6 Blue Jays who could be playing their way out of the team’s 2024 plans

Paul DeJong

It may be harsh to put Paul DeJong already in this category. After all, he had just started to get his feet wet with his new club after coming over from the St. Louis Cardinals at the trade deadline. However, other than some steady defence, he has provided almost nothing to the Blue Jays so far from an offensive standpoint. He wasn’t expected to post Bo Bichette-type numbers while he served as his temporary replacement, but given that he had shown some power and consistent run production earlier on in his career, he was at least expected to do a little more than what he has accomplished so far in a Jays’ uniform.

In 11 games, DeJong has gone 3-for-39 for a .077 batting average, with one run scored, one RBI, no walks and 14 strikeouts. Perhaps one would say he probably needs an adjustment period to get comfortable first, but given that he has been a veteran with seven years of MLB experience, one would expect it would be a little better than this. At this point, it may be even more realistic to just play Espinal instead until Bichette returns from the IL.

While DeJong was acquired at the deadline primarily to serve as Bichette’s temporary replacement, it was also expected that when Bichette returns, DeJong could become a useful power bat off the bench in late game situations going forward and make spot starts at shortstop when needed. But at this rate, it doesn’t look like he will get much more playing time in the near future, not to mention even to consider bringing him back beyond this season if he doesn’t get going soon.