Can Andres Giménez make the right adjustments at the plate for better long-term success?

[Edward E]

For the Toronto Blue Jays, Andres Giménez had been given a bigger role this season as the main replacement for Bo Bichette at the shortstop position ahead of the 2026 season. There’s no question that Giménez has been a welcoming upgrade over Bichette defensively in the field. But how has the former fared at the plate so far this year?

The 27-year-old Blue Jays shortstop has held his own to some extent offensively with seven home runs and 33 RBIs in 76 games to date this date. But of course, Bichette is once again doing Bichette-like things with the New York Mets. After a rough start to the season, the former Blue Jay is now up to 10 home runs and 45 RBIs for 2026. Obviously, Giménez wasn’t expected to replace all of the lost production from the departed Bichette, so any significant offensive contribution to go along with his stout defense was more than welcome.

However, there has been one glaring hole in his game this season. Last year, Giménez found himself among the league's bottom-feeders with respect to OPS. Now, in 2026, another issue has arisen regarding his plate discipline.

Giménez has never been a player who usually walks much. But this season, things have been on another level. The 27-year-old infielder has registered just a 3% walk rate in 2026, which happens to be the worst of his seven-year MLB career, to go along with a close to 20% strikeout rate. In fact, his strikeout-to-walk ratio is approaching 7:1. So what’s up with it?

Giménez has generated an average bat speed of just 68 mph, which ranks in the bottom 4th percentile, while his chase rate of 43.1% ranks in just the 3rd percentile in the entire league. More significantly, he has only run the count to 3-0 just once and a 3-1 count just five times this season. More often than not, Giménez found himself falling behind in the count as well.

As a result, he needs to make some proper adjustments to help turn things around. That could start by being more patient at the plate to see more pitches and not end up chasing balls out of his zone. On top of that, since Giménez’s bat speed isn’t the best, focusing more on hitting for average with singles and doubles instead of hitting too much for power could lead to longer-term success for him down the road.

After all, Giménez was at one point in time an offensive threat back during his 2022 All-Star season with the Cleveland Guardians when he batted close to .300 with 17 home runs and 69 RBIs over 146 games played. So some minor tweaks to his hitting approach could get him to recapture some of that dominant form that we had witnessed just a few years ago. 

But if he can’t make the right adjustments in the long run, don’t be surprised if the Blue Jays target a power-hitting shortstop to bolster their roster in the near future.

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