7 players you already forgot were Blue Jays last year

Last season, the Toronto Blue Jays had many key contributors that aided in their success in making the postseason for the third time in four years. Among those that made a significant impact, José Berríos and Yusei Kikuchi both had huge bounce back seasons; trade deadline acquisitions Génesis Cabrera and Jordan Hicks helped shut down opposing hitters down the stretch; Daulton Varsho and Kevin Kiermaier flashed their leather in making stellar plays in the outfield to save runs; along with surprising supplementary offensive output from veterans Whit Merrifield, Brandon Belt and Kiermaier to name a few.

However, there were also some players that in large part failed to make their mark with the Jays, so much that some may have already forgotten they had actually suited up for the ballclub this past year. Here, we take a look at seven players that played for the Jays in 2023, but mainly had negligible impact on their season in the end.

OF Jordan Luplow

Claimed off waivers from the Atlanta Braves back in early April, the Jays took a chance on Jordan Luplow. He suited the team’s need given that he was a right-handed power bat that could also play in the outfield. In addition, he had 322 games of MLB experience prior to joining the ballclub, while putting up double-digit home runs on three separate occasions in his previous six years in the league.

However, when he finally got his chance after a call-up to take Nathan Lukes’ spot on the roster, Luplow failed to deliver. He went 0-for-6 with a run scored and a walk in four games before he was sent back down to the minors. He would get one more shot in July where he fared a little better in three games, but ultimately was designated for assignment at the trade deadline and later claimed by the Minnesota Twins off waivers. Luplow finished his Jays’ career with three hits, a .214 batting average and .567 OPS in seven total games.

SP Wes Parsons

The Jays had signed Wes Parsons to a minor-league deal back in early May to add starting pitching depth to their minor league system. Playing for the Jays’ Triple-A affiliate Buffalo Bisons for the most part, he had a solid year in which he pitched to a 9-4 winning record with a 4.52 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, with 98 strikeouts in just 81.2 innings of work in 17 starts. There was even an impressive stretch near the end of the season where he only gave up a grand total of 13 hits and 4 earned runs over five games. That performance likely earned him the cameo appearance he made with the big league club when the Jays needed a spot starter for the final game of the season.

However, Parsons picked the worst possible time to have his worst start of the year as he gave up 10 hits and 9 earned runs in just 4 innings pitched. The Jays made a valiant rallying effort, but their comeback fell just short as they ended up losing 12-8. The loss ultimately didn’t affect the Jays’ playoff seeding, but for Parsons, he failed to impress in his only chance to showcase himself at the major league level.

RP Hagen Danner

For someone who worked hard to get to where he was at, Jays’ pitching prospect Hagen Danner finally got his chance to shine on the biggest stage when he was promoted to the big leagues in August following the demotion of Alek Manoah to end the six-man rotation experiment. Drafted by the Jays in the second round back in the 2017 MLB Draft, Danner rapidly progressed in his development as he went from High-A in 2021 all the way to Triple-A by 2023, while cracking the Jays’ top 20 prospects rankings in the process.

His MLB debut on Aug. 11 certainly turned out to be a memorable one, but certainly not in the way he had envisioned it. After recording the out for the first batter he faced, Danner had to leave the game due to a left oblique strain. Unfortunately, it ended up being a season-ending injury as he was subsequently transferred to the 60-day IL by the beginning of September. With the departures of key bullpen arms Jordan Hicks and Adam Cimber to free agency this offseason, Danner could earn his opportunity again in spring training to crack the Jays’ bullpen for 2024 and put his mishaps from 2023 firmly behind him.

RP Zach Pop

After being acquired from the Miami Marlins at the trade deadline in 2022, Zach Pop played a key role in helping the Jays reach the postseason for the second time in three years. He went 2-0 with a stellar 1.89 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, giving up only 4 earned runs over 19 innings of work in 17 appearances. His impressive performance earned him a valuable spot on the team’s playoff roster. Although the postseason ended prematurely in stunning fashion for the Jays in the AL Wild Card series against the Seattle Mariners, Pop nevertheless was looking forward to build upon his success in the upcoming 2023 season.

However, after a strong start to the season in which he gave up only 1 earned run and 3 hits in his first nine relief appearances, he completely fell apart in his following six games. He would give up 9 earned runs during that stretch, with his ERA ballooning from 1.08 to 6.59 in the process. To make matters worse, Pop suffered a right hamstring strain on May 4, an injury that ended up keeping him out for almost two months. To add insult to injury - literally - he would suffer a setback during the rehab process, along with performing poorly in his rehab appearances. When he was finally reinstated from the IL in early July, he never got the chance to see daylight with the Jays again as he was optioned to Buffalo where he remained for the rest of the season.

RP Thomas Hatch

To the Jays’ faithful, it sure felt like Thomas Hatch had been with the organization forever. But for some reason, he never had been able to fully capitalize on his opportunities to stick with the big league club on a permanent basis. Ever since the Jays acquired Hatch from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for David Phelps at the 2019 trade deadline, he had been given ample chances as both a starter and a reliever at the major league level for the past four seasons. Hatch did have one decent season in 2020 in which he went 3-1 with a 2.73 ERA and 1.18 WHIP, but he has failed to replicate any of that success in the subsequent years.

This past season, Hatch was only called upon for spot duty when the Jays ran into some injury troubles with their bullpen. And when they did, Hatch did not step up to the task, as he posted a 4.26 ERA, a horrific 2.37 WHIP, giving up 10 hits, 5 walks and 10 strikeouts in just 6.1 innings pitched. As a result, Hatch was designated for assignment in August after the trade deadline and was eventually claimed off waivers by the Pittsburgh Pirates, marking the end of the Thomas Hatch era in Toronto.