The 4 best Blue Jays development stories of 2024

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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.

Ernie Clement

For someone who had kicked around the league for quite a few seasons, Ernie Clement finally found his niche with Toronto this year. After previously producing some underwhelming numbers with the Cleveland Guardians and Oakland Athletics, Clement took a huge step forward in his professional baseball career since joining the Jays’ organization in 2023. He impressed last year with his late season stint when he hit an eye-popping .380 with 1 home run and 10 RBI in just 50 at-bats over 29 games played.

This year, Clement managed to make the team out of training camp with his strong spring showing. Starting the season predominantly in a part-time, rotational reserve role, he gradually saw more game action as the year progressed due to his solid play both at the plate and in the field. By the time July rolled around, Clement practically found himself as the everyday starter at third base. When utilityman Isiah Kiner-Falefa was ultimately traded at the deadline to Pittsburgh, that officiallymade Clement a mainstay in the Jays’ lineup for the remainder of the season.

Clement certainly did not disappoint, as for his 2024 campaign, he amassed a solid .263 batting average, .692 OPS, along with 48 runs scored, 21 doubles, 12 home runs, 51 RBI and 12 stolen bases in 139 games played. It was by far his best ever season in the majors. Clement also displayed his wizardry on defense in the infield, registering a whopping 16 DRS in the process. The Jays may have lost star third baseman Matt Chapman during the previous offseason. However, the sudden rise of Clement has certainly made it a lot more palatable as a result.

Leo Jiménez

Unlike his previous two candidates above, Leo Jiménez did not have a brief MLB stint under his belt prior to the 2024 season. In fact, despite being a consistent top-20 prospect in the Jays’ organization for much of the past six years according to MLB Pipeline, Jiménez has actually been in the minor leagues dating all the way back to 2018. Known predominantly for his solid defense, he had taken some huge strides in his hitting in the past couple of seasons, hoping that it could prove to be a difference maker for him when he eventually makes the big leagues.

After putting up some solid numbers to start the year with the Bisons, the Jays finally gave Jiménez his chance when they called him up during the first week of July. Perhaps it was just nerves or that he needed some time to adjust to major league pitching. Jiménez ended up struggling to a .197 average, .514 OPS with just 5 runs scored, 3 doubles and 3 RBI in his first 25 games of his MLB career. However, he continued to put in the effort to work hard and made some appropriate adjustments to his approach at the plate. In doing so, it helped sparked a stronger finish to the season.

In his final 38 games, Jiménez compiled a solid .250 average with a .797 OPS, 13 runs scored, 8 doubles, 4 home runs and 16 RBI. In addition, he held true to his defense by posting a solid .980 fielding percentage and 1 DRS in 63 games split between shortstop and second base. One worrisome stat though was the fact that he was hit by a pitch a whopping 16 times. That ranked him sixth in the American League and ninth overall, despite playing way fewer games than his counterparts. So if Jiménez can also make the appropriate adjustments to that as well to minimize potential injury going forward, he appears well on his way to become a solid MLB utilityman for the foreseeable future.

Bowden Francis

Finally, with regards to the best developmental story for the Jays this season, none of them comes even close to what Bowden Francis managed to accomplish for the team in 2024. Things appeared to be already heading upwards for Francis when he began the year in the starting rotation. However, two forgettable starts later, he was relegated back to the bullpen. Three relief appearances later, he was on the sidelines with a right forearm injury. So not exactly the start to the year that Francis and the Jays were looking for.

When Francis eventually returned in June, the Jays kept him as a reliever, with hopes that he could rediscover the success that he showed in the role in the previous season. However, he struggled to a 4.13 ERA and 1.33 WHIP in 11 appearances and was ultimately sent back down to the minors again in mid-July. But whatever they worked on with Francis during the two-week stretch that he was down there, it has turned out to be the turning point to his tumultuous season.

With the fallout of the trade deadline, Francis was brought back up to the Jays to work in the capacity as a starter once again and the rest was history. As a completely different pitcher, he became one of the best pitchers in all of baseball during the final two months of the season. In 11 games, Francis posted a stellar 1.80 ERA, .140 opponents batting average, 0.60 WHIP, while giving up just 13 earned runs with 8 walks and 58 strikeouts in 65 innings pitched. That included taking a no-hit bid into the ninth inning for two of his starts. More importantly, he showed tremendous confidence and mastery of his control and command in the process. With the sudden breakout of Francis, it appears that he has all but secured his spot in the Jays’ rotation heading into the 2025 season. Hopefully, with the ace vibes that we all witnessed in his second-half performance, Francis could be materializing into the second coming of the late Roy Halladay in front of our eyes.

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Spencer Horwitz

Ernie Clement

Leo Jiménez

Bowden Francis

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