As Blue Jays shuffle roster around, prospect with feel-good story is being called up

It's been a hectic past few days for the Toronto Blue Jays and their fans. The club has traded away Yimi Garcia, Danny Jansen, Nate Pearson, Justin Turner and Yusei Kikuchi and before the deadline Tuesday evening, there may be even more names added to the list.

Monday night, Jays Journal reported that Luis De Los Santos is going to be recalled from Triple-A to make his big league debut.

De Los Santos is one of two players (other being Vladimir Guerrero Jr.) to have been brought aboard during the Alex Anthopoulos era in Toronto. He's been in the organization since all the way back in 2016 and when he gets into his first game, it's going to be a big league debut that's many years in the making.

At a time where there's a ton of roster turnover and a lot of popular players leaving town, a feel-good story is just what the doctor ordered.

Blue Jays set to recall Luis De Los Santos for MLB debut

The Blue Jays have yet to formally announce the move, but it's expected that the 26-year-old will take the active (and 40-man) roster spot of Turner, who was shipped off to Seattle during Monday's doubleheader against the Orioles.

De Los Santos is a versatile infielder who has spent time at all four spots around the infield during his ascent through the minor leagues. He is seen as a competent defender anywhere he lines up, but his strong throwing arm will likely land him at third base down the line.

At the plate, he's reached double-digit home run totals twice (2021, 2022) but he's not much of a power hitter. In 32 games this season, he's got four home runs, 13 runs driven in and 20 more scored. He's struggled with strikeouts in the past but the most crucial part of his game this year has been an elevated walk rate.

In 65 games at the Triple-A level last season, De Los Santos walked at a 12.5% clip, but he's raised that to 16.7% through 28 contests this year. Sure, the sample size isn't quite the same, but he's done an admirable job at refining his eye at the plate.

It's unclear where exactly De Los Santos will line up for the Blue Jays, or how long he'll stick around, but this is quite the payoff for nearly a decade of time spent in the minor leagues. Every single homegrown player on this roster has been a teammate of his at some point, so it will be nice to see him crack The Show, regardless of how long the stint is.