{"id":98590,"date":"2025-04-02T00:51:26","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T04:51:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=98590"},"modified":"2025-04-02T00:51:39","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T04:51:39","slug":"blue-jays-andres-gimenez-surprising-early-offense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/04\/02\/blue-jays-andres-gimenez-surprising-early-offense\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Jays Offseason Trade Acqusition Andr\u00e9s Gim\u00e9nez Rising High"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>One player who has undeniably stood tall on offense early this season for the Toronto Blue Jays is second baseman Andr\u00e9s Gim\u00e9nez. The 26-year-old was acquired along with Nick Sandlin in exchange for Spencer Horwitz and Nick Mitchell via trade in the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/02\/11\/shocking-mlb-offseason-moves\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">offseason<\/a>. This season has barely started, and the defensive wizard has already exceeded expectations, but on the other side of the ball. <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/03\/16\/blue-jays-versatile-reliever-bullpen\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Sandlin<\/a> has also been showcasing his skills as a durable reliever in the bullpen. Gim\u00e9nez currently leads the Blue Jays with three home runs.<\/p>\n<p>His offensive surge has been a pleasant surprise, as Gim\u00e9nez is otherwise highly regarded for his Gold Glove defense. He is not usually known for his power, but has been belting home runs like it&#8217;s going out of style. His role in the cleanup spot has been working well, which is ironic considering it&#8217;s generally a position for established power hitters. He&#8217;s already made history with the Blue Jays by being the first player in their history to hit three home runs in his first five games with the team.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Andr\u00e9s Gim\u00e9nez is the first player in franchise HISTORY to hit 3 homers in his first 5 games with the team! <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/i4TaX1fHTn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/i4TaX1fHTn<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BlueJays\/status\/1906904020998045902?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 1, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Andr\u00e9s Gim\u00e9nez Exceeding Expectations on Offense<\/h2>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"><a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/BlueJays?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#BlueJays<\/a> had an MLB-low 12 HR from the #4 spot in the batting order in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Through 5 games in 2025, they are tied with an MLB-high 3 HR from the #4 spot (all by Andres Gimenez).<a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/LightsUpLetsGo?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#LightsUpLetsGo<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ErfbEcwcEe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/ErfbEcwcEe<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SNstats\/status\/1907128135423754623?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 1, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The cleanup spot has worked wonders for Gim\u00e9nez so far this season. While he&#8217;s been considered as an option for <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/02\/14\/blue-jays-lineup-leadoff-hitter\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">leadoff<\/a>, cleanup is his sweet spot lately. What&#8217;s been unexpected is his offensive power with the Blue Jays, which has been admirable. While Gim\u00e9nez is known for his high-caliber defense, his offense has been turning heads. He&#8217;s proven his all-around value early on with his new team. Gim\u00e9nez showcased his offensive power in the Blue Jays&#8217; 5-2 victory over the Washington Nationals on Monday. Gim\u00e9nez blasted his third homer of the season in the bottom of the second.<\/p>\n<h3>Analyzing the Stats<\/h3>\n<p>While he didn&#8217;t go yard in the Blue Jays&#8217; 5-3 victory over the Nationals on Tuesday, he extended his hit streak to six games. His squared-up rate this season has been solid at 33.3%. He also has a wRC+ of 110 and a strikeout rate of 13.6%. Gim\u00e9nez is also a sneaky hitter, just as he is a sneaky defender. He has a good way of finding holes in the defense to get on base. He has a solid approach at the plate as well as a good pitch selection. If he continues to be successful offensively, Gim\u00e9nez could reach a 115+ OPS season.\u00a0 He&#8217;s also showcased pop with his bat, with two doubles among the six hits, along with a stolen base.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">\u201cThey\u2019re perfectly comfortable leaving [Andr\u00e9s] Gim\u00e9nez where he is&#8230; And I love [Alejandro] Kirk behind Gim\u00e9nez.\u201d<a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DShulman_ESPN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@DShulman_ESPN<\/a> projects how the <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/BlueJays?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#BlueJays<\/a>\u2019 batting order will change when Daulton Varsho returns with <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SNJeffBlair?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@SNJeffBlair<\/a> &amp; Kevin Barker.<a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/mlbtheshow25?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#mlbtheshow25<\/a> | <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MLBTheShow?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@MLBTheShow<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/EA4xyEBBV3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/EA4xyEBBV3<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Sportsnet 590 The FAN (@FAN590) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FAN590\/status\/1907145999459446974?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 1, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Gim\u00e9nez&#8217;s strong start has made a stellar first impression. After all, he only hit nine home runs last season with the Cleveland Guardians. But this offensive surge hasn&#8217;t come out of nowhere. He has made changes to his approach at the plate, including a faster bat speed, a deeper point of contact, standing further back in the box, and a more open added leg kick. All these changes have resulted in more power at the plate, which is something to watch this season. Gim\u00e9nez is under team control for the next six years and is quickly becoming a fan favorite. He is taking everyone by surprise with his bat and will be an exciting player to watch as we get closer to the All-Star break. Gim\u00e9nez would certainly love to add a second All-Star selection to his resum\u00e9.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One player who has undeniably stood tall on offense early this season for the Toronto Blue Jays is second baseman Andr\u00e9s Gim\u00e9nez. The 26-year-old was acquired along with Nick Sandlin in exchange for Spencer Horwitz and Nick Mitchell via trade in the offseason. This season has barely started, and the defensive wizard has already exceeded [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4831,"featured_media":98631,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,1071],"tags":[3903,5925,28345],"class_list":["post-98590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bluejays","category-mlb","tag-andres-gimenez","tag-nick-sandlin","tag-spencer-horwitz"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4831"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98590"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98590\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98633,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98590\/revisions\/98633"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}