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Yohendrick Piñango is the latest player acquired at the 2024 trade deadline to join the Blue Jays
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Photo credit: © Chloe Trofatter - South Bend Tribune/USA Today
Ryley Delaney
Apr 25, 2026, 14:30 EDTUpdated: Apr 25, 2026, 13:36 EDT
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The 2024 trade deadline continues to pay dividends for the Toronto Blue Jays.
As poor as that season went for the Jays, it set them up nicely for the future. They traded Yimi García, Danny Jansen, Nate Pearson, Justin Turner, Yusei Kikuchi, Trevor Richards, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa before the deadline, receiving several prospects in return.
Two of those prospects, both acquired in the Kikuchi trade with the Houston Astros, have already been traded. Will Wanger was traded ahead of the 2025 trade deadline for Brandon Valenzuela. This past off-season, the Jays traded Joey Loperfido back to the Astros for Jesús Sánchez.
Both Loperfido and Wagner played for the Blue Jays, as did Jonatan Clase, who was acquired in the García trade with the Seattle Mariners. Well, it appears that another player, Yohendrick Piñango, is set to make his debut in the coming days.
On Saturday afternoon, numerous sources reported that Piñango was added to the 40-man roster and called up to replace an injured Nathan Lukes. Piñango was one of two players the Blue Jays acquired in the Pearson deal, the other being Josh Rivera.
At the time, Piñango was seen as a back-end of the top 30 list. He didn’t perform great after the trade either, slashing .179/.244/.274 with one home run in 127 plate appearances after the trade. However, he broke out in 2025.
Repeating the Double-A level, Piñango slashed .298/.406/.522 with eight home runs in 192 plate appearances for a 169 wRC+. He was quickly called up to the Triple-A, where he slashed .235/.335/.379 with seven home runs in 341 plate appearances for a 96 wRC+.
Following the end of the 2025 season, the Blue Jays left Piñango unprotected for the Rule 5 draft, a risky move given his breakout season. It paid off for them, and he returned to the Bisons to begin the 2026 season. So far this season, he’s slashing .288/.370/.488 with three home runs and seven doubles in 92 plate appearances for a 128 wRC+. 
Piñango has always had solid underlying numbers. Looking at his Prospect Savant page from last season, you can easily come to the conclusion that he was unlucky. The outfielder hit the ball hard, with a 91.9 mph average exit velocity, a maximum exit velocity of 115.4 mph, and a 47.8 hard hit %. Piñango had a respectable K% (19.1%) and was able to draw walks. He also had a respectable chase rate and whiff rate.
The outfielder is still hitting the ball hard in 2026, posting an average exit velocity of 90.4 mph and reaching a maximum exit velocity of 115.4 mph. Piñango is chasing a bit more and his K% has jumped up, but he’s still found success with the Bisons.
That said, the biggest flaw to Piñango’s game is his defence, which may hamper his ability to be in the lineup everyday. The good news is that Piñango still has the tools to be a success big league player, and the 2024 trade deadline is the gift that keeps giving.
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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