Blue Jays 40-man Roster Review: Leo Jimenez greatly raised his stock in 2023
7 months ago
Nobody in the Blue Jays farm system raised their stock in 2023 like Leo Jimenez did.
This is the 40-man Roster Review, in which we’re going to take a look back at each player on the Blue Jays’ 40-man roster, and how they performed in 2023, as well as their outlook for 2024.
At one point in his career, Leo Jimenez was a top five prospect in the organization. This was because he posted an insane .315/517/.381 slash line with his first professional home run with the Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays in 2021. This included a 21.1 BB% to a 14.5 K%, as well as 21 hit by pitches.
Jimenez’s stats normalized in 2022 with the High-A Vancouver Canadians, slashing .230/.340/.385 with a 9.2 BB% and a 19.7 K%. However, he went from hitting one professional home run in his first 663 plate appearances between 2018-2021, to hitting six in just 294 plate appearances in Vancouver.
He kept the good times rolling and even found a bit of his 2021-form with the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats in 2023, slashing .287/.372/.436 with eight homers in 333 plate appearances. His BB% stayed around the same as the previous season at 9.6%, while his K% had a slight drop to 15.9%.
The 22-year-old shortstop was promoted to Triple-A Buffalo, where he slashed .190/.338/.238 with no homers in 77 plate appearances, along with three doubles for a 61 wRC+, by far the lowest in his career.
Still, there’s a lot to look forward to with Jimenez, as he’ll likely stick at shortstop as he’s very loose with good footwork and composure, as well as a good arm. He may hit five to 10 home runs a season, but his hit tool is where he excels as he has one of the best hit tools in the organization.
The 2024 season will be a big test for Jimenez, as he’ll likely start his season in Triple-A. Not just that, but this will be his final season with options, as he was added to the 40-man roster prior to the start of the 2022 season. The 22-year-old will need to show he can hit against pitchers with big league experience.
As always, you can follow me on Twitter, Instagram, and Threads @Brennan_L_D.
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