Faded top prospect is showing off ridiculous tools in dark horse Blue Jays roster bid

It was one of the most minor and seemingly inconsequential moves of the offseason. The Toronto Blue Jays signing Eloy Jiménez to a minor league contract almost went through the transactions log unnoticed. It's not overly surprising considering Jiménez hasn't played in the big leagues since 2024, and his last stint in MLB was underwhelming.

However, his spring season with the Blue Jays has been anything but that, as Jiménez is showing off all the tools he can provide the Blue Jays with should he earn a spot on the big league roster out of camp.

Faded top prospect is showing off ridiculous tools in dark horse Blue Jays roster bid

So far in Spring Training (through Wednesday, Feb. 25) Jiménez has five hits in eight at-bats and he is absolutely torching the ball. Four of the five balls he has put in play have come off the bat at over 95 mph, three of them reaching double digits. During Wednesday's game he had a 111.1 mph single and a double that was blasted at 109 mph.

He also hit a home run earlier in the week, which is something else the Blue Jays will be looking to bring north with them once the season begins. The Blue Jays lost the 18 home runs that Bo Bichette provided last year, and are missing Anthony Santander's 30+ home run potential for the first 5-6 months of the season due to an injury.

Toronto finished tied for 11th in the league last year in home runs, but other than that they had one of the top offenses in the game. So any extra power they can inject into the lineup they will be happy to bring along and if Jiménez can be the guy to provide that, it could be incredibly beneficial considering the current makeup of their projected lineup.

The Blue Jays have an abundance of left-handed hitters, especially in the outfield. Jiménez could help balance that out a little bit and could even find a place on the roster as the platoon mate of Jésus Sánchez. The lefty
Sánchez was also brought to the team in the hopes that he could fill the roll of right-handed pitching masher. Jiménez, who plays the same positions as Sánchez as a DH/Outfielder (although he's been working at first base) has hit better in his career against right handers - but has decent splits.

Jiménez has a slash line of .255/.311/.417 with a .728 OPS against left-handed pitchers over his career. Those are perfectly league average numbers, exactly what the Blue Jays should be looking for in a platoon role with a player like Jiménez. But if he keeps up this pace, he could not only force himself into the conversation of being on the Opening Day roster, but force manager John Schneider to write him into the lineup more often.