Blue Jays secret weapon is ex-Astros, Marlins outfielder with 74 career homers

2026-04-05 · Yahoo Sports

Blue Jays secret weapon is ex-Astros, Marlins outfielder with 74 career homers originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Toronto Blue Jays are trying to win the AL East and, unlike in 2025, win the World Series this season. They have a ton of stars littered across the roster, with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and George Springer being two of the biggest stars.

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But, with how good the roster is, especially the lineup, there are bound to be players that go massively underrated. There's one player that fits the bill and could be a key player for Toronto this season.

As Bleacher Report's Tim Kelly notes, Blue Jays outfielder, formerly with the Miami Marlins and Houston Astros, Jesus Sanchez, is the team's secret weapon who could wind up being a very useful player in2 026 for Toronto.

Blue Jays' secret weapon is Jesus Sanchez

"Jesus Sanchez was acquired in an offseason trade that sent Joey Loperfido to the Houston Astros," Kelly writes. "The 28-year-old outfielder has a .777 career OPS against right-handed pitching, so he's going to be a useful platoon piece for John Schneider."

Sanchez is a 28-year-old outfielder who has been in the Major Leagues for the last seven years. He began in Miami, and then landed with the Astros for only 48 games in the second-half of 2025.

But now, he's on the Blue Jays, and he's already proving to be more valuable for Toronto than he was in Houston.

Through seven games, he already has accounted for 0.2 bWAR, which is only 0.1 behind his 48-game total with the Astros at 0.3 bWAR.

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He has seven hits, four runs scored, one home run, and four RBIs, with a .318 batting average and .878 OPS in 22 at-bats for the Blue Jays this season.

In his career, he has 74 home runs and 242 RBIs with a .728 OPS. But, against righty pitching, the lefty slugger now on the Blue Jays as a depth outfielder has a career .253 average with a .775 OPS compared to a .524 OPS against lefty pitching.

Sanchez isn't an everyday player, but whenever a righty pitcher is on the mound, he can be a legitimate factor in the starting lineup for Toronto this season as a platoon bat that splits times with the right-handed hitting outfielders on the roster.

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