After bouncing from one team to another at the beginning of his MLB career, Rob Refsnyder found a home in Boston for the past several seasons. The 34-year-old South Korean native, who was once a Blue Jay for a brief time in 2017, has made a living out of being successful against left-handed pitching.

Now that he’s built up his resume with the Red Sox, Refsnyder hits free agency with a skill set that many teams could and should be willing to go after.

Refsnyder appeared in 70 games last season for the Red Sox, slashing .269/.354/.484 with an .838 OPS, 9 home runs, 30 RBIs, and 12 doubles. He got off to a hot start over his first 17 games, producing a .327/.352/.633 slash line with two three-hit games.

Despite cracking the Opening Day roster and missing just 10 days with a left oblique strain for the entire season, playing time came sparingly for Refsnyder, who was competing for outfield spots with Jarren Duran, Cedanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, and top prospect Roman Anthony.

Given that three of those four players are lefties, the right-handed hitting Refsnyder was valuable to the Red Sox due to his consistently good performance against left-handed pitchers. He hit .302 with a .959 OPS against them last season, marking the fifth straight season that he hit at least .300 against southpaws. Almost a third of his game action came as a substitute, although he had just two hits in 20 plate appearances as a pinch hitter.

Since Boston was Refsnyder’s longest-tenured major league home, he gained quite the familiarity with the American League East. He posted great numbers, particularly against the Orioles last season, recording seven hits in 14 at-bats with two home runs, five RBIs, and a walk. Refsnyder has always hit the Orioles well at Camden Yards, logging a .320 batting average with a .938 OPS in 25 career games there.

He also had six hits with two doubles in 22 at-bats against the Yankees last season, a team that pitched lefties Max Fried, Carlos Rodón, and Ryan Yarbrough multiple times against Boston.

Anyone who watched the Blue Jays last season knows that John Schneider will use every option and/or skill set at his disposal. The Blue Jays faced 40 left-handed starters last regular season, and Myles Straw started in 39 of those games. Davis Schneider started 33 of those himself, but that number would probably be higher had he remained in the majors all season.

Neither Straw nor Schneider had stronger numbers against lefties than they did against righties; in fact, Schneider’s OPS was over 200 points higher against righties, but that’s neither here nor there. All that to say, John Schneider will play the platoon advantage. Adding Refsnyder not only plays into Schneider’s style, but it would also give Schneider a proven hitter against lefties.

The Blue Jays have several outfielders of different handedness, including Anthony Santander, Nathan Lukes, Joey Loperfido, and Jonatan Clase, who missed time due to injury or played in triple-A for most of last season and could see larger roles next season should the opportunity present itself. Organizationally, this is a deep group. MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reported from the GM Meetings that there are “numerous teams” looking for an everyday outfielder.

Perhaps the Blue Jays can trade from their outfield depth to address other needs within the organization, while also inking Refsnyder to a deal that won’t break the bank. Spotrac currently projects Refsnyder’s market value at $4.3 million on a one-year contract.

With 0 Defensive Runs Saved and -1 Outs Above Average last season, Refsnyder doesn’t exactly fit a “run prevention” mould that we’ve seen the Blue Jays try to build in recent seasons. Even with that being said, though, there’s demand for batters who can hit lefties well in the AL East, a division that features the likes of Garrett Crochet, Fried, Rodón, and Trevor Rogers. Refsnyder has the track record, and he’s an under-the-radar name in this free agent class that will draw a lot of interest.

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