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Blue Jays: Looking at one obscure player who made the Opening Day in each season of the Ross Atkins era
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Photo credit: © Evan Habeeb-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Mar 27, 2026, 18:45 EDTUpdated: Mar 27, 2026, 18:52 EDT
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This past week, the Toronto Blue Jays extended Ross Atkins.
Additionally, the Blue Jays announced their 2026 Opening Day roster. That got me thinking, who are some players that made the Opening Day roster who have also been forgotten about in the Atkins’ era. This ranges from relievers who had short stints with the team, to utility infielders.
Let’s take a look at those 10 players.

Arnold León (2016)

The 2016 season was a weird one, because while the Jays were reeling off what was a special 2015 season, they had one of the oldest rosters in baseball. There are a handful of players from the 2016 roster you may not remember, such as Gavin Floyd, Jesse Chavez, and Josh Thole.
However, Arnold León may be the most obscure of the bunch. The Mexican right-handed reliever made his big league debut at the age of 26 in 20215, posting a 4.39 ERA and 4.18 FIP in 26.2 innings with the Oakland Athletics.
One of Atkins’ first moves was trading cash considerations for Léon, and he made the Opening Day roster. He wasn’t on it for long, pitching just two and one-third innings before being designated for assignment.
That was the last time he pitched in affiliate ball, as he finished his 2016 season in Korea, and played a handful of seasons in Mexico to end his career.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia (2017)

Jarrod Saltalamacchia isn’t really an obscure player, winning the World Series with the Boston Red Sox in 2013. He also had the record for the longest last name in Major League Baseball history until former Blue Jay prospect Simeon Woods Richardson usurped that title.
What lands him here is the fact he just had a cup of coffee with the Jays, playing 10 games. Over 26 plate appearances, he finished with a .040/.077/.040 slash line and a 61.5 K%. The Jays DFA’d him, released him, signed him to a minor league deal, and then released him a second time in a span of two months.
Saltalamacchia’s final games were with the Detroit Tigers in 2018.

Gift Ngoepe (2018)

Speaking of 2018, the player you may have forgotten that made the Opening Day roster that season was Gift Ngoepe. The season prior, he slashed .222/.323/.296 with no home runs in 63 plate appearances with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Ngoepe made the 2018 Opening Day roster after 25 Spring Training games, but appeared in just 13 games during the regular season. Overall, he slashed .056/.105/.056 with no home runs and a 63.2 K%.  The South African never played in the big leagues again once the Jays DFA’d him, finishing his career with the Frontier League’s Québec Capitales.

Elvis Luciano (2019)

The Blue Jays hold the distinction of having the first player born in the 2000s play for them. In the 2018 Rule 5 draft, the Jays 19-year-old Elvis Luciano from the Kansas City Royals. Thanks to being a rebuilding team, the Jays added him to their Opening Day roster.
Of course, the prospect was still raw, pitching in 25 games with a 5.35 ERA and 5.56 FIP, while spending most of the season on the injured list. Luciano pitched with the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats in 2012 and 2022, but was released. Last season, he pitched Yomirui Giants.

Joe Panik (2020)

In the early 2020s, the Blue Jays had a thing for acquiring veteran infielders. Brandon Belt was signed for the 2023 season, and Justin Turner signed for the 2024 season. But before those two, the Jays signed Belt’s former teammate, Joe Panik, ahead of the 2020 season.
That season was a weird one thanks to the global pandemic and everything. Panik slashed .225/.340/.300 with a home run in 141 plate appearances for an 82 wRC+ in 2020. He also made the team’s Opening Day roster the following year, but was eventually traded for Adam Cimber and Corey Dickerson, a darn good trade.
Panik retired following the 2021 season.

Tommy Milone (2021)

Had the Jays started with the team they finished with in 2021, they could have done some real damage in the playoffs. Instead, names like Tyler Chatwood, Rafael Dolis, Tanner Roark, and T.J. Zeuch made up their pitching staff and it cost them a postseason spot in the end. One player who began the year on the taxi squad is Tommy Milone. The Jays’ official Opening Day roster announcement had Milone on it, so it counts.
Milone made his debut on April 6th, totalling 14 innings over six outings and also picking up a save in a blowout victory over the Los Angeles Angels on April 10th. It wasn’t a very successful tenure for the soft-tossing righty, finishing with a 6.43 ERA and 4.17 FIP.
He went on to pitch two more seasons in the big leagues, both with the Seattle Mariners.

Gosuke Katoh (2022)

We’re now getting to the point of players who made the Opening Day in recent memory. For the 2022 season, I chose fan-favourite Gosuke Katoh. The infielder had a strong Spring Training, slashing .333/.370/.542 with a home run in 27 plate appearances.
His tenure with the Jays’ was limited, appearing in just eight games. Over that stretch, he slashed .143/.400/.286 with three walks for a 128 wRC+. Katoh was DFA’d in May, signed with the Mets’ Triple-A team to finish the season, then played two seasons in Japan. After his playing days, Katoh joined the Blue Jays’ front office, where he remains.

Zach Pop (2023)

The Blue Jays made the postseason in 2023, but oh boy were they ever boring. That’s not Zach Pop’s fault, as he pitched just 13 and two-thirds innings. Pop finished with a 6.59 ERA and 6.33 FIP, and was pulled from May 4th’s game due to injury.
He didn’t make it back to the big leagues that season, spending the rest of the year with the Bisons. He did return for the 2024 season, where he pitched 48.1 innings with a 5.59 ERA and 5.53 FIP for a -0.6 fWAR.
Before the start of the 2025 season, Pop was DFA’d,  pitched with the Seattle Marines and New York Mets in 2025, and recently made the Philadelphia Phillies’ Opening Day roster.

Brian Serven (2024)

The Blue Jays decided to carry three catchers to begin the 2024 season, bringing along Alejandro Kirk, Danny Jansen, and Brian Serven. It’s the latter that makes it on the list, as he spent a couple of weeks on the roster before being optioned.
Serven played two more games in late June and early July, before being optioned again. When Jansen was traded, Serven served as the backup catcher until the Jays claimed Tyler Heineman off waivers, in which Serven was DFA’d.
Overall, the 30-year-old catcher slashed .159/.243/.222 with no home runs in 71 plate appearances. He’s currently in the Athletics’ organization after spending the 2025 season with the Tigers.

Jacob Barnes (2025)

Lastly, there are two options for obscure players to make the 2025 Blue Jays’ roster. Richard Lovelady is one, but I chose Jacob Barnes because it was actually his second stint with the team.
Barnes appeared in 10 games with the Jays during the 2021 season, where he had a 6.30 ERA and 3.57 FIP in 10 innings pitched. The right-handed pitcher pitched in the big leagues in 2022, 2023, and 2024, before signing a minor league deal with the Jays before the start of the 2025 season.
He pitched in even fewer innings in 2025, appearing in just six games where he pitched eight innings and had a 9 ERA and 4.64 FIP before being DFA’d. Barnes pitched an addition 25 innings with the Bisons before being released.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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