The 4 best Blue Jays development stories of 2024

The Toronto Blue Jays may have had a 2024 MLB campaign that was worth forgetting. However, there were still some positives that the Jays can take out from their lost season. In particular, we saw the massive growth and development of some key young players who could potentially be playing bigger roles for the club going forward.

Here, we take a closer look at four of the best Blue Jays development success stories during the 2024 season.

Spencer Horwitz

After spending his previous four seasons in the minor leagues along with a brief MLB cameo in 2023, Spencer Horwitz finally got his legitimate shot at the big leagues at age 26 in 2024. However, the opportunity didn’t come right away from the get-go. After a less-than-stellar Spring Training in which he hit just .125 with zero home runs and RBI in 40 at-bats, Horwitz had to begin the year with the Jays’ Triple-A affiliate Buffalo Bisons.

Not wanting to waste another year in the minors, Horwitz became determined to make the majors for good this time around by coming strong out of the gate. In his 57 games with the Bisons, he posted a sparkling .335 batting average, .970 OPS, along with 41 runs scored, 22 doubles, 4 home runs and 38 RBI while maintaining close to a 1:1 walk-to-strikeout ratio. With the Jays’ offense struggling to produce once again this season, Horwitz ultimately forced the Jays’ hand to promote him in early June. From there, he took full advantage of the opportunity and would never look back.

In all, Horwitz had a smooth transition to the major leagues and put up some solid numbers across the board as a result. Over 97 games with the Jays, he compiled a .265 average, .790 OPS, with 46 runs scored, 19 doubles, 40 RBI, while tying his career-high of 12 home runs in a season. More importantly, aside from providing steady defense from his natural position at first base, he also fared quite well manning second base, posting a solid .982 fielding percentage in the process. By demonstrating his positional flexibility, it gives the Jays plenty of options heading into 2025 on where to keep their newly-found dependable hitting machine in the lineup.