The Toronto Blue Jays have been very prominent in the baseball world lately following their run to the World Series, recent free-agent signings, and overall fun clubhouse atmosphere. But what is often overlooked is the incredible amount of depth they have as an organization.
The Blue Jays have three prospects ranked on Just Baseball’s Top 100 MLB Prospects List, and their farm system has churned out some very promising big leaguers in recent memory.
One player that currently sits in limbo between Triple-A Buffalo and the Jays’ MLB roster is outfielder Joey Loperfido. Acquired at the trade deadline from the Houston Astros in 2024, Loperfido was one of three prospects Toronto received in exchange for starter Yusei Kikuchi.
He’s had a tough time cracking their big-league roster due to Toronto’s positional versatility in covering their outfield positions, boasting MLB regulars like George Springer, Daulton Varsho, Anthony Santander, and Addison Barger, who can play the positions handily and provide an offensive spark to the lineup while doing so.
Joey Loperfido’s All-Around Talent
He placed within the top four hitters for the Bisons in hits (87), doubles (22), RBI (44), stolen bases (11), and batting average (.264, min. 90 games) this season, putting his value on display in the International League.
Loperfido made many adjustments to his game over the last year or so, and these can be seen in his performance at the MLB level over 2024 and 2025.
When looking at Loperfido’s Batting Run Value against certain pitches on his Baseball Savant page, he’s become noticeably more able to hold his ground against a variety of pitch types — most importantly pitches with glove-side movement like sliders, cutters, and sweepers. Against these pitches in 2024, he notched a -10 RV when facing them, but he improved this greatly in 2025 to a mark of +11.
It’s worth noticing his newfound ability to reach fastballs more consistently. Against four-seam fastballs, Loperfido has lowered his whiff and strikeout rates while increasing virtually every rate metric over the last two years. In 2025, he batted .412 and slugged .676 against four-seamers and posted a +7 RV against this pitch alone.
No Room in Toronto
Now with all the successes and strong points of Loperfido’s game, why isn’t he getting a consistent chance with the Blue Jays? Technically he did, appearing in 43 games for the Jays following his acquisition in 2024 in which he sported a mere slash line of .197/.236/.343 with only two home runs in 144 plate appearances.
Loperfido was given a shot to start in the Blue Jays’ outfield in a season in which they finished 74-88, which doesn’t say much but it indicates that they were willing to try him out.
When the Jays signed Anthony Santander to a $92.5 million contract over the ensuing offseason, his outfield spot was put in jeopardy immediately.
He did get into 41 games at the MLB level this season for Toronto due to injuries to Santander and other depth options for the Jays down the stretch and he looked great, hitting to the tune of a .333/.379/.500 slash line while hitting four home runs and driving in 14 RBI in this limited big-league stint.
Loperfido showed this year that he can handle himself in a big-league environment, but he didn’t get much more than a taste of MLB action in 2025.
This is not to say that Toronto couldn’t use his services as a bench bat, but rather that it’d be more valuable to the team to swap him for another player that might bring more value north of the border at the MLB level.
