Are Toronto Blue Jays Newest Additions Reason to Blame for Tough April?

April did not get off to a good start for new additions for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Apr 19, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays right fielder Anthony Santander (25) hits an RBI single against the Seattle Mariners in the first inning at Rogers Centre. | Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

Despite a plethora of offseason moves, it has been a disappointing start to the season for the Toronto Blue Jays.

The start of the year hasn’t got off on a good note for the Blue Jays who have lost a lot of games to finish off the month of April.

With the team hovering around the .500 mark in the American League East, it’s challenging to predict the outlook for the franchise.

Fortunately, even though it hasn’t been an ideal start, they were able to sig Vladimir Guererro Jr. to a contract extension. For the long-term, this was obviously key for the franchise, but the outlook in 2025 remains unclear.

David Schoenfield of ESPN (subscription required) recently wrote about the struggles in the first month of the season for the Blue Jays. He gave them a grade of a ‘D’ for their efforts.

“The big offseason moves were signing Anthony Santander and trading for Andres Gimenez, but both are hitting under .200 with an OPS+ under 70.”

It has certainly been an underwhelming campaign so far for Toronto, and a lot of the blame has to go on the offense.

This season, the team ranks 29th in the league in home runs ahead of just the Kansas City Royals. Furthermore, their OPS is also in the bottom half of the league, ranking 25th.

While there have been some good performances from some hitters, most have underperformed.

Two of the most notable players that have struggled were two key offseason additions. Both Anthony Santander and Andres Gimenez have struggled mightily in 2025, resulting in the offense having issues.

For Santander, he was signed to a massive five-year contract this winter to bring some more power to the lineup. In 2024, he totaled 44 home runs and figured to be a great hitter to pair with Guererro in the middle of the order.

However, he has slashed .178/.258 /.314 with four home runs and 12 RBI so far in what has been a disappointing start to the campaign.

For Gimenez, while he wasn’t expected to bring as much offensive pop as Santander, he has performed poorly as well. The talented defensive infielder has slashed 165/.258/.284.

With new additions struggling and Guererro also not playing quite up to his capabilities, it’s easy to see why the team has struggled.

Fortunately, the pitching has been fairly good for Toronto thus far with Chris Bassitt leading the way for the unit.

While there is plenty of time to turn things around for the Blue Jays, the ending to April was not a good indication of things to come.