DUNEDIN, Fla. – John Schneider regularly describes Andres Gimenez as one of the best defensive infielders in baseball, if not the best, and validating that claim are the three Gold Gloves along with a Platinum Glove he’s won for his work at second base.
The challenge for the 27-year-old this season is maintaining that standard at shortstop for the Toronto Blue Jays, who made him their replacement for Bo Bichette when the longtime star left for the New York Mets in free agency.
A preview of his play there came last September, when Gimenez handled the position with his usual sure-handedness after stepping into the role Sept. 12 in the wake of Bichette’s knee injury. He ran the table there for the rest of the regular season and throughout the playoffs, setting up the more permanent switch.
With a winter of training at shortstop and the lingering effects of a left ankle sprain behind him, is a run at a Gold Glove on the other side of the diamond an attainable goal? Bobby Witt Jr. is the American League’s defending Gold Glove shortstop, with Corey Seager and Taylor Walls the finalists.
“I don’t know, shortstop is a little bit harder and there are so many superstars playing shortstop, to be honest,” Gimenez replied. “The position right now it’s more (for) the team. They called me, they told me about the need for someone who will play short in case they don’t get anything done. I was able to do it and I was open to the move because that’s what the team needed.”
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Blue Jays open spring training vs. Phillies on Sportsnet
The Toronto Blue Jays open spring training on Saturday against the Philadelphia Phillies. Watch the game on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ at 1:10 p.m. ET/ 10:10 a.m. PT.
How well he masters the left side of the infield will be one of many things to watch during the Blue Jays’ Grapefruit League schedule, which opens Saturday when Eric Lauer starts against the visiting Philadelphia Phillies.
Entering play, Schneider described his club as “pretty set,” although there is still plenty to figure out during the 30 games over the next month.
Items to keep an eye include:
• Yimi Garcia and the bullpen: At least one spot is up for grabs as Yimi Garcia said Friday that he is “a little behind” in his progression and will “one hundred per cent” not be ready for opening day. The 35-year-old set-up man, coming off September elbow surgery, said, “I feel good right now, I feel better than last season,” but he’s yet to throw off the mound, something he’s hoping to do in the next week or two, with the goal to build up so he can be available for the crucial late-season moments he missed last year. “Exactly,” he said. “It’s a really long season, so we have to be smart and do the best we can.” For now, that leaves one job there for the taking until Garcia is ready.
• Piecing lineup together: On the position-player side, the roster is pretty much set barring injury, although the Blue Jays need to figure out how to handle Leo Jimenez, who’s on the bubble and out of options. They also have two big new pieces in Kazuma Okamoto and Jesus Sanchez and they’ll need to finalize how they intend to mix and match the entire group together. “As games get going, watching specific things and how certain guys can help us win, whether that’s a reliever, whether that’s someone running the bases correctly, or the competitiveness of their at-bats, that’s what we’re going to hone in on,” said Schneider. “Early, just getting their bearings, but as we get going, we’re going to try to force some match-ups or force some situations that we want to see guys in and see how they respond.”
• Running the rotation: Shane Bieber’s slower build-up leaves Kevin Gausman, Dylan Cease, Cody Ponce, Trey Yesavage and Jose Berrios to open the season in the rotation, barring any surprises. Berrios, in particular, will be closely watched after finishing last season on the IL with elbow inflammation following a rough second half, and the adjustments he made aimed at restoring his fastball command and sharpening up his breaking ball are about to be tested. Discussions on a reunion with Max Scherzer, which Sportsnet colleague Ben Nicholson-Smith reported are picking up, could eventually add another wrinkle to the mix.
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Watch Blue Jays in spring training on Sportsnet
The Blue Jays begin their ramp up to the 2026 with spring training action in Florida. Sportsnet will broadcast 23 spring training games on TV and Sportsnet+.
• Working around a shorter off-season: As you may recall, the Blue Jays played an extra month last season, which meant several players carried an extended workload last year. They’ll be mindful of that in the way playing time is distributed during the spring games “with pitchers, much more so than our position players,” said Schneider. “Definitely have a benchmark of at-bats for certain guys. Some are less, some are more. Pitchers, you’ll see some guys will be on a little bit different schedule, a little bit later when they get into games, a little bit different ramp up for guys that pitched deep into the World Series. For the position players, they all understood it’s going to be a short off-season. WBC throws a wrinkle in that, obviously, for some guys and want to hit their at-bats for sure.”
• WBC absences creates opportunity: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Dominican Republic), Ernie Clement (United States), Gimenez (Venezuela), Okamoto (Japan), Alejandro Kirk (Mexico), Adam Macko (Canada), Yariel Rodriguez (Cuba), Jimenez (Panama), R.J. Schreck and C.J. Stubbs (Israel), Willis Cresswall (Britain) and Ismael Munguia (Nicaragua) will all be leaving for the World Baseball Classic in the next week and a half.
Their absence will give Blue Jays minor-leaguers more reps than usual this spring, each a chance to make an impression. “Especially the ones that haven’t been in front of the major-league staff before,” said player-development director Joe Sclafani. “We met with pretty much all of them before camp started, and said, ‘You’re going to play a lot, start mentally wrapping your brain around that, don’t pressure yourself, but show them what you can do. You’d be surprised at how much the staff will remember some of these spring training moments and performances. It’s not only the performance. It’s how you prepare, it’s how you work, it’s the questions you’re asking. How do you react when you have a tough day? It’s a really unique opportunity.”
Back to Gimenez, and even last season’s experience aside, shortstop isn’t a new position for him after ascending through the Mets system at the position and not locking in at second base until 2022, his second year with Cleveland.
A major difference between the two spots is that at “shortstop there’s more responsibility because you’re the leader of the infield,” said Gimenez. “I like that responsibility. Obviously for me personally, it’s kind of like a challenge. I did it before. I moved to second and accepted that challenge to get the best numbers I can get to help the team. So at this stage of my career, getting moved again to shortstop, I’m accepting the challenge and embracing it.”
Schneider anticipates the switch allowing even more of Gimenez’s abilities to shine through.
“His game clock is unbelievable. His knowledge of where everyone is at a given point and thinking a little bit ahead of guys too, is tremendous. That’s where you’ll see it,” he said. “The skills are the skills. I’ll put him up against anyone at shortstop. I don’t think he’ll be compromised (by the extra toll) at all. But I think you’ll see a little bit more of his in-game awareness and awareness of your opponent and awareness of teammates and where they are around you.”
