very good at hitting left-handed pitching during his career with a .291/.344/.409 slash line with a .753 OPS and 10 home runs. Certainly Blue Jays fans would love to see Espinal do well this season, but might have mixed emotions if he helps the Dodgers continue their trend of success as well.