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4 dark horse candidates to make the Blue Jays Opening Day roster
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Photo credit: © Mike Watters-Imagn Images
Matthew Spagnuolo
Feb 14, 2025, 11:00 ESTUpdated: Feb 14, 2025, 09:36 EST
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With football season officially in the rearview mirror, it’s officially time for baseball! It’s hard to believe that after what feels like the longest winter in franchise history, Blue Jays baseball is once again upon us. With pitchers and catchers reporting earlier this week, there is a lot that’s still yet to happen in the organization.
Spring Training tends to be the time when players that many may not have heard of before can showcase their skills. Surprises aren’t always a bad thing, and we often see players wow the organization so much they earn a spot on the Opening Day roster. Many Blue Jays have made this jump, such as former outfielder and hometown boy Dalton Pompey who was rewarded by making the Opening Day lineup in 2015 after a good spring training. 
With more and more fans looking at who’s a lock for the 25-man roster and who’s on the outside looking in, I am going to take a look at players who can break out and make their way onto the Blue Jays roster to start the 2025 season
Note: They are all players who have limited or zero big-league experience

Orlevis Martinez – 2B/3B

If it wasn’t for his suspension for PEDs that made him miss 80 games, Orlevis Martinez would have made a big impact on the active roster last season. He is currently listed as the team’s second-ranked prospect behind pitcher Trey Yesavage, and he has the hype to back that up. 
In 74 games in triple-A with the Buffalo Bisons last year, Martinez showed his power by hitting 17 home runs, 49 RBI and 19 doubles in that span. Since getting called up to triple-A in 2023 his offence has been a huge upside as he’s rocking an OPS. of 860 in a combined 129 games. He has led the Jays farm system numerous times with his single-season home run totals and his right-handed bat will be his calling card over his defensive positioning at the end of the day.
Defensively, Martinez has been playing mostly second base due to the club’s concern about his arm strength as well as his reaction time, although the position is crowded this upcoming season Andrés Giménez, Will Wagner, and Davis Schneider can all play 2B at the major league level. That does provide a bit of a log jam for Martinez but with the idea of not having a full-time DH, that can provide the club to maybe get some more reps of the 23-year-old. He could also provide depth at the hot corner as well if needed but unless Ernie Clement struggles, Martinez likely will be playing elsewhere. 

Jake Bloss – RHP

Bloss was a name Blue Jays fans were shocked to see be traded last season leading up to the trade deadline. The club acquired him as the centrepiece of the move that also netted Wagner and outfielder Joey Loperfido. 
While the other two pieces got some more time in the Majors – Loperfido hit just .197 in 43 games with the Jays and Wagner hit .305 in 24 games before finishing the year on the IL – all eyes were centred around Bloss. While he did struggle to finish the year with Buffalo, tossing up a 6.91 ERA in eight starts with the Bisons, the talent is still there to be developed. 
His stuff is pretty lethal in addition to his fastball that can hit up to 97 mph. He can throw a curveball that has improved in velocity from mid-70s to high 70s mph. The right-hander’s slider is something that can either be a high-upper moving slider or a more low-speed one that can be a sweeper at times. Bloss does have a lot of competition in terms of making the show in the rotation, but as we have seen in years past injuries are something that are unpredictable. The North Carolina product made three starts for the Astros when injuries decimated the rotation but he returned to the minors while dealing with some shoulder discomfort last year.
Even though it is likely the sixth starter would be Yariel Rodríguez, Bloss sits as the potential next man up should someone also struggle or get hurt barring an absolute showing in Spring Training and struggles hit Bowden Francis hard for the fifth rotation spot. 

Alan Roden – OF

Everyone’s favourite dark horse since going back to September last season has to be Alan Roden. The 25-year-old second-round pick in 2022 has quietly popped up on many players’ radars over the last 6 months. 
In the last two months of the season in Buffalo, Roden was hitting his best as he produced a .364 average with seven home runs and 35 RBH in 41 games. He can also cover every position in the outfield with his primary position being in right field – where he made 31 starts.
While the outfield is quite crowded with George Springer, Daulton Varsho (when healthy) and newly acquired Anthony Santander pencilling in as starters, the fourth outfield position is very much Rodens for the taking. He is lower than Loperfido on the depth chart and will have to fend off Jonatan Clase, Steward Berrora, and Nathan Lukes for time on the roster, a good spring showing could go a long way for Roden, who recently gained high praise from general manager Ross Atkins.

Adam Macko – LHP

Adam Macko was the other arm the team acquired in the 2022 offseason along with Erik Swanson in the Teoscar Hernández trade with the Mariners. 
With Ricky Tiedmann recovering from Tommy John surgery and unlikely to pitch in the big leagues in 2025, Macko can potentially leap him up the depth chart for left-handed starting pitchers. 
In 2024, despite having injury struggles of his own, pitched in 16 games in double-A New Hampshire and put up an ERA of 4.87 and 90 strikeouts over 81 1/3 innings pitched. He did pitch a game in triple-A but only went three innings and allowed a pair of home runs while walking and striking out three. 
On the surface, Macko’s velocity has increased the more he progressed in his development and now can hit 95 on the fastball easily, while also incorporating a 12-6 curveball that has generated the most whiffs in his arsenal. Throw in a mid-80s mph slider and a changeup and you have all the basic tools to be a middle-of-the-pact arm in the coming seasons, as he is only 24 years old.
The issue with Macko, similar to Tiedemann, is injury history. He experienced some soreness in his throwing arm throughout last summer, and the hope is it can be managed efficiently enough. As of now, the Blue Jays’ arms in the rotation are all right-handed throwing, with the only lefties in the bullpen being Brendon Little and potentially Josh Walker, with minor-league depth sprinkled in.
Given how this organization has prioritized left-handed pitching from a starting standpoint (this is the first year this team won’t have a left-handed starter in the rotation since 2002), a lefty arm that can go the distance can be very helpful. Given how Alek Manoah broke into the majors by forcing management to give him a shot in 2021, Macko has the opportunity to follow suit given a strong spring.

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