3 Blue Jays players who could see a larger role in 2025, 2 who should not

2 who should not be seeing a larger role in 2025 with the Jays

Joey Loperfido

As perhaps the most MLB-ready of the three prospects that the Jays received from the Houston Astros trade involving Yusei Kikuchi, Joey Loperfido instantly became a part of the their starting lineup upon joining the organization. Known predominantly for his power and speed coming up from the minors and with the Astros, he has just shown brief glimpses of that with the Jays so far, putting up 7 doubles, 3 triples, 2 home runs and 1 stolen base over 35 games played.

More noticeably though has been the fact that Loperfido has actually struggled for the most part when facing major league pitching. With the Jays, he has hit only .217 with a .633 OPS, while walking only 4 times and striking out a whopping 40 times in just 115 at-bats. That makes for a strikeout rate of greater than 33% and a worrisome 10-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. On the other hand, at least Loperfido has done better on the field, registering 3 DRS while holding a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in 34 games playing in the outfield.

Until Loperfido starts improving considerably on his plate discipline, his overall potential could be severely limited by his free-swinging ways. As a result, he likely won’t be a starter just for the Jays next season. Instead, Loperfido should start off in Triple-A Buffalo to fine tune his hitting mechanics first. If all goes well, he should then be promoted to become a reserve player on the big league squad.