3 Blue Jays veterans who should join Jose Abreu after surprising Astros release

Kevin Kiermaier

It's tough to say that Kiermaier doesn't have it anymore, but he doesn't have it anymore. He joined the Blue Jays last year via free agency and immediately became a fan favorite, showing off durability, speed on the bases, A-plus-plus defense and a surprisingly strong bat along the way.

In total, the long-time Tampa Bay Ray had 35 extra-base hits with 36 runs driven in and 58 more runs scored. He also stole 14 bases, had a .265 batting average, .741 OPS and 103 OPS+, all of which were the highest marks he had had in a single season since all the way back in 2019.

This, of course, earned him another one-year deal once he hit free agency this past offseason. There were a few teams that seemed like fits on paper, but Kiermaier had said that few came forward with any real offers, thus a return to the Blue Jays was born.

Even with Daulton Varsho on hand as an internal Kiermaier replacement, the Jays were comfortable keeping him in left field while allowing KK to take back over center field. The two form one of the top defensive duos we've seen in recent memory.

But Kiermaier's bat has completely fallen off a cliff this year. Through his first 50 games, the 12-year veteran has hit just .200 with a .565 OPS. If the season ended today, these both would be the worst marks of his entire career by a comfortable margin.

Always prone to striking out, Kiermaier has seen his K% spike from 21.1 last year to 30.8 this year. He's also drawing less walks, hitting less home runs and has seen his Hard-Hit% drop from 33.7 in 2023 to just 27.7 this year.

Again, Varsho is already on the roster as an immediate internal replacement. Nathan Lukes could be recalled to fill the void that Kiermaier leaves, as he's once again been a strong run producer down in Triple-A. Defensive prowess be damned, it just seems that Kiermaier no longer has anything left in the tank.