The Toronto Blue Jays have placed infielder Santiago Espinal on the 10-day injured list with a left oblique strain, per a team announcement. To fill the roster spot, the Jays have recalled utility-man Otto Lopez from Triple-A.
Espinal has had a breakout year with Toronto, posting a .267/.322/.370 slash line and earning his first All-Star nod. He has particularly hit lefties well; in 113 at bats the righty has produced a strong .301/.375/.451 line, good for an .826 OPS. Additionally, Espinal has filled in admirably for Blue Jays, logging time at second base, third base, and shortstop. Recently, however, Espinal has been platooning with Cavan Biggio at second base.
Lopez, ranked as the Blue Jay’s 17th-best prospect by MLB.com, made his MLB debut in 2021 — tallying a single plate appearance. The 23-year-old has been shuffled on and off the Major League team this season, but has yet to have a plate appearance. In Triple-A, the right-handed Lopez has hit a strong .297/.378/.415 for a .793 OPS, striking out a low 15.6% of the time and walking at a high 10.5% clip. Lopez has experience at all three outfield spots, second base and shortstop and will likely be used as a late-game substitution by the Blue Jays, who are in the thick of their playoff push.
Not too concerned about this, Biggio is more than capable of playing 2nd, and it’s not like Espinal and his 7 home runs were a huge offensive threat.
I have a couple question for BlueJays fans; Out of Gabriel Moreno or Alejandro Kirk, who is the catcher of the future? Are they keeping one or both? Are they planning to alternate them between catching duties and DHing?
There is also danny jansen. Kirk has had a good season, and moreno is a stud prospect. Each of the three could be traded, depending on what the jays are trading for. My opinion is to keep jansen, but moreno is still unproven at the major league level. Kirk may be the best trade chip.
To me Jano is a huge factor. If your keeping Kirk you have to keep Jano as he would catch about 50% of the games. If you keep Moreno chances are your trading Kirk and Jano while his value is decent as he’d only catch probably 25% of games with Moreno catching the majority. I’d say trade Kirk and Jansen for pitching in separate deals and sign a veteran catcher in FA
Can’t run out kirk and moreno on a club in win now mode.
Danny Jansen needs to stay. Kirk is the one that needs to get traded for pitching. The Jays have little or nothing in pitching that is near ready. Danny can mentor Moreno.
It’s the season in Toronto where everyone goes out and buys their Pajar boots and starts a batch of homemade moonshine for the winter months.