Article: Building the Best Roster of Former Blue Jays: Hitters

[Leo Morgenstern]

I recently got to wondering if I could make up an entire big league roster with active major leaguers who used to play for the Toronto Blue Jays. 

Well, really, I was confident I could find enough players to fill out a roster. My real question was if that roster would be any good. Now, it’s time to find out. 

The Challenge: Put together the best possible 26-man roster made up of former Blue Jays. Specifically, I was looking for the most talented group of players in 2025. That means I wasn’t concerned about contract status or future potential, and I only cared about injury status or current stats insofar as either might inform my opinion of a player’s true talent

The Criteria: Each player must have played at least one MLB game for the Blue Jays, simple as that. I didn’t consider any players the Blue Jays traded before their MLB debuts, but everyone else was fair game.

This is part one in a two-part series. Come back later this week to check out the pitching staff on my All Former Jays teams, but first, let’s take a look at the position players.

Starting Lineup
Catcher: Gabriel Moreno (25 games with TOR in 2022)
This one was easy. Injuries have limited his playing time and prevented Moreno from blossoming into the All-Star catcher he has the skills to become, but he’s proven himself to be a terrific defender and at least a slightly-above-average bat. 

First Base: Spencer Horwitz (112 games with TOR from 2023-24)
Horwitz hasn’t been as productive in his first season with the Pirates as he was in his breakout campaign for the Blue Jays last year, but he’s been hitting better lately. While a slow start is still skewing his overall numbers, we know he has the potential to be a middle-of-the-order bat.

Second Base: Marcus Semien (162 games with TOR in 2021)
Semien might be slowing down in his mid-thirties, but he’s still a strong defender. What’s more, it wasn’t so long ago that he was one of the best second basemen in the game. At his peak – which included one phenomenal year for the Blue Jays in 2021 – he was better than anyone else on this roster. 

Shortstop: Otto Lopez (9 games with TOR from 2021-22)
Lopez established himself as a premier defender at second base last year, compiling 9 DRS and 16 OAA in 103 games at the keystone, en route to a 2.5-fWAR season. He moved over to shortstop earlier this season, where he has continued to thrive. His bat has been below average so far, but he’s making more contact (and better contact) than he did last year. Even if his bat never improves, his glove is enough to make him a valuable everyday player. The Blue Jays have to be regretting designating Lopez for assignment in 2024.

Third Base: Matt Chapman (295 games with TOR from 2022-23)
Here’s another choice that shouldn’t come as any surprise. Chapman is a defensive stud and a middle-of-the-order bat enjoying another strong season. I’m not sure what else there is to say. 

Right Field: Teoscar Hernández (609 games with TOR from 2017-22)
Hernández played more games for the Blue Jays than anyone else on this roster, and it’s not particularly close. He has cooled down after a hot start earlier this year, but he’s still an impact power bat. At his best, Hernández is a game-changing slugger, hence the two Silver Slugger Awards he won with the Blue Jays and the third he added to his collection with the Dodgers last year.

Center Field: Isiah Kiner-Falefa (83 games with TOR in 2024)
There’s no perfect choice for center field, so I’m thinking outside the box here. Kiner-Falefa has only played a little bit of center field (including one inning with the Blue Jays in 2024), but he’s a talented and extremely versatile defender. The only other center field option I could think of was begging Kevin Kiermaier to come out of retirement, so I’m going to give IKF a shot.

Left Field: Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (468 games with TOR from 2018-22)
Gurriel isn’t a star, but he’s been a solid role player for years, first with the Blue Jays to begin his career and more recently with the Diamondbacks. He does a little bit of everything without standing out in any one particular area.

Designated Hitter: Rob Refsnyder (32 games with TOR in 2017) & Rowdy Tellez (219 games with TOR from 2018-21)
Since he joined the Red Sox in 2022, Refsnyder has been one of the more underappreciated right-handed bench bats in the league. The lefty masher has an .801 OPS and a 123 wRC+ with 3.6 fWAR in 293 games. 

As for Tellez, well, I needed a left-handed platoon partner for Refsnyder, and my options were limited. At least Tellez has roughly average career numbers against right-handed pitching, and he brings some pop to this lineup. 

Bench

• Danny Jansen (472 games with TOR from 2018-23)
• Santiago Espinal (347 games with TOR from 2020-23)
• Randal Grichuk (479 games with TOR from 2018-21)

Jansen is an overqualified backup, and the Moreno/Jansen tandem means catching is a genuine strength for this team.

After Jansen, however, this bench is thin. With IKF already pencilled in to play center field, options for a utility infielder were slim pickings. At least Espinal offers value with his versatility, even if he’s been a replacement-level player since his All-Star first half in 2022. 

Grichuk fills a similar niche to Refsnyder as a lefty-mashing corner outfielder, but he also brings significant experience playing center field. Considering how good Grichuk’s bat was just last year, I couldn’t justify leaving him off the roster.

*****

Altogether, this group of position players hasn’t hit very well in 2025, with a collective .702 OPS and 95 wRC+. Yet, they were substantially better just last year, posting a .744 OPS and 108 wRC+. For context, an offense with a .702 OPS and 95 wRC+ would rank among the bottom third of teams this year. An offense with a .744 OPS and 108 wRC+ would rank among the top 10. 

It’s also worth noting that this group has a surprisingly low .276 BABIP in 2025. That’s well below league average this year, and it’s well below their collective average in each of the five seasons prior. Moreover, this group of hitters is currently underperforming their collective xwOBA by 17 points. 

An unusually low BABIP and a wide xwOBA-wOBA gulf are two strong indicators of positive regression to come. So, I’m reasonably confident that these 13 hitters would make for an above-average offense – perhaps even a playoff-caliber offense. That said, they’d still be a downgrade from Toronto’s current lineup. The Blue Jays enter play on August 26 with a .764 OPS and 113 wRC+, both of which rank third in MLB.

On the other side of the ball, the All Former Jays have a strong defense on the dirt, with the likes of Chapman, Moreno, Lopez, and Semien leading the way. 

However, an outfield made up of Kiner-Falefa, Hernández, Gurriel, and Grichuk wouldn’t hold a candle to the group the Jays currently have patrolling the grass, led by Daulton Varsho and Myles Straw.

*****

So, what do you think of the 13 position players I chose? Is there anything you would have done differently? Please let me know in the comments, and don’t forget to check back later this week to see the pitching staff I’ve put together.

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[Terry Mesmer]

Why?

[Spanky__99]

4 hours ago, Terry Mesmer said:

Why?

For sh*ts and giggles, man, why do you have to be such a curmudgeon to these writers all the time? The exercise itself was interesting.