DUNEDIN, Fla. — The flip side of the uplifting stories from the final days of Toronto Blue Jays camp, such as Alan Roden unexpectedly earning one of the final spots on the club’s opening-day roster, are the melancholy ones of the players who just missed the cut.
Of course, a key element for any successful team over the six-month marathon of an MLB season is strong organizational depth. And as injuries or underperformance inevitably arrive, those who were left disappointed will get their opportunities before long.
So, here’s a look at five players who just missed the Blue Jays opening-day roster and what the club has asked them to focus on early this season at triple-A Buffalo as they work to prove they’re deserving of a promotion.
No one on this list has more cause for aggrievement than Barger, who did everything and then some to earn a spot in the opening-day 26. He led Blue Jays camp in average exit velocity, barrelling seven balls at 105-mph or harder. Even his outs were loud, helping produce team highs in xSLG (.659) and xwOBA (.499). He finished with the second-highest OPS — 1.162 — in camp.
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The highest? The player who beat him out for a roster spot, Roden, who put up a 1.244 OPS over two more plate appearances. Truly, the Blue Jays couldn’t have gone wrong in choosing between Roden and Barger after they both had torrential springs. The decision ultimately came down to playing time and a belief that Roden will be slightly more consistent — and therefore slightly less streaky — than Barger.
“I think what balanced it out was a couple things. Trusting (Roden’s) skillset — not only on the field, but also between his ears. And being able to process things and slow things down,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “I think there’s a really good chance (Roden is) an impact player for us. I think there’s also a really good chance that he won’t be (up and down emotionally) in that time. I think he’s going to be (steady).”
It helps that Roden can play centre field, something you’ll likely see him do about once a week. Barger’s massive arm is a weapon defensively at third base and in right. But his minimal experience in left gives him less versatility than Roden, who the Blue Jays envision starting regularly early in the season.
Plus, Andres Gimenez’s addition at second base has pushed Will Wagner into more frequent deployment at third, further eating into Barger’s opportunity. It’s simply easier to find plate appearances for Roden than Barger, given the major-league roster’s construction.
“It was tough with Barger. It came down to, with Will, with Ernie (Clement) at third base, it turned (Barger) into more of an outfielder. And then what would the playing time look like?” Schneider said. “We want (Barger) to be playing consistently, with the strides that he’s made. And from that, how do you then couple the other pieces together? Not only did Alan do everything he needed to do performance-wise to make the team — I think it works out a little bit smoother that way, in terms of how playing time will be rolled out.”
All Barger can do now is what he’s been doing all along. Working intentional, discerning plate appearances. Barrelling baseballs. And making himself undeniable.
Few players have benefitted as much from the Blue Jays new hitting department — led by David Popkins, Lou Iannotti and Hunter Mense — as Barger, who’s reverted to the batting stance that got him to the majors after being asked to make a series of unsuccessful adjustments last season in an attempt to increase his plate coverage, up his contact rate and cut down on whiffs.
“They’ve been huge — it’s like a breath of fresh air,” Barger said of Popkins and Co. “It’s hard to always fight against how you move naturally. It’s not necessarily an ego thing for me, the bigger moves. It’s not like I want to hit like that. It’s just the way I’ve always moved. It’s instinctual. So, when guys are saying, ‘Well, that can work. Let’s get back to it and do that.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, say less. I can do that.’”
Orelvis Martinez
Martinez got out to a hot start, homering to the opposite field in his first game of spring while reaching base in five of his first nine plate appearances. But he fell ill early in March and wasn’t the same when he returned, going without an extra-base hit or walk for the rest of camp. Martinez’s shaky defence at third base was exposed a few times, as well, which remains his biggest impediment to a major-league opportunity.
There’s no questioning his power. Since 2021, only two minor-league players have hit more home runs than Martinez, who just missed half a season due to suspension. And he posted a 94th percentile hard-hit rate and 96th percentile barrel rate at triple-A in 2024. But the Blue Jays are trying to develop the 23-year-old into a well-rounded player. Not a bat-only DH.
“The message to Orelvis has been fairly consistent — the defensive part is a priority,” Schneider said. “With him being a year older and a little bit more mature, knowing that, yeah, his bat is going to carry him. So, let’s continue to focus on that and not lose sight of that, while working on your defence and then really being aware of game situations.”
With Gimenez an every-inning player at second base this season, one of Martinez’s doors to the roster has slammed shut. That’s forced him to shift his focus to third base, a position he’s started only 33 games at since he reached triple-A in 2023. Further auditing of his game awareness and defensive decision-making at the highest level of the minors early this season can only be beneficial.
“For a lot of guys at that level and with that kind of talent, that’s the last box to check,” Schneider said. “So, whether it’s playing third, playing second, where he’s going on a cut off and relay, what the game state may say. Really trying to have some intentional conversations about those things when they do pop up and being aware to make adjustments as quickly as he can.”
Another focus for Martinez in the batter’s box will be cutting down on his swing-and-miss against spin from righties. He ran a 40 per cent chase rate against right-handed breaking pitches last season.
The Blue Jays feel a lot of that comes down to game planning, which was a focus while Martinez served his suspension last season in Dunedin. Every day, the Blue Jays would give Martinez a different starting pitcher he’d be facing that night — and it was up to him to craft a game plan based on how he expected Grayson Rodriguez, Zach Eflin or Shane McClanahan to attack him.
The Blue Jays would then use a Trajekt machine to mimic the pitcher and see how Martinez’s plan would play out. Afterward, they’d discuss how things went and try to learn from it. The hope is that work transfers over into real games this year and helps Martinez cut down on his tendency to expand.
Joey Loperfido
Results didn’t come easily this spring for Loperfido, who had the second-highest swinging-strike rate in camp. And he didn’t produce great contact quality when he did connect, hitting only three balls over 97 mph. Addressing both the consistency and shape of his contact will be key for the 25-year-old in the coming months if he’s going to earn his way back to the majors.
Loperfido reworked his swing mechanics this off-season with the New Jersey-based hitting coach he’s trained with since college, Ed Charlton, efforting to return to a strong, foundational base. He’s now using a smaller load step to keep his weight back while focusing on keeping his hands lower and tighter to his body in order to have a more consistent starting point, while maintaining the ability to adjust posture depending on the type of arm he’s facing.
The Blue Jays remain bullish on Loperfido, who ran the highest barrel rate (18 per cent) among players to make at least 150 plate appearances at triple-A last season. His professional development has been a slow burn. But the club sees the potential for Loperfido to unlock something with the right adjustments.
“The message to Joey was, one, how much we believe in him. The player, the person, going back to when we acquired him. He checks a lot of boxes that don’t show up in the box score in terms of what we’re trying to do here,” Schneider said. “The other part was just the contact and the contact quality. It has taken a step forward from last year. And right now, just with the consistency of it, we’re looking for a little bit more. And the spot to do that is in triple-A for him, unfortunately. So, looking for him to hit the ground running offensively and force the hand to get back up.”
Leo Jimenez
The Blue Jays went outfield-heavy on their bench to start the season, which pushed Jimenez out of the roster picture. But he’ll likely be the first man up if and when the Blue Jays need coverage at second base, third base or shortstop.
Jimenez didn’t impact the ball with much authority this spring, but he did reach base at a .382 clip, thanks to seven walks and his customary hit by pitch. It’s clear that the 23-year-old could hang in the big leagues today, and various projection models see him as a 101-105 wRC+ player at the level.
If he played for the Miami Marlins or Chicago White Sox, he’d probably be in the opening-day lineup. But as long as he’s with the Blue Jays, he’ll have to wait for opportunities to materialize above him on the depth chart.
“I think where Leo is right now compared to a year ago is night and day. And then even from where he was at the end of last year, he’s made progress,” Schneider said. “For Leo, it’s a little bit more of the defensive reps, really. And how he can control the middle of the infield. He’ll be getting tons of looks at short and second in Buffalo. And I love where he’s at. I know that his numbers may not have popped in spring training from an offensive standpoint. But with his at-bats and with his talent, he can be really good for a long time.”
Jake Bloss
Bloss got off to a rocky start this spring, allowing eight runs on eight hits and five walks over his first five innings spread across three appearances. But a series of mid-camp adjustments made with pitching coach Pete Walker produced quick results and Bloss finished spring training on a roll, striking out five over three scoreless innings against his old teammates with the Houston Astros before dominating against Minnesota Twins minor-leaguers in the Spring Breakout game.
Through it all, Bloss has shown an exceptional fastball, sitting 94-95 mph while touching 96-97. The pitch averaged 18.3 inches of induced vertical break, a measurement of how much a pitch moves up or down due to the spin a pitcher imparts on the baseball. The higher a fastball’s IVB, the more its backspin fights gravity, giving it what pitching coaches call “ride” or “carry.”
The IVB on Bloss’s heater this spring would have ranked within MLB’s 93rd percentile last season. That — plus the 23-year-old’s three-quarters slot, low release point, and above-average extension — adds deception and helps give it an extra tick of perceived velocity. That’s a legitimate big-league weapon if he can confidently command it to the edges of the zone.
“I think that his stuff is where it should be. It made progress over the course of camp,” Schneider said. “He was kind of wandering, I feel like, his first couple outings. We forget that he’s 23. He’s a bright kid. But I think that you can’t assume anything in terms of pitch deployment and execution.”
That kind of refinement comes with experience, which Bloss simply lacks as a professional despite making his MLB debut last season. Remember, Bloss began 2024 at high-A, was in double-A by the beginning of May, and a big-leaguer in June as the Astros scrambled to cover for a rash of pitching injuries. From there, he bounced between the majors and triple-A, battling sporadic shoulder fatigue, before changing organizations at the deadline. In all, Bloss pitched for five teams at four levels over 24 outings.
The time he spent in Dunedin throughout the off-season, working with Blue Jays coaches and staff on his overall strength and conditioning, was perhaps his longest stint anywhere. That allowed for plenty of time in the pitching lab learning how to maximize his fastball’s unique profile and devising ways to use it to set up an at-times devastating slider that earned a 127 Stuff+ over his brief major-league stint last season.
Developing that pitchability and establishing a strong between-starts routine will be key for Bloss in the early going this year. But as the lone healthy starter on the 40-man roster not in the majors, he’s well positioned to be pitching for the Blue Jays sometime in 2025.
“He definitely made strides this spring,” Schneider said. “Part of what he’ll do in Buffalo is to get used to pitching on a normal five-day routine. That’s an adjustment for him. But I like how he ended, for sure. It really just comes down to harnessing the stuff in the right parts of the zone.”
