Why Eloy Jiménez was the right call as Springers' replacement

The Toronto Blue Jays were hit with yet another injury over the weekend, as leadoff hitter / DH / team spark plug George Springer was placed on the 10-day IL with a toe fracture. Springer fouled off a pitch that hit his foot in the third inning of Saturday's (Apr. 11) 7-4 loss to the Twins. He finished the at-bat and was hoping to remain in the game until they received word about the extent of the injury, leading to the IL stint.

In his absence, the Blue Jays are turning to a former top prospect in Eloy Jiménez. He was one of the most intriguing players to watch in Spring Training and just narrowly missed the cut for the Opening Day roster. Even though the Blue Jays had several options to choose from, the right choice, at this moment, was Jiménez.

Eloy Jiménez hoping to get his career back on track with latest MLB call up

The Blue Jays could have called up a player like Yohendrik Pinango or RJ Schreck, but at this time it felt more appropriate to give the nod to a veteran, who has been there before rather than a rookie making their debut. The Blue Jays are already deploying a fresh faced Brandon Valenzuela behind the dish in the absence of Alejandro Kirk, and while there's nothing wrong with giving more playing time to rookies, the Blue Jays need to get back on track and pick up some wins and having a guy who should be unfazed by the bright lights of the big leagues is more likely to give you quality at-bats.

It's also not a guarantee that Jiménez will start every game and the Blue Jays would likely rather see Pinango and Schreck getting regular playing time and regular at-bats in the minors than just coming up to the big leagues and sitting on the bench. Jiménez, as a veteran, can be better suited to be in a role where he isn't getting every day reps.

Aside from that, Jiménez is being given a chance to reclaim some shine on his career. He was signed to a six-year, $43 million contract just before the 2019 season and it was, at the time, the largest contract ever given to a player who had not played his first big league game. Jiménez went on to have a monster rookie year with the Chicago White Sox, hitting .267/.315/.513 with 31 home runs and a 115 wRC+ in 122 games. He had mixed success over the next few years, while also battling some injuries. He was eventually traded to the Baltimore Orioles during the 2024 campaign, and his last MLB game was on Sept. 21, 2024.

He finished the 2025 season in the Blue Jays system, then resigned with them in the offseason on a minor league deal. Jiménez had an .857 OPS with two home runs and 12 hits in 18 games. Through the first 11 games of the year with Triple-A Buffalo, Jiménez carried over his hot spring stats by hitting .257/.372/.371 with one home run and five RBIs and earned an early Player of the Week honor.

With his call up to the big leagues, the Blue Jays are betting big that Jiménez can help spark an offense that has been sputtering out of the gates. While they put up ten runs against the Twins on Friday night, they had back-to-back frustrating games on Saturday and Sunday in which they were once again stranding runners, and not coming through in clutch situations. Jiménez went 2-for-4 in his first game with the Blue Jays - as good a sign as any that they made the right choice.

Jiménez does not have any minor league options either and so instead of wasting one on a Pinango or a Schreck, the Blue Jays can try and get the most out of Jiménez and if he hasn't performed by the time Springer is back, it wouldn't be a huge loss should they have to put him on waivers. If he is raking when Springer returns, then the Blue Jays have other players on the roster that they can option if needed, and it's much better to make a more difficult decision than an easier one.

Regardless, Jiménez may not be up with the Blue Jays for long as Springer's IL stint was done more as a precautionary move more than anything according to manager John Schneider. He told Sportsnet reporter Hazel Mae, “George has played through stuff a lot since he’s been here.  I don’t want a toe to compromise anything else.  He’s got one speed that he plays at, and we can weather the storm with him and other guys for now.” It's likely he would have played through it if it was later in the season, but the Blue Jays would rather not push their luck at this point in the year.

So whether it's a short time, or if Jiménez impresses enough to stick around longer, he's got a shot now to show everyone he deserve to be playing MLB-level baseball again.