The drought is over. Well, sort of.

For years, one of the few things missing from the Toronto Blue Jays&#8217; offence has been sufficient high-impact left-handed batters, and that&#8217;s been no different this season. They tried to address it in 2023, signing Brandon Belt and Kevin Kiermaier in free agency and acquiring Daulton Varsho via trade, but things didn&#8217;t work out.
More recently, however, these last 3-4 weeks have provided this front office with opportunities to address those concerns through the draft and deals completed prior to the trade deadline. And that&#8217;s precisely what they&#8217;ve done.
In that time, they&#8217;ve added a fresh wave of left-handers to the system that has quickly improved the overall outlook of it. Now, there&#8217;s an exciting group of lefties no matter where you look throughout the organization, both in the minors and majors.
That transformation started at last month&#8217;s draft in Texas, where, despite selecting a pitcher with each of their first three picks, the Blue Jays drafted a position player with five of their final eight selections to close out the first 10 rounds. Of those five, four were left-handed, including three outfielders and one third baseman &#8212; also addressing two positional depth needs.
Here are where those players were selected (school):
<ul>
<li>4th RD &#8211; 3B Sean Keys (Bucknell)</li>
<li>*C 4th RD &#8211; OF Nick Mitchell (Indiana)</li>
<li>8th RD &#8211; OF Eddie Micheletti Jr. (Virginia Tech)</li>
<li>10th RD &#8211; OF Carter Cunningham (East Carolina)</li>
</ul>
*Compensation pick received from the Matt Chapman signing*
The Blue Jays haven&#8217;t drafted at least four left-handed hitters over the first 10 draft rounds since 2019. But, that probably shouldn&#8217;t come as a surprise if you&#8217;ve followed this organization&#8217;s prospect system over the last few years. It has been quite a concern for some time now.
This situation is starting to turn a corner, though. Along with the four players above, Toronto&#8217;s front office acquired 11 position-player prospects ahead of last Tuesday&#8217;s trade deadline, five of which hit left (Joey Loperfido, Will Wagner, Eddinson Paulino, Yohendrick Pinango, RJ Schreck). They also added a switch-hitter in Jonatan Clase, who can hit for power from both sides of the plate.
Loperfido, acquired with Wagner and right-handed starter Jake Bloss in the Yusei Kikuchi trade, is already earning an opportunity to prove himself with the big-league club. Though the 25-year-old has been met with mixed results, striking out in almost half of his 19 plate appearances, he&#8217;s produced four hits &#8212; including a triple &#8212; while batting in front of superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Joey Loperfido’s first <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueJays?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BlueJays</a> hit?
1️⃣0️⃣6️⃣ MPH <a href="https://t.co/27cpFsO1Hf">pic.twitter.com/27cpFsO1Hf</a>
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) <a href="https://twitter.com/BlueJays/status/1818743346988495307?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 31, 2024</a></blockquote>
The dynamic of this team&#8217;s lineup has also changed dramatically in recent weeks. They&#8217;re far more balanced now, with four left-handed batters on the roster, including Loperfido, Spencer Horwitz, Daulton Varsho and Addison Barger. That&#8217;s a fairly significant development, especially considering Varsho and Kevin Kiermaier were the lone lefties in the majors just two months ago.
This infusion of lefty hitters has taken to triple-A Buffalo, too, as Wagner has joined outfielders Alan Roden and Will Robertson as the Bisons&#8217; premier impact lefties &#8212; and that&#8217;s not including Joey Votto, who blasted his first home run at that level Sunday in his third game back from an ankle injury.
With Clase also in the fold, the next wave of position players to arrive at the major leagues should come loaded with impact potential from the left side of the plate, further complementing an already well-balanced 13-position-player group.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Will Wagner’s first at-bat in our organization?
An RBI double to score Jonatan Clase! <a href="https://t.co/Wy70GvAirA">pic.twitter.com/Wy70GvAirA</a>
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) <a href="https://twitter.com/BlueJays/status/1819068931023257793?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 1, 2024</a></blockquote>
While the days of playing meaningful baseball are over, at least for this season, these final two months will serve as a 2025 showcase for much of the Blue Jays&#8217; roster, particularly amongst their young hitters. Since many of them are lefties, one of their goals will be to provide a glimpse of optimism for an offence that&#8217;s struggled to receive consistent production from its left-handed hitters.
Sure, there&#8217;s been<a href="https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?pos=all&amp;stats=bat&amp;lg=all&amp;qual=y&amp;season=2024&amp;season1=2024&amp;ind=0&amp;team=0%2Cts&amp;hand=L&amp;sortcol=17&amp;sortdir=default&amp;pagenum=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> plenty of ineffectiveness to go around this season</a>, with Toronto&#8217;s offence entering Tuesday tied for 27th in home runs (26) while sitting 28th in wRC+ (83) and 29th in SLG (.354) in the majors from lefties. But this is also an organization that&#8217;s rostered countless marginal-level left-handed batters throughout this competitive window.
From Rowdy Tellez to Corey Dickerson, there&#8217;s been an endless line of those types down the list. Let&#8217;s look at a span of three years from 2021-23. During those three seasons, 10 lefties earned 100 plate appearances or more with the Blue Jays, and here&#8217;s where they ranked:
<ol>
<li>Cavan Biggio (935)</li>
<li>Daulton Varsho (581)</li>
<li>Raimel Tapia (433)</li>
<li>Kevin Kiermaier (408)</li>
<li>Brandon Belt (404)</li>
<li>Reese McGuire (217)</li>
<li>Rowdy Tellez (151)</li>
<li>Corey Dickerson (140)</li>
<li>Joe Panik (123)</li>
<li>Bradley Zimmer (101)</li>
</ol>
Of those 10 left-handers, only Belt and Dickerson produced a wRC+ of at least 105 (five per cent better than league average), with Kiermaier the only other hitter at or slightly above 100.
Not addressing this issue last off-season has contributed to the Blue Jays&#8217; horrendous 2024 campaign. It isn&#8217;t the sole reason they&#8217;re here, one week after completing a modest sell-off amidst a year in which they&#8217;re positioned to miss the playoffs for the first time since &#8217;21. That said, it&#8217;s a factor that&#8217;s caused them to retool their offence mid-season, a process expected to continue this winter.
Toronto, of course, already has a generational star to build around. They could have two if Bo Bichette looks more like himself upon returning from the IL and isn&#8217;t traded before next season. But they&#8217;ll still need more to return to a state of contention in 2025, possibly the final year of this competitive window.
There will be holes to fill, although the returns from the Kikuchi and Yimi García trades have the potential to provide clarity for a few on the position-player front, particularly in left field. That position remains wide open following Kiermaier&#8217;s departure, which has allowed Varsho to slide over to centre full-time, creating plenty of reps for the likes of Loperfido and Davis Schneider &#8212; and Clase, too, once he arrives from triple-A.
Between those three, though, discovering Loperfido&#8217;s readiness at this level should be among the Blue Jays&#8217; top priorities for the remainder of this season. For a lefty with as much raw power as he possesses, his bat could have the biggest impact regarding management&#8217;s upcoming search for additional middle-of-the-order thump.

The drought is over. Well, sort of.



For years, one of the few things missing from the Toronto Blue Jays' offence has been sufficient high-impact left-handed batters, and that's been no different this season. They tried to address it in 2023, signing Brandon Belt and Kevin Kiermaier in free agency and acquiring Daulton Varsho via trade, but things didn't work out.

More recently, however, these last 3-4 weeks have provided this front office with opportunities to address those concerns through the draft and deals completed prior to the trade deadline. And that's precisely what they've done.

In that time, they've added a fresh wave of left-handers to the system that has quickly improved the overall outlook of it. Now, there's an exciting group of lefties no matter where you look throughout the organization, both in the minors and majors.

That transformation started at last month's draft in Texas, where, despite selecting a pitcher with each of their first three picks, the Blue Jays drafted a position player with five of their final eight selections to close out the first 10 rounds. Of those five, four were left-handed, including three outfielders and one third baseman -- also addressing two positional depth needs.

Here are where those players were selected (school):
<ul>
 	<li>4th RD - 3B Sean Keys (Bucknell)</li>
 	<li>*C 4th RD - OF Nick Mitchell (Indiana)</li>
 	<li>8th RD - OF Eddie Micheletti Jr. (Virginia Tech)</li>
 	<li>10th RD - OF Carter Cunningham (East Carolina)</li>
</ul>
*Compensation pick received from the Matt Chapman signing*

The Blue Jays haven't drafted at least four left-handed hitters over the first 10 draft rounds since 2019. But, that probably shouldn't come as a surprise if you've followed this organization's prospect system over the last few years. It has been quite a concern for some time now.

This situation is starting to turn a corner, though. Along with the four players above, Toronto's front office acquired 11 position-player prospects ahead of last Tuesday's trade deadline, five of which hit left (Joey Loperfido, Will Wagner, Eddinson Paulino, Yohendrick Pinango, RJ Schreck). They also added a switch-hitter in Jonatan Clase, who can hit for power from both sides of the plate.

Loperfido, acquired with Wagner and right-handed starter Jake Bloss in the Yusei Kikuchi trade, is already earning an opportunity to prove himself with the big-league club. Though the 25-year-old has been met with mixed results, striking out in almost half of his 19 plate appearances, he's produced four hits -- including a triple -- while batting in front of superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Joey Loperfido’s first <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueJays?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BlueJays</a> hit?
1️⃣0️⃣6️⃣ MPH <a href="https://t.co/27cpFsO1Hf">pic.twitter.com/27cpFsO1Hf</a>

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) <a href="https://twitter.com/BlueJays/status/1818743346988495307?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 31, 2024</a></blockquote>
The dynamic of this team's lineup has also changed dramatically in recent weeks. They're far more balanced now, with four left-handed batters on the roster, including Loperfido, Spencer Horwitz, Daulton Varsho and Addison Barger. That's a fairly significant development, especially considering Varsho and Kevin Kiermaier were the lone lefties in the majors just two months ago.

This infusion of lefty hitters has taken to triple-A Buffalo, too, as Wagner has joined outfielders Alan Roden and Will Robertson as the Bisons' premier impact lefties -- and that's not including Joey Votto, who blasted his first home run at that level Sunday in his third game back from an ankle injury.

With Clase also in the fold, the next wave of position players to arrive at the major leagues should come loaded with impact potential from the left side of the plate, further complementing an already well-balanced 13-position-player group.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Will Wagner’s first at-bat in our organization?
An RBI double to score Jonatan Clase! <a href="https://t.co/Wy70GvAirA">pic.twitter.com/Wy70GvAirA</a>

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) <a href="https://twitter.com/BlueJays/status/1819068931023257793?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 1, 2024</a></blockquote>
While the days of playing meaningful baseball are over, at least for this season, these final two months will serve as a 2025 showcase for much of the Blue Jays' roster, particularly amongst their young hitters. Since many of them are lefties, one of their goals will be to provide a glimpse of optimism for an offence that's struggled to receive consistent production from its left-handed hitters.

Sure, there's been<a href="https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?pos=all&amp;stats=bat&amp;lg=all&amp;qual=y&amp;season=2024&amp;season1=2024&amp;ind=0&amp;team=0%2Cts&amp;hand=L&amp;sortcol=17&amp;sortdir=default&amp;pagenum=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> plenty of ineffectiveness to go around this season</a>, with Toronto's offence entering Tuesday tied for 27th in home runs (26) while sitting 28th in wRC+ (83) and 29th in SLG (.354) in the majors from lefties. But this is also an organization that's rostered countless marginal-level left-handed batters throughout this competitive window.

From Rowdy Tellez to Corey Dickerson, there's been an endless line of those types down the list. Let's look at a span of three years from 2021-23. During those three seasons, 10 lefties earned 100 plate appearances or more with the Blue Jays, and here's where they ranked:
<ol>
 	<li>Cavan Biggio (935)</li>
 	<li>Daulton Varsho (581)</li>
 	<li>Raimel Tapia (433)</li>
 	<li>Kevin Kiermaier (408)</li>
 	<li>Brandon Belt (404)</li>
 	<li>Reese McGuire (217)</li>
 	<li>Rowdy Tellez (151)</li>
 	<li>Corey Dickerson (140)</li>
 	<li>Joe Panik (123)</li>
 	<li>Bradley Zimmer (101)</li>
</ol>
Of those 10 left-handers, only Belt and Dickerson produced a wRC+ of at least 105 (five per cent better than league average), with Kiermaier the only other hitter at or slightly above 100.

Not addressing this issue last off-season has contributed to the Blue Jays' horrendous 2024 campaign. It isn't the sole reason they're here, one week after completing a modest sell-off amidst a year in which they're positioned to miss the playoffs for the first time since '21. That said, it's a factor that's caused them to retool their offence mid-season, a process expected to continue this winter.

Toronto, of course, already has a generational star to build around. They could have two if Bo Bichette looks more like himself upon returning from the IL and isn't traded before next season. But they'll still need more to return to a state of contention in 2025, possibly the final year of this competitive window.

There will be holes to fill, although the returns from the Kikuchi and Yimi García trades have the potential to provide clarity for a few on the position-player front, particularly in left field. That position remains wide open following Kiermaier's departure, which has allowed Varsho to slide over to centre full-time, creating plenty of reps for the likes of Loperfido and Davis Schneider -- and Clase, too, once he arrives from triple-A.

Between those three, though, discovering Loperfido's readiness at this level should be among the Blue Jays' top priorities for the remainder of this season. For a lefty with as much raw power as he possesses, his bat could have the biggest impact regarding management's upcoming search for additional middle-of-the-order thump.

Left-handed batters with upside potential are (finally) becoming more prominent in Blue Jays’ farm system

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