Leo Jiménez played well after the Toronto Blue Jays called him up.

This is Blue Jays Nation’s annual 40-man Roster Review, where we look at the players on the Blue Jays’ 40-man roster. We’ll look at how the player performed in 2024, his season projections for the 2025 season, and any storylines heading into this coming season. In this article, we’ll look at Leo Jiménez.
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One of my favourite stat lines in baseball history is Jiménez’s 2021 season in Single-A. Signed in the 2017 International Free Agency period, the Panamanian shortstop posted an incredible .315/.517/.381 slash line with his first career home run, a 21.1% walk rate, and 21 hit by pitches in just 242 plate appearances, with four additional HBP in 20 rehab appearances.
After the season, earned Jiménez a spot on the Blue Jays’ 40-man roster, but his power also developed. In 2022, he hit six home runs with the High-A Vancouver Canadians and eight home runs with the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats in 2023.
In 2024 with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, the shortstop slashed .270/.366/.401 with seven home runs in 226 plate appearances. Moreover, he had a 13.3 BB% and a 15 K%, giving him a 131 wRC+. After Bo Bichette went down with an injury, Jiménez became a regular with the Blue Jays, mainly playing shortstop with a little bit of second base mixed in.
Of batters with 100 or more plate appearances on the team, Jiménez was one of just five who had a wRC+ above 100, or average. The other four are Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Spencer Horwitz (traded), Isiah Kiner-Falefa (traded), and Justin Turner (traded). Jiménez slashed .229/.329/.358 with four home runs in 210 plate appearances, with a 5.7 BB% and a 28.1 K%.
However, Jiménez earned a free base the hard way, getting hit by a pitch 16 times, tied for the ninth-most in the league. That may not sound like a lot, but he did so in 210 plate appearances, with no player higher than him receiving less than 383 plate appearances. True to form, Jiménez was hit by an additional 15 pitches in Triple-A before his call-up.
<a href="https://www.fangraphs.com/players/leo-jimenez/23782/stats?position=2B%2FSS">Fangraphs’ Steamer</a> projects he’ll slash .236/.323/.360 with one home run in 70 plate appearances for a 99 wRC+. Similarly, OOPSY projects Jiménez will slashing .235/.330/.343 with one home run, while ATC has him slashing .234/.312/.353 with two home runs in 102 plate appearances for a 93 wRC+. Interestingly, OOPSY has him being hit by four pitches, the most of any projection model.
At a certain point, it looked as if Jiménez had to earn a spot out of Spring Training, as he was out of option years. However, early in the off-season, it was reported that due to injury-filled seasons in 2021 and 2022, he’ll have another option year meaning the Jays don’t have to risk waiving him to send him to Triple-A Buffalo.
That’s good news for the Jays, as their infield is packed with young talent, such as Will Wagner, Orelvis Martínez, Addison Barger, and others. The Jays needed that flexibility. Still, Jiménez did more than enough to earn an opportunity to win a spot out of Spring Training.
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As always, you can follow me on Bluesky @ryleydelaney.bsky.social.
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Leo Jiménez played well after the Toronto Blue Jays called him up.



This is Blue Jays Nation’s annual 40-man Roster Review, where we look at the players on the Blue Jays’ 40-man roster. We’ll look at how the player performed in 2024, his season projections for the 2025 season, and any storylines heading into this coming season. In this article, we’ll look at Leo Jiménez.
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One of my favourite stat lines in baseball history is Jiménez’s 2021 season in Single-A. Signed in the 2017 International Free Agency period, the Panamanian shortstop posted an incredible .315/.517/.381 slash line with his first career home run, a 21.1% walk rate, and 21 hit by pitches in just 242 plate appearances, with four additional HBP in 20 rehab appearances.

After the season, earned Jiménez a spot on the Blue Jays’ 40-man roster, but his power also developed. In 2022, he hit six home runs with the High-A Vancouver Canadians and eight home runs with the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats in 2023.

In 2024 with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, the shortstop slashed .270/.366/.401 with seven home runs in 226 plate appearances. Moreover, he had a 13.3 BB% and a 15 K%, giving him a 131 wRC+. After Bo Bichette went down with an injury, Jiménez became a regular with the Blue Jays, mainly playing shortstop with a little bit of second base mixed in.

Of batters with 100 or more plate appearances on the team, Jiménez was one of just five who had a wRC+ above 100, or average. The other four are Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Spencer Horwitz (traded), Isiah Kiner-Falefa (traded), and Justin Turner (traded). Jiménez slashed .229/.329/.358 with four home runs in 210 plate appearances, with a 5.7 BB% and a 28.1 K%.

However, Jiménez earned a free base the hard way, getting hit by a pitch 16 times, tied for the ninth-most in the league. That may not sound like a lot, but he did so in 210 plate appearances, with no player higher than him receiving less than 383 plate appearances. True to form, Jiménez was hit by an additional 15 pitches in Triple-A before his call-up.

<a href="https://www.fangraphs.com/players/leo-jimenez/23782/stats?position=2B%2FSS">Fangraphs’ Steamer</a> projects he’ll slash .236/.323/.360 with one home run in 70 plate appearances for a 99 wRC+. Similarly, OOPSY projects Jiménez will slashing .235/.330/.343 with one home run, while ATC has him slashing .234/.312/.353 with two home runs in 102 plate appearances for a 93 wRC+. Interestingly, OOPSY has him being hit by four pitches, the most of any projection model.

At a certain point, it looked as if Jiménez had to earn a spot out of Spring Training, as he was out of option years. However, early in the off-season, it was reported that due to injury-filled seasons in 2021 and 2022, he’ll have another option year meaning the Jays don’t have to risk waiving him to send him to Triple-A Buffalo.

That’s good news for the Jays, as their infield is packed with young talent, such as Will Wagner, Orelvis Martínez, Addison Barger, and others. The Jays needed that flexibility. Still, Jiménez did more than enough to earn an opportunity to win a spot out of Spring Training.

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As always, you can follow me on Bluesky @ryleydelaney.bsky.social.

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Blue Jays 40-man Roster Review: Leo Jiménez had a strong showing in his rookie season

Toronto Blue Jays first base Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (27) singles against the Tampa Bay Rays during the first inning at George M. Steinbrenner Field.

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