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

2 Blue Jays hopefuls that will come up short

Daniel Vogelbach

With the Jays desperately needing a power bat to boost their offence, they took a flyer on free agent left-handed designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach by signing him to a minor league deal with an invite to training camp. After all, he put his power on full display back in his 2019 All-Star season when he hit a career-best 30 home runs to go along with 76 RBI in 144 games played. His first stint with the Jays ended up being short-lived, so they hope this potential second stint with the team will be more impactful.

So far this spring, Vogelbach has done everything he can to impress the team’s brass. In 10 games, he has compiled a strong .790 OPS with 4 runs scored, 2 doubles, 2 home runs and 3 RBI. More importantly, one of his home runs was a statement blast against the Jays’ arch nemesis Gerrit Cole, which quickly made fans adore him. However, he has hit only .214, which is sadly more or less in line with his typical low batting average throughout his career. In particular, his recent stretch of going just 3-for-16 is certainly not helping his cause in landing a potential spot on the team roster as Opening Day draws near.

Now with the recent addition of Votto, who also hits left-handed, but has also shown the consistent ability to hit for average in addition to power, there may no longer be a need for Vogelbach due to the numbers game. Especially when it makes no sense to have the redundancy of deploying the trio of Justin Turner, Votto, and Vogelbach all in the same lineup at once. If so, it would force at least a couple of them to see more action in the field, which could prove detrimental to the team in the long run. So sad to say, it has been a great audition by Vogelbach, but he may need to bring him game elsewhere if the Jays can’t fit him in.