The Toronto Blue Jays finally got some luck recently.
Numerous sources reported that two Blue Jay players – Hagen Danner and Leo Jiménez – actually have an additional option year.
The reason for this is their injury history. Danner missed most of the 2022 season with an injury and a portion of the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Jiménez didn’t miss a whole season like Danner, but was out for the first half of the 2021 season and missed time during the 2022 season as well before two relatively healthy seasons in 2023 and 2024.
This is a huge break for the Jays. Had neither player received an additional option year, both players would have had to make the 26-man roster out of Spring Training, or they would’ve been designated for assignment to be sent to the minor leagues. Now, the Blue Jays have two potentially useful players that can be called up at a moment’s notice, barring their roster construction.
Last season, Jiménez slashed .229/.329/.358 with four home runs in 210 big league plate appearances. Moreover, the 23-year-old was hit by 16 pitches and had a 102 wRC+, one of just three Blue Jays to finish the season on the roster with a wRC+ above 100, the others being Spencer Horwitz and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Danner spent all of the 2024 season on the Triple-A Buffalo roster, where he had a 3.15 ERA and a 4.24 FIP in 34.1 innings pitched, with a 23.3 K% and an 8.9 BB%. His HR/9 dropped from 2.54 in 2023 to 1.05 in 2024, a noticeable difference.
After posting a 3.81 ERA and a 5.51 FIP in 28.1 innings pitched in Buffalo in 2023, Danner received a call-up to the big leagues in August 2023. Sadly, he pitched just a third of an inning before an oblique injury ended his season. The 26-year-old throws an upper-90s fastball with good breaking balls.
Hopefully, both players will impact the 2025 Blue Jays in some way or another!
As always, you can follow me on Bluesky @ryleydelaney.bsky.social.