3 surprising Blue Jays that will make the 2024 Opening Day roster, and 2 that won’t

With a little over a week away from the start of the 2024 MLB season, the Toronto Blue Jays has yet to finalize their Opening Day roster, as the battles for potential roles have been strong and fierce. With candidates ranging from promising prospects to reclamation projects to established veterans, they will be all vying for a spot in the Jays’ major league lineup when it all begins on March 28.

So who will make it in the end, and who will be left heartbroken? Here, we will look at three Jays players that will surprisingly earn a spot on the 26-man roster and two that will fall short when the regular season commences next week.

3 surprising Blue Jays that will make the Opening Day roster

Brian Serven

After losing significant catching depth in the organization when Tyler Heineman was claimed off waivers by the Mets back in December, the Jays pivoted to recover some of that depth by making a waiver claim of their own in obtaining the services of Brian Serven from the Chicago Cubs in January. As a career .195 hitter with a .562 OPS in 73 games, expectations for Serven were quite low, with hopes that he could be at least a serviceable player if called upon at any point in the upcoming season.

What seemed to be a desperate move at the time has turned out to be pure gold after witnessing his strong performance in spring training. In 10 games, Serven has hit a solid .278, while leading the team in home runs (3), RBI (12), slugging percentage (.889) and second only to catching teammate Alejandro Kirk in OPS at 1.270. 

With Danny Jansen starting the year on the IL, Serven has certainly shown more than enough with his play to assure the team that he can be a solid backup option to Kirk to start the 2024 season. As a result, the Jays shouldn’t need to rush Jansen in his recovery and rehab, knowing that they have a strong tandem to hold the fort in the meantime.